Where do you buy your fabric?
Were do you get your fabric?
I think we all have our go-to local fabric store – for me, the big chain store is Joannes. Joannes is fine for cheapish everyday fabrics. The Joannes near me recently closed and so I had to journey to a nearby town to go find one but that one is a SUPERSTORE. It’s huge and has a way bigger selection of fabrics and notions and I’m pretty excited about that.
There are a couple of smaller non chain fabric stores near me that I frequent often as well. But what about other sources?
Tiny neighborhood shops. You can search online for small shops. Yelp is a good way of finding them. I found Happy Stop Fabrics right in my own neighborhood this way!
Upholstery shops are another great place to check out. Upholstery weight fabrics are fairly easy to sew with (depending on what you are making) and you can discover great finds there and besides they often have a spectacular remnants bin. And don’t get me started on the notions…
Cheap ready to wear shops. Think Target or Dress Barn. If you find some crappy dress made out of lovely fabric buy the largest size they have and cut it up!
Thrift and vintage stores are next on my list. It takes a bit more time to rummage through these shops and you’re unlikely to find actual yardage. Still, reworking an old dress (think huge prom dresses and the like!) made with great fabric into a shirt or skirt can be rewarding. Thrift shops tend to be cheap too which is a plus.
Antique marts – you know those larger antique stores that have many vendors all selling in one spot. You just might find yardage in one of these places and if not then you will definitely find some great vintage pieces of clothing. Don’t be afraid to cut up old clothes for fabric!!
Online is of coucrse your next good bet, I could go ON and ON. There are a TON of fantastic online shops. reprodepot.com, fabric.com, hancocks-paducah.com, sewmamasew.com to name a few. And here are a few more: fabrictales.com, nuno-plus.com , reproductionfabrics.com , purlsoho.com, craftyplanet.com and (one of my favs) superbuzzy.com .
Search engines are your friends when it comes to searching for fabric. You can try all kinds of searches, be specifi or vague, you never know it might work! You could try: ‘fabric remnants’, ‘quilting fabric with bees’ or ‘alexander henry fabrics on sale’.
I don’t know anything about buying fabric wholesale but I bet that is an option.
Where are your favorite places to buy fabrics?
This is cross posted on blogher.com.
Don’t neglect places like ebay or etsy to lok for fabric yardage or remnants either. Also, just go ahead and use a search engine to search for’vontage fabric’ or ‘antique fabric’, you’ll be surprised at how many small site yoiu can find selling fun fabrics.
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September 30, 2008 at 10:26 am
i love fabric.com, i totally thought it was going to be a fake site, but they have great deals, a good selection of retro stuff and amy butler and the like, and if you get on their email list they have occasional 50-90% off sales.
i am not sure if this is true, but i learned the other day that joanne’s gets the same prints as other stores, but their fabrics are a lower thread count. like ross for fabrics. i used to get most of my fabric there until they closed our store down, but it would be interesting to find out if that is true.
September 30, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I so love your blog! I have a diaper container already, but thank you!!! xo
September 30, 2008 at 1:25 pm
The best fabrics I ever got (and the best deals) were from a garage sale of a man who used to own a curtain/upholstery shop and when it closed, he held on to the leftover fabrics. They were all vintage and beautiful and good quality. I used them for curtains, pillows, etc, but sadly they are all gone now.
October 1, 2008 at 5:17 am
Quilt shops have wonderful cottons, flannels and batiks. They tend not to be cheap (usually around $10/yard) but the quality is there.
I’ve always loved ThimbleCreek in Walnut Creek/Concord if you are in the Bay Area.
October 1, 2008 at 9:43 am
i lurve fabric.com. and don’t get me wrong, i like joannes too. they’re cheap and the big one has a pretty awesome selection. There are so many smaller designer fabric shops around here that joannes ends up being kind of lame though…
I’ll have to check out thimble creek in walnut creek. maybe visiting every fabric shop within 100 miles will be my fall project.
October 1, 2008 at 10:44 pm
oooh, that sounds like an awesome project. i just may have to do that up here as well. i know that we have a few little shops but the ones that i have checked out all end up being so expensive.
have you got anything for spoonflower yet?
October 26, 2008 at 2:20 am
Hello, I would like to introduce an online fabric store NY Fashion Center Fabrics . Located in the Heart of the garment district of Manhattan, NY Fashion Center Fabrics offers fabrics from many of the same manufacturers who supply fabric to the fashion industry. In fact, many of our fabrics can be found in garments on the racks of retail stores around the world, including Betsey Johnson. Because we have established relationships with dozens of the world’s most prestigious fabric sources, our customers benefit from our reputation. From sensuous Indian silk to lush Egyptian cotton, our textiles are consistently held to the highest standards. We work with each client on a case-by-case basis to ensure you can meet your strict budget needs. No order is too large or too small.
October 30, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I have had fabulous results buying fabric from an online store called iluvfabrix.com.
They have a free in house designer that will help you with your selections and they have the most beautiful fabrics and they always seem to be on sale.
If you wantto check it out, click this following link (hope this works): http://wwwiluvfabrix.com
Lanny
October 30, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Sorry, that link again is: http://www.iluvfabrix.com/products.php
check out iluvfabrix.com here.
Lanny
September 30, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I go to http://www.belraffabrics.com — I have been shopping at their Lower East Side shop in NYC for 13 years and now they are online (for those who can’t just swing by the store). They have the best prices I can find for silks and wools — lots of polys too, but I like the natural fabrics. I see they also give up to five free samples so it can take the risk out of buying online.