On my last visit to the UK, I made sure to take a detour to Adam Ross Fabrics. I only knew of this place only after I left the UK in 2015. I was gutted, why haven’t I known of this place before I left?
AdamRossFabrics.co.uk Click on the link to take you to their website
Finding this place was pretty easy, I used to live in Birmingham since the 1980’s! Adam Ross Fabrics is located in a massive warehouse. Just by looking from the outside, you know you will be spending some time in there. The place is not opened to the public but if you phone up and ask them, they would try their best to accommodate you. Fortunately for me, they were happy to have me in and gave me a tour at such short notice. I guess name dropping helps since I had an ex-student working there!
First impressions, I noticed the Aziz name on the exterior wall. I know that name. Aziz is a big name when it comes to Asian fabrics. They have one of the biggest fabric stores up the Alum Rock Road. Adam Ross Fabrics is owned by Aziz, to cater for the western market. I think that’s a great idea. They might as well import and cater for the western market since they are selling fabric already. There aren’t many big fabric shops in the West Midlands to choose from and the other only decent place is in the city centre.
In the Warehouse
My jaws dropped when I was shown the back of their offices! I mean, I have seen photos online of their extensive range in their warehouse but when you are actually there, that’s another story. Hubs and I couldn’t believe our eyes. That was just the ground floor!
I didn’t have much time to spend in here so I just quickly browsed through their fabrics on the ground floor before swiftly going up stairs to awe at the rest of the fabrics.
These are some of the fabrics on the first row, just behind the office. Mostly polyesters but the prints are very contemporary. I could picture myself making something nice out of these. At one stage I actually forgot to take photos of the place because I was still in shock by the amount of fabric they had in the warehouse.
There were aisles upon aisles of fabric as far as the eye could see. At one stage I could have tripped over and have rolls of fabric crashing down on me. In some aisles, the fabric was from floor to ceiling.
Along other aisles were the usual Asian fabrics. Fabrics that were already embellished with embroidery and ready to be cut and made into Asian suits, such as Kameez or Salwaars.
The thing is, you have to come in to see the place for yourself to actually see the size and shear scale of this place. It is the biggest fabric warehouse I have seen! To be honest, there were just too much fabric to choose from. You will end up buying everything you see if you aren’t careful. I found it easier to look and pick the fabric with an opened mind than to come in to find fabric you are hoping to find. “Cos it ain’t happening”!
MORE FABRIC ON THE NEXT FLOOR!
Once you navigate to the back of the warehouse, you will find a set of stairs. When you get to the top you will be greeted by what seems like miles upon miles of fabric, laid out almost like a fabric maze, and the fabrics were in all colours of the spectrum! By this time, I felt like I was in fabric heaven! The hub’s probably thinking, “how long do I have to be here for”!
TRYING TO FOCUS ON MY MISSION!
I resisted temptation and tried to focus on the types of fabric I was looking for. I was after material for tutorials or sampling. I was looking for certain types of fabrics with stripes or geometric prints. Either it had a print or it had grids running through the weave of the fabric. Something that was ugly and that I could try and change through fabric manipulation. Yup, I was on a weird mission!
Mission accomplished without too much damage to hub’s wallet!
I behaved this time. I didn’t buy much fabric knowing I don’t have much luggage space to take this back to Hong Kong. But I did buy some fabric for sampling and making Blythe’s outfit for a future tutorial. Most of the gorgeous fabrics can be found on their website. You just need a bit of patience to slowly trawl through their extensive range. Another reason I didn’t buy much was because I found some of their selection of fabrics were available in my local haunt in Hong Kong, and cheaper. But hey, this is the UK. I can’t compare!
To be fair, the prices aren’t too bad, and once in a while they have a good sale. As for choice, you won’t leave empty handed. There really isn’t many shops around the West Midlands that will have this much choice a part from Fancy Silk Store in the city centre but they can be a little pricey. John Lewis was a contender but I have heard, in later 2017, they are getting rid of their haberdashery department in the centre.
Happy Shopping!
Shan x
Leave a Reply