I had heard about Abakhan, in Preston, when my daughter called in there once and phoned me with a verbal list of what goodies they had on offer. Ever since then I have wanted to go visit. So, on a weekend break we found ourselves in that area so a trip to stroke some fabric was necessary.
Situated on Corporation Street in Preston, it was easy enough to find with the Sat Nav - and good parking right outside. There is even a Staples next door which you can send the partners off to when they start huffing and puffing about how much you are putting in your basket ;)
Most of the fabrics are folded into metal shelving, with a price per kilo noted on the front. So, this was a bit confusing at first, I mean.... just how much fabric do you get to a kilo one wonders.
I took a bit off to the till and got it weighed - that didn't help as I didn't know how big it was. But after asking the assistant it turned out it was around £3.50- £4.00 a meter for craft cottons, so that was a good price.
Then I saw a sign that you didn't have to take the whole piece either, as long as you left a meter you could have some measured off.
So I took 6 chosen fabrics and took a meter of most, but 70cms of a couple (as that then left a meter for them) and it came to just over £20.00 for the 6 pieces.
The photo below was just one of many....... this was just the purple shades!
The range of fleece was fabulous, I couldn't stop stroking it, so soft and fluffy! And patterns in every theme you could possibly think off.
Of course, there was loads of other fabrics too - upholstery, tulle, satin, lace, the list is endless.
Then upstairs is haberdashery and yarn. The yarns were not so keenly priced, unless you were buying bargain bulk bags. I did have to buy a ball of Sirdar Snowflake in Pink as Hobbycraft don't sell that colour, but nearly fainted at the £5.50 price tag when it is just £2.40 in HC!
Still, I bought some King Cole Opium yarn - not sure what I will do with it yet, but it was rather lovely.
And I got some quilting templates - including a puff ball one, so look out for the attempts of me making one of those.
So, if you fancy a visit, here is the website - http://www.abakhan.co.uk/ - click on stores as there are others beside the Preston one. Do let me know what you think :)
I visited last year and was disappointed. I ended up spending more money that I should have as I didn't know the material could be divided. I was at The Remnant Shop in Harrigate and The Fent shop in Skipton last week and they were bith very good value with an amazing range of stock. I am also lucky to live 10miles from The Cotton Print Factory in Glasgow which is very good. Glad you enjoyed your visit and I agree about the yarns. Catriona
ReplyDeleteOoo I will have to make a note of those. I agree about getting too much fabric, I had about £50.00 worth until I spotted the tiny little sign to say it could be cut, but the sign was on a different shelf so I asked. Otherwise I would have taken much more than I needed. Maybe that's the plan? :)
DeleteIt is also worth noting that some of them may be seconds (another little sign I spotted).