Surprises in Immanuel Fabrics

Lovely surprises!

Of course, there are always surprises to be found in Immanuels, even if it's only the Elephant fabric back in again, but this time in shades of delightful powder blue. Not just baby elephants with their mamas on the savannah - but boy baby elephants. Awwwwww what a lovely surprise that was!

There's another surprise, though - one that some people just don't ever discover. The stock at Immanuels goes far, far beyond curtains, cottons, upholstery and the pound-a-metre room.

Taking time and trouble to have a good search is always rewarding. It might mean considerable time and a deal of trouble, literally on your knees (but not praying) and peering upwards (not heavenwards), not to mention the physical activity of heaving rolls out from between other rolls - there's a definite knack to this which is not mere physical strength.  I've found the most exquisite of beaded and embroidered fabrics - and learnt an important Immanuel's lesson the hard way - if you want it, buy it when you see it, don't plan to come back 'later' to get it as it very likely won't be there!

Below are two very different, but equally-luxurious, fabrics. The black viscose will be an evening jacket or a wrap - it has a lovely drape and will look stunning cut in a very simple 'cardigan' style. Over a plain black dress, or top and black skirt - or velvet trousers - it will be classic evening wear for all sorts of occasions. I bought 3m, so plenty for whatever I decide to do. Another, even simpler option, would be to line it with a satin and wear it merely as a rectangular wrap or stole.

Warm-feel viscose embroidered with tiny

silver sequins & silver thread. 

Detail view of viscose

Photographing embroidered fabrics, especially ones where glitter, shimmer, drape and 'feel' are an important part of the experience, is very difficult. 

The hand and the glimmer of the pure silk below is only caught very slightly in the photos, and the depth of the silvery-grey colour scarcely at all.

I had hoped to be able to get enough of this silk to make a Victorian  gown, or at least part of one - I am of an age when, in Victorian times,  I would be almost expected to be in mourning or half-mourning for one or other of my relatives, so the grey colour would be ideal. However, it was not to be and so the single metre I bought is still waiting, lonely, for inspiration. 

Silver-grey silk taffeta embroidered in charcoal-grey. 

This was sold out when I went back for more!

Detail of the embroidered silk.

Perhaps I should accept that I am not fated to be a Victorian lady of means, and just run myself up some voluminous, practical black and grey woollen dresses with plenty of white cotton aprons, petticoats, collars and cuffs. How disappointing to never wear my silver-grey silk, though! 

Sparkly, glittery velvet.

On a visit earlier this week, I found this lovely purple shimmery, sparkly velvet - the picture is blurred because I wanted to get the colour and glitter effect, rather than the fabric itself, which is 'just' velvet. I plan to line it with a dark purple satin for a somewhat more exotic than the norm 'infinity' scarf. 

Devore-type fabric over my arm.

On the same visit, I found a black devore type fabric - the hearts are a luxurious velvet pile,  on a base of fine black net. I can picture this as long sleeves on a  plain black velvet dress, or as an unlined jacket to be worn over a plain-coloured cocktail-type dress. 

Of course, fabrics of this type, style and quality are not to be found in the pound-a-metre room. 

Nevertheless, you would probably find it hard to believe the unfeasibly low prices I have paid for what are, when all is said and done, luxury fabrics.

... Immanuel, redeem thy captive ...

Going into Immanuels is not like entering a normal fabric shop. 

The main entrance of Immanuels. 

To gird my loins and give me energy for the decisions I would soon be facing, I stopped in at a local bakery, Oddies, when I got off my bus. Odd name, delicious bakes! 

I had one of their delicious pies and a gooseberry tart. While there, I could not resist a ginger-and-lemon cupcake, too. Delicious combination!

Can you see the rolls of plastic just inside the doorway on the photo on the left? 

The front corridor, lined 

with roll after roll.

This is an entire corridor, going the width of the building, stocked with roll after roll of plastic, PVC, leatherette and the like, with only a passage sufficient for one person between the rolls.

Bear in mind this is just the entrance. I'm not actually in the place yet.

Then I entered Immanuels. It's like entering a strange combination of a mad church jumble sale, the crypt of Scheherezade's dressmaker's storeroom, and a warehouse. 

Mad church jumble sale?

There is sense and logic behind the visual confusion,  but it's hard to grasp on your initial visit if you are unprepared - and impossible if you're in a rush! 

Entire walls of fabric

There are entire walls of fabrics separating the main 'church' into different areas - areas where the suitings are stacked, areas where it's all dress fabric, areas full of very heavy upholstery fabrics. 



There are shelves with nothing on them but roll after roll of lace, and other shelves carrying organza in all the colours of the rainbow ...

A cheery face is always an encouragement to buy.

The friendly owners and staff always have a word of greeting for you however busy they are. There are usually only two, sometimes three, people working at one time, with three, sometimes four, on the busiest days. There is no 'customer service' in the sense of the sort of customer service you would get in a 'top people's' shop - you need to look for what you want and find it largely by yourself - but they are always more than willing to get fabric down off the racks for you, and to fetch and carry rolls and bolts. They have a very good idea of what they have in stock if you know what you want, and can usually give you a general idea of its location within the building - as long as it's not been moved by a customer of course!

Just one small section of the pound-a-metre room

Venturing deeper into the building, there is a wonderful room where even more amazing things can be found. 

This room is known as the pound-a-metre room, and  everything  in it is, obviously. £1 per metre. 

It's not a small room, and it's not sparsely stocked, either. It's a big parish-hall type of room, with a high ceiling for the racking, and all sorts of well-concealed treasures up there among the spiders! First-timers find their way to this room, and stand, blocking the doorway, gazing into its distant recesses and asking 'which is the pound-a-metre section?' as they simply cannot believe the sign in front of them which reads 'ALL FABRICS IN HERE £1/m' in fluorescent orange. 

Whether it's cafe nets or canvas strong enough to mend your roof, it's all £1/m. I bought my curtain fabric in that room. I've bought many, many fabrics from that room, and made all sorts of lovely things to sell at craft markets and bazaars. I made almost £100 for the World's Biggest Coffee morning MacMillan fundraiser having spent less than a tenner in that room.plus a couple of reels of thread. 

I've found exquisite plain cotton there, of a quality that just must be Egyptian. It was from a clearance at an old mill; goodness knows how long the stack of fabric had waited for the light of day. Another time, I bought what I thought was a 45" wide cotton to use for lining aprons - on getting it home it proved to be a 90" wide pure cotton voile. Exquisite! 

I've also bought some odd stuff there, for curiosity value really. Well, why wouldn't I, at a pound a metre? Weird spongy stuff (it might come in useful for fancy dress construction one day). Amazingly heavy roof-mending (or perhaps boat-building, or road-making) canvas. Rude ironing-board-cover fabric (believe me, it's very rude. Indeed.). 

The thing is, though, the stock at Immanuels goes beyond curtains, cottons and the pound-a-metre room.

Far beyond.

More tomorrow.