I went to visit my sis in Cheltenham yesterday and came back with a couple of souvenirs…

The left one is a white, mid-weight cotton jersey so I can continue my adventures with the overlocker. And the right-hand one is a mid-weight denim with an unusual border print (OK, more like a border embroidery, then). I’ve not seen many border prints for sale – online or in shops – and I have an urge to try this on with my self-drafted A-line skirt pattern (this was the first version).

I bought both in World of Fabrics (no website that I can find) on Albion Street in Cheltenham.

This is a seriously old-school fabric shop. You won’t find any beautifully packaged indie patterns here, or any to-die-for novelty buttons. The inside of the shop is piled high with shelf after shelf of rolls of fabric. It goes on for room after room, nothing is labelled, and I couldn’t see much order to the way the stock is arranged. But it’s huge. I only had time to look at the fabric that was piled in front of the shelves, never mind what was on the shelves. Prepare to get lost in here for several hours and come out feeling a bit overwhelmed. But if you can spend some time here and you can bring cash (no card payments) you’ll probably find what you’re looking for.

If you need any bits and pieces for your machine, it’s then about a ten-minute walk to the West End Sewing Centre on Henrietta Street. I made a very exciting purchase in there, but it won’t arrive until next week so I’ll save the details on that for another time…

I’ve added both shops to my sewing shop map – where else in the West Midlands deserves a listing?