Avon Textiles

Avon Textiles sits here, in St. Nick’s market, with rolls and rolls of fabric lining their entire store. There is so much choice here; whether you need funky furry zebra print strips for a funny night out, or lovely heavy material for your living room curtains.
The man or woman behind the counter is always very happy to help you out and make suggestions about which fabric is suitable for the job you’re planning to carry out.
They have been here for years, and clearly will remain here for many more years to come, providing fabric for the people of Bristol!

A thoroughly traditional, classic fabrics shop, Avon Textiles takes up a big chunk of the covered section of St Nicholas Market with huge heavy rolls of all the fabrics you can think of, stacked up against each other. Among them, a woman stands at a dressmaker’s table, cutting fabric to order.
I have to say I didn’t know this was here until I one day entered St Nick’s from one of the side entrances. The shop doesn’t really make a big splash as you’re walking through the middle of the markets, which is a shame. That said, if you’re going fabric shopping here, you’re probably going to make a beeline for it, so it doesn’t matter where it is. Fabric shopping’s not really something you do on a whim: «Oh, while I’m here I’ll just grab a metre of stripy cotton!»
Now I know it’s there, I’ll target this place next time I’m making anything. Always good to have somewhere like this in the back of your mind.

A lovely, local haberdashery with pretty everything you could need, from a whole range of large rolls to amazingly unique off cuts and small pieces.
They’ve got funky, furry fabrics through to more space age, rave and club wear. If you do like to make your own stuff, are fashion student or need an amazing bespoke fancy dress costume you should check out this stall down in St Nick’s.
They have been down in St Nick’s market as long as I have been in Bristol, and I imagine a long time before that. It would feel wrong walking around that part of town if one day their huge, brightly coloured roles of fabric suddenly weren’t there.
Avon textiles have been hugely helpful to me over the years. I have made banners out of their fabrics and patched up or altered clothing (for some reason the crotch on my jeans always wears out?). My friend has also made some pretty unique and beautiful drapes using fabric from here.

A gem of a fabric stall in St Nicholas Market, Avon Textiles is easiest to find if you go in from the side entrance on High Street, there you’ll find a wealth of rolls stacked up against the wall opposite a late night takeaway stall.
Avon Textiles stocks a surprisingly large range of materials, from dressmaking staples such as calico, to fake fur, neon stretch lycra and silk. The prices are relatively cheap too, which is always a bonus. The man that runs the stall is also fairly tolerant of students which is a blessing as this is often the destination of choice for those looking to make fancy dress costumes, particularly the animal kind as there are always several varieties of fake fur on the go at any one time.
Rolls are stacked somewhat haphazardly so normally you just point to what you want and the man gets it for you. Whilst occasionally irritating, as you don’t get to initially touch and feel the fabrics yourself, this is a blessing if you have butterfingers and are prone to Laurel & Hardy style mishaps when handling 3m long polls!

A handy little textile shop in St Nicks market, I bought a load of fake fur here to make costumes for a festival and it was pretty decent value. They have a range of ribbons, zips etc so its definitely handy if you are looking for some cheap and cheerful items without having to trek to the mediocre haberdashery at John Lewis or even up as far as Fabricland.
The guy who mans the stall here is friendly and helpful. My only gripe really is not being able to get in among all the fabrics and have a good olé feel. I like to know the feel of what I’m going to be throwing on my back.

The strapline of Avon Textiles is: for all fabrics. I spotted a very good selection of quality silks, satins, cottons, polyesters, fake fur, net … I could go on.
Part of the delightfully eclectic St Nicholas Market, this glorified market stall is bulging, not only with rolls of material, but also sewing accessories, needles, buttons, zips, velcro by the metre. We have
As an avid sewer of fancy dress costumes, I can often be found rummaging through the reels of stuff. Luckily much of it is less than a fiver a metre and the lady running the stall is as helpful-​as-​can-​be. The stall is great for dress-​making and home-​furnishing as they’ve started stocking upholstery and curtain fabric too.

This place has got pretty much any textile related stuff you could ever need. Some friends and I decided a while ago to make a fancy dress costume for an upcoming party and this place was perfect for sourcing all of the necessary materials. It can get quite expensive, quite quickly — if, like me, you have no idea about measuring out metres of cloth, etc. Still, there’s loads to choose from, so you’re bound to find an economical option that suits your needs if you look hard enough. The staff are very helpful too, so let them know what you’re after and they’ll be sure to give you a hand with choosing the right fabric.