craft/bead shops in London
 

Hi, I will be in London for 4 days and would like to go to some craft shops-the ones that sell buttons,braids,felt,etc and some bead shops.Any ideas?

Hello trixtoo, I don't know but if you go to www.google.com and type in the search box Craft Shops, London, England you will find a selection of craft shops. Have fun and enjoy your time in London!

There are a couple of specialist bead shops in central London that I've noticed, one in Tower St (Covent Garden) and one in Berwick St (Soho).

Try this one for braids and trimmings;

www.vvrouleaux.com
Lots and lots of ribbons.

For buttons;

www.thebuttonqueen.co.uk
on Marylebone High street.

You'll find a bead shop on Beak Street (off Regent Street) and there's also one upstairs in Kingly Court (the entrance of which is almost opposite the shop on Beak St)

Berwick Street is known for its fabric shops so you'll find a few braid and bauble type shops along there too.

Ooohoh.. I gotta go search bead shops in Edinburgh now, great idea ;)

Has anyone been to any of the bead shops as I would like to know what sorts of beads they sell.Also does London have any craft stores that basically have a bit of everything?

I have been to the Bead Shop on Tower Street (Covent Garden area -- http://www.beadshop.co.uk/ ) and the London Bead Shop, also near Covent Garden. Both of them are nice shops, but if you're used to US bead shops and prices, they're a bit pricy. I did, of course, buy stuff.

There's a list of London bead stores at http://tinyurl.com/2gfu6z.

The Button Queen is fun but TINY -- if there are more than two other people in there you can't move.

I'm leaving for London tomorrow and plan to revisit both the bead shops and the Button Queen.

el

Thanks el,I'm from Australia so I don't know what the American shops are like,basically I'm just looking for beads that are different from ones I buy here,perhaps some old beads or something unusual.

As I recall, both stores had plenty of Swarovski, lots of Czech fire polished, not a huge supply of seed beads and mostly Czech rather than Japanese, some Bali and Thai silver, some Indian and Chinese lampwork beads -- not handmade, not annealed, but pretty. I spent more time in the Bead Shop and bought some nice and reasonably priced resin beads, a few hanks of seed beads, and a couple of strings of fire polished beads. I don't remember any old beads but I may just not have noticed. The Button Queen has a wonderful collection of really unusual and beautiful buttons.

When will you be in London? I'll probably visit all these shops Monday or Tuesday and can give you a better report :-)

el

"Also does London have any craft stores that basically have a bit of everything?"

I've not spotted them in Australia, but I suppose you mean what Americans call craft shops. And I'm pretty sure there aren't any in the parts of London people here for four days might visit.

Google "craft shops" for London and you get places that sell crafts - but it's Peruvian artisans' weaving, expensive pieces by rustic potters, that kind of thing of thing they're selling. Stuff by craftsmen, not stuff for people who like doing crafts.

Wander round London's quirker streets and you'll come across specialised places for individual hobbies, and lots of art supplies shops. But the knitting wool and scrapbook emporia you sometimes find in American malls (and, presumably, in the parts of Australian malls and shopping centres I've missed) just don't seem to be in central London.

You often come across them in suburban shopping parades, or in low-trafficked areas of provincial towns. But it'd be a serious trek, and I can't imagine you'd find much to interest you. Not compared with a wander along Berwick St. Or Loop in Cross St, N1

Thanks el would like to know how the shops compare in terms of what they have and if i only go to one which would be more worthwile(I'm in London in May)I'm not looking for seed or swarotzki or semi precious but rather individual beads.
Also flanneruk Sydney has Spotlight and Lincraft which are great general craft supply shops in all areas.You mentioned wandering around Londons quirkier streets which are these and what is loop in Cross street?Thanks