Fabric Land

I rarely give brutally honest reviews of places because I feel like most businesses try hard to give good customer service. I had a really crappy experience here though with one member of staff upstairs giving me filthy looks and treating me in a really hostile, snappy way as if I’d just insulted her in some way. I really don’t know what her problem was!

Fabric land is the best fabric shop in brighton. The others are ok, but the ones in the north laine really are for people who don’t know how much fabric ACTUALLY costs, and like to wander around pretty looking shops. Fabric Land is for people who actually want to buy fabric.
Fabric land has exceptionally good pricing, a massive range of fabrics, and helpful and fast, qualified staff. Go there first then, if you can’t find what your are looking for, go to the others. But ALWAYS go there first. You’ll find that the prices are very competitive and, particularly if you are making things to sell, this can drastically affect your margins.
The only thing it could do with is a better website, as it’s definitely a bit 1998!

I always go right to the back where they have all the incredibly bright coloured satin materials — and then can’t take my eyes off them for the next few minutes because I feel like I’m tripping on some high-​grade psychedelics!
The choice is absolutely overwhelming and it is good to see that most fabrics only cost 99p or £1.49 per meter (my favourite fake fur ones are more expensive but probably still cheaper than elsewhere, if you can actually find such a huge range anywhere else).
I used to buy my fabrics in another shop in Brighton and was getting quite depressed because it seemed that I would never be able to afford to sew all the things I wanted to. Now my once gloomy life is full of colour again!
Good to read that they have patterns as well, as I haven’t yet figured out how to acquire the skills to make my own. I think I need to have a closer look next time (if I manage to get my eyes off that trippy satin section!). Maybe I’ll even make it upstairs one day?

My tailor used to have her studio based above fabric land, so I became quite familiar with the store. Mostly it’s all about sorting through reams of material and doing the math at how much enough to make a cloak or coat is actually going to cost. Luckily, I had my tailor take care of that side of things, so just had to worry about the designs.
They do seem to have a pretty decent range of materials and designs in the shop and both floors are rammed with bolts of cloth and buttons. If you were looking for some specialist material, you may want to look elsewhere e.g. I had to travel to London to get the leather to make my great coat. That being said, any amateur seamstress, or if you were wanting to have a go at hand making a fancy dress costume, Fabric land will likely cover all your material needs.

Every city needs a shop like this. They have an amazing range for all your fabric needs and the staff are very helpful. Their prints are quite standard, so if you are looking for something a little more unusual then this place wouldn’t be the best place to venture to. However, for their prices, you can’t really be fussy about the range of prints. They also take deposits if you want to pre-​order any fabrics which the friendly staff can assist you with. Would definitely recommend over other fabric stores for quality and price.

Fabric Land is the place to go if you know what you want and you want it cheaply. It’s okay for browsing, but it’s very strong on its’ breadth of stock and as a result it’s not always displayed in the most enticing way. Don’t let this put you off though — it’s a practical and reasonably priced shop with all sorts of useful fixings and fastenings that aren’t quite so widely stocked as they used to be — for example they stock trouser and bra extenders, leather patches and spare jeans buttons. They also have very inexpensive zips in a variety of lengths and a good selection of fabric and remnants, some of which are surprisingly large and excellent value. Their button selection is great, and even if you can’t find an exact match for one you’ve lost you’ll be likely to find a toning one that won’t stick out too much. In sum then, go here with a plan in mind and you won’t be disappointed.

It’s great to see a successful, and seemingly thriving, chain store with cheap (they say wholesale) prices and such a chaotic look — the warehouse-​like stores, the sooo 1990s website (seriously, check it out) and ditto Sarah-​Jane B. with the hysterical window displays. I do quite like Fabric Land, as although you’re not going to find some inspiring vintage print or luxury material, you can find stuff for most fabric and haberdashery needs, as well as bargainous cheap materials for a last min/​one off costume attempt (I’ve successfully dressed for a carnival, wizard and santa, for £2.50 per outfit!). Well worth a visit if you’re looking for costume inspiration cos as well as cotton, denim, velet, silk, lace, felt, netting, fur… you’ll find sew on accessories (sequin motifs ooh la la), feather boas, dyes, ribbons etc… Fabric Land offers probably the best combo of good prices and variety in Brighton, but try New Fabric Fair or Ditto Fabrics in the North Laine if you want have a more specific need or want something more unique.

The windows of Fabric Land never cease to amaze me.
Everytime I walk past, I usually gasp in horror.
Seriously. Who-​ever designs the displays obviously thinks the best way to attract potential customers is with eye-​catching outfits. The problem is, the ensembles they put on the models always look like they were made for blind goths, disco bunnies and transsexuals. We’re talking the most trashy, mis-​matching, ill fitting, unisex, halloween outfits I’ve seen in years.
If you can get past the window, Fabric Land has everything you need to make your own more tasteful clothes. Spread over two floors, they have rolls and rolls of cotton, satin, chiffon, calico, denim, cord, velvet, velour, felt, gingham, hessian, lace, leather, patchwork, suede and towelling. They also have zips, buttons, boning, hooping and for those that love the window displays, PVC and fake-​fur!

This is a great shop. It’s deceptively bigger than it looks (it has an upper floor as well as the ground floor) and so has an absolutely huge range of stock.
The materials stocked are contemporary and great value for money. They always have a patterns available in stock.
The staff are always young girls — but they are more than knowledgeable about textiles and sewing. They are more than willing to answer any sewing questions and the advice they give is spot on.
They do offer an inhouse dressmaking service (but I have yet to use this).
If I’m quite honest this wouldn’t be my first point of call if I was looking for an expensive fabric as they just don’t stock them. But as it’s usually just cheap materials I am looking for this shop really is perfect.

This looks cheapish, and once you go inside and all the shop assistants are young, it looks trendy too. But its much better than that! The range of goods is absolutely remarkable — a huge variety of fabric in all sorts of materials, many dressmaking patterns, and the accessories ranges are quite different from the nearby C&H’s, with a much easier, more relaxed sure, ask us, why not? feeling to it all, even in the upstairs, which is much quieter. I don’t do any sewing, but I do use the accessories, and I go in to gawk at the materials, thats how pleasurable a shop it is to be in.

I don’t have many experiences with Fabric Land, but I do know that whenever I wanted something that I can’t find in all the other fabric stores in brighton, Fabric Land invariably saves the day. That alone makes it top of my list for brighton fabric stores.

A great range of well-​priced fabric, much more than C&H.
Lot’s of dance and swimwear fabrics and great seasonal ranges. They also sell a large range of trims, button, fun fur fabric, and dress making patterns including Burda, Mcall’s, Butterick, New Look and Simplicity.
Great place to go for a wide range and good prices.