London - Fabric Sourcing Trip

Last Monday was our first trip to London so far on the course. We were split into groups and were given a certain type of fabric to look for. My group had to find natural fabrics, such as cotton, wool, linen and silk. When we arrived in London, we were all given a map of where the fabric shops were located, many of them were situated either down the same street or nearby elsewhere. The first shop that we went into was called the 'Cloth House'. The staff were very friendly in there and we were allowed to take upto two free samples each. I got samples of a very thin, pale green linen, and a white cotton that had been brushed on one side for a softer feel. As we carried on down Berwick Street, Soho, we stoped off at many other fabric shops, such as The Silk Society, Broadwick Silks, Textile King and Soho Silks. Out of all the fabrics shops that we went into, I found that Soho Silks was the best. The owner was very friendly and helpful and he managed to find us some interesting natural fabrics. He also allowed us to take a few samples and we bought a few pieces as well. My favourite fabric that we saw and bought, was silk chiffon petals on silk habotai. It was pale pink and very expensive - £39 a meter!
Once we had gathered enough fabric swatches and information, we were free to do what we wanted for the rest of the day. So Steph, Emily and myself decided to go shopping down Oxford Street and then we wandered around Camden Market. We also stopped off at R D Franks, a fashion magazine and book store, and Selfridges.