Books | Sewing gear | Art Supplies | Markets
Charing Cross Road Bookstores
Charing Cross Road Tube: Leicester Square (just up the road from the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery)
Large collection of secondhand and new bookshops. Don't expect to be able to find that long lusted-after out-of-print book, but you seldom walk away without one good purchase. Of especial interest...
W & G Foyle Ltd
119,Charing Cross Rd, WC2H 0EB Tel: 020 7437 5660
Foyles is supposedly one of the best sellers of new books in the world. Five stories to get lost in.Murder One
71-73 Charing Cross Rd, WC2H 0NE Tel: 020 7734 3483
Very large collection of crime/murder/mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror and romance. New hardbacks and paperbacks. Good murder mystery bargain table.
British Museum area bookstores
Great Russell St area
Tube: Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge Street
The area around the British Museum is also chock-full of second hand and cut-price bookstores, and is a great place to browse for unexpected bargains on erudite and obscure tracts.
Shepherd's Bush Market, W12
Tube: Goldhawk Road
This market area has several fabric stores that stock wool, linen and silk at reasonable prices. Look for Asian shops along Goldhawk Road, and then have a browse through the pedestrian market.
Webwright's favourite: Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road.
Oddly, fabric shops do not necessarily stock sewing supplies (thread, needles, accessories) - just fabric. You have to go elsewhere for haberdashery.
The Handweaver's Studio
Tube: Blackhorse or Walthamstow Central
This excellent shop for textile artists is London's prime source of wool, linen and silk hand spun yarns and threads. A visit is a must for any handstitcher, embroiderer, weaver, or spinner.
The studio is close to Walthamstow Market. The market can yield some finds for fabric and notions, but it takes some hunting.
Berwick Street, Soho
Tube: Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square
Material shops galore. Goes from reasonable prices to outrageous, with corresponding materials. A HUGE range of silks.
Sewing Gear - Haberdashery and notions
Tube: Oxford Circus
"Everything you could possibly need for crafts, tailoring and home sewing." Just off Oxford Street.Tube: Finsbury Park
Huge North London shop outside Finsbury Park tube station, complete line of calligraphy and illumination supplies available.
Tube: Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus
Downtown resource in Soho, walking distance from the major art galleries. Get inspired, and go stock up!
Tube: Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge Street
"Artists' colourmen" since the 19th century.
Source of real gold leaf and minerals to grind your own pigments. A marvellous treat for keen artists.
Near the British Museum on Great Russell St.
Green & Stone of Chelsea 'Dealers in art materials and drawing supplies since 1927'
Tube: South Kensington, or Sloane Square
A wonderful art shop in a very fashionable shopping area. Wear comfy shoes for the leisurely walk down King's Road.
