Choosing where to look for fabrics is a daunting one, especially when my husband Gary sold his clothing manufacturing business over 25 years ago, and I have no experience in buying fabrics. But as he has always said, start at the source. Turkey has always been one of the world's best manufacturers of textiles, and it didn't disappoint.
Istanbul itself is fantastic, and I would highly recommend a long weekend, especially one of the food tours going to the Asian side of the Bosphorus. Not only is the food delicious, but the architecture is amazing. We also included a night's entertainment and a three-course meal on board one of the many excursions. It's cheap and great fun, even when the sweaty belly dancer rubbed up to Gary. I would highly recommend that you buy the all-inclusive package because if you buy the basic one, they do try to fleece you on the cost of drinks! Remember, you are on board for four hours. My other tip is to use the metro system and ferries when you can by buying a travel card and keep topping it up... it's soooooo cheap to get around the city. 30+ million people live there, so expect it to be crowded.
When we finally got to the exhibition centre on day 3, we soon got to grips with the protocols and selected some amazing fabrics, which we ordered samples of. Although 25,000 steps in one day was quite enough. I'll keep you updated on progress soon.