Today I want to take you on a little textile tour, to one of my favourite places to buy fabric – Fabworks in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
There isn’t much else to recommend about Dewsbury these days (another victim of small town degradation in the north of England) but I always make a point to stop by here whenever I’m back up north.
Ooh, where to start? Aptly situated in a former textiles mill, I love the atmosphere inside, though it’s probably not to everyone’s taste. I’m a lo-fi kind of person when it comes to these things, and the connection to the textile history of the area only adds to the experience for me. I’m a northern girl through and through.
There’s a lot of choice, but not so much as to be overwhelming – just enough that I can happily spend a good chunk of time browsing, finding inspiration and taking in that feeling of aesthetic joy given from being around beautiful things. Wool, silks, linen, brocade, cotton, leather and more. Conveniently, they have toilets for customer use in case you get caught short mid inspiration.
A lot of Fabworks stock is one off – they take in a lot of deadstock, small rolls, etc. I love this approach to reducing waste, and it makes for a more interesting range.
A personal highlight is their remnant baskets. They stock a gorgeous range of wools (many locally made) and plenty of offcuts – all perfectly sized for making doll clothes and stuffed animals – make it to their baskets. For £15 a kilo (last time I was in) it’s a steal. I’m just a tad envious that my dolls can have custom made lined wool coats for mere pennies! This little selection of about 20 pieces below came to just £3, with most being roughly the size of A4 paper. Brilliant for enabling people to play around and experiment with high quality fabrics cheaply.
There’s a small haberdashery section too. The only thing that would make this shop any better for me is if they sold embroidery floss, but that’s a personal preference and as far as my “complaints” go. I highly recommend dropping by if you’re in the area, or even if you’re not. Wonderful place.
