Ditto Fabrics

This place is fab.
I have been known to take a day trip from London to Brighton for the sole (secret) reason which is to enter the doors of this store.
(N.B. It may just be that I am rubbish at finding decent cheapish fabric shops in London. Also half my family lives in Brighton.)
I took my 4 year old sister in. They were super chatty with her and we browsed the brimming yet organized fabrics colour by colour.
The fabrics are gorgeous. From retro prints to pin spots, they tick all the boxes.
On my first visit, they offered to cut 0.3 metres instead of a whole metre. From that £2 worth, I made 6 pencil cases.
By my second visit, I was confident enough to buy 2 metres or so in the most beautiful sea green pin spot cotton to make my first dress.
The staff are super helpful– if you show them a pattern they’ll figure out exactly everything that you’ll need for it. Of course they do samples.
And last but not least, their site (
) is geniously done. Do tell them if you think so too because some grannies had told them it was rubbish and unuseable. I think it’ll save me a third return trip from London.

One of the many fabric shops in Brighton, Ditto is one of the popular, and for good reason: they have a pretty amazing selection, ranging from simple classics to some really quite impressive, detailed designs. I don’t know all of the names of all the different fabrics or anything, but they’re certainly pretty!
Friends who make their own bits and pieces reliably inform me that Ditto offers a real great mixture of different types of fabrics in different colours, which is apparently very important for fabric shops: I just like the way they all look! And they are all very nice indeed: a nice collection of colours and designs, with some that could look very nice as carpets or rugs… which is all I can really imagine them as. Maybe I’m not an average customer here, but I just enjoyed the pleasant looking things!
I like it here, and the fact that they have so many fabrics here, it nearly spills out of the front door: I’m reliably informed they have a good and cheap selection, so together that makes quite a recommendation! Still, I wouldn’t really take my word: I just think that design would make a pretty carpet, and don’t really know what else to make of the rest…

Calm down. Beth Ditto has not opened a fashion store. This cutesy store situated on Kensington Gardens has more to offer than meets the eye. If their outdoor bin that is brimming with easy-​wipe colourful tablecloth rolls does not draw you in directly, then you should force yourself to take a peek inside. The fabric selection is quite phenomenal. There are rolls jutting out at you from every direction. I have never bought any fabric from this place but I can say that this place almost inspired me to make something amazing as a home project. This in itself has got to be worth something. It could happen to you.

When I think of the word «Ditto», my mind immediately jumps to the Pokemon. But I think the Pokemon, and this store, share much of the same elements. Here’s a description of a Ditto from the Pokedex (the Wikipedia of Pokemon):
«Ditto, the Transforming Pokémon. Ditto is a Normal type and has the capability of turning into ANY Pokémon on command. This makes him the most versitile and strategic Pokémon ever.»
So, like Ditto the Pokemon, Ditto Fabrics is the… most versatile and strategic fabric store ever! (I’m not sure what that means, exactly, but I’m going to roll with it).
You’ll find an amazing selection of fabric here, and it’s better organized than other fabric shops. If you’re into design, or are just looking to experiment, there’s a lot at your disposal here. One polite worker came up to me and said, «Can I help you?» but the tone with which she said it indicated that what she really wanted to say was, «Why are you here?» And when things like that happen, I do what I usually do. I left shortly thereafter.

Ditto fabrics is a lovely, small fabric shop in the North Laine area, which is exactly the kind of place that makes me glad to live in Brighton –somewhere with decent independent businesses like this, not just chainstores.
Ditto is full of very conceivable kind of fabric in every colour and pattern — I can’t work out how they fit so much into a small shop like this! New Fabric Fair is similar and possibly slightly cheaper, but Ditto seems to have a better range and more quality.
There’s a good range of accessories to go with your fabrics too — needles, threads, buttons, sequins etc…

Roll upon roll of material fill this North Lanes fabric and haberdashery shop. They have every type of fabric you can imagine… cotton, cord, cotton jersey, shot silk, wool… you name it, they’ll have it. The prints are endless and its well worth a look, even if you have something incredibly specific in mind, as they might just stock what you’re after. When I was last in I noticed they have a good selection of printed cotton jerseys… striped, floral and spotty… perfect for making a top or really soft pillow cases! As well as the reams of colourful, pretty and even sparkly fabrics, they stock more practical items too, such as heavy durable fabrics for home furnishings and upholstery and laminate table coverings for those with small messy children!
If you’re looking for the finishing touch to a textile project, Ditto also has a ‘bits and bobs’ section near the till, where you can find sequins, patches and coloured cotton etc. It’s worth a look if you need to jazz up an outfit– I picked up lots of sparkly decorations for my Bestival costume here. The button collection by the door is also well worth investigating… the choice is endless– with an such an extensive assortment of colours, styles and sizes, you’re bound to find what you’re looking for!

They are so helpful in this shop! They will spend as long as you need answering your questions and giving advice. It’s a small shop but has most of what you will need for making clothing, costumes and soft furnishings– C&J Fabrics is better for curtain material, but otherwise you are set. All the fabrics are set up in colour ranges so that you can easily find what you want in a certain type of fabric and they cover wool, jersey, chiffon, cotton and even cashmere if you are splashing out. I love the printed chiffons– particularly the one with the fourties style dancing couple on it. So cool. The plastic coated fabrics work great as kid-​proof table cloths. I also love the fabrics printed with unusual objects– like the cotton with a lizard print– they remind me of the Get Cutie dresses.

I hate to break anyone’s heart but Ditto Fabrics is not a store owned and run by Gossip singer Beth Ditto. It’s a specialist fabric store which stocks a wide range of high quality cotton, jersey, polyester, calico, silk, cord and wool fabrics. As well as the usual spots, stripes and checks, they sell buttons, threads and limited edition shirtings from certain high end, high street designers.
Prices are reasonable and there’s a special cheap section with offcuts and end of roll materials. Now, who can knock me up a copy of the dress Beth Ditto wore at Glastonbury a few years back?