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Shopping for fabric - readers suggestions

8/13/2013

4 Comments

 
I am happy to say many readers wrote in with good fabric shopping sources and advice.

A lot of comments on my blog posts are written on my Facebook Page.  So, if you are interested you can check that out, too.

Everyone loves and supports their LOCAL INDEPENDENT STORES.

In the Washington DC area, we have several branches of G-Street and there is Sarah Fabrics in Langley Park, MD. I mentioned these in the blog last week. (Aug. 7th)

I've tried to put hot links on all the places mentioned.
Picture
And about an hour's drive north in Thurmont, MD is this place called Discount Fabrics USA.  They really just have decorator fabric, but lots of decorator fabrics are great for costumes and even clothes.

This place is huge.  It's hard to describe how big it is. They also sell on line.

That is where I bought all the fabrics for my Tudor costume.

In Los Angeles there is the Fabric District with M.B's mentioned particularly. SR Harris in Minneapolis is a favorite, too. Dallas has a fabric district and and Philadelphia has it's Fabric Row. In the San Francisco area there is Britex in the city and there are good stores in the Piedmont area of Oakland. And I know of a terrific store in Berkeley called Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics.

Sari stores were mentioned as a good place to find fabric.  A lovely garment can be made out of a length of fabric intended for a sari.

I'm sure many other large cities have good fabric stores, but I'm just listing the ones I heard about this time.


CHAIN STORES

We all depend on our chain store.  I talked about Hancock and Joann's but didn't mention Hobby Lobby, because I didn't know I had one near me. Well ... I just found out there are TWO! Each about 30 minutes from my house. They were endorsed for having good satins.  I will be checking them out for my next Simplicity project.

I got a really good tip for ordering fabrics from chain store websites.  Anything available on their websites can be ordered from one of their stores.  If you do this, no shipping is charged and your local store gets the credit.  Such a good idea. I will do this.

I was, also, told not to forget Walmart. I used to go to Walmart fairly often, but stopped when they took the fabrics out of their stores, but I understand it's back.

Can anyone tell me how fabric in Walmart stores is doing???

ONLINE SHOPPING

I already talked about Fabric.com, Fashion Fabrics Warehouse, eQuilter, Renaissance Fabrics and Quiltshops.com in Aug. 7th's blog.

Here are some additional sources from readers
fabrics-store.com - specializes in Linen
Thai Silks - for ... well ... silks
Silk Baron - really good for dupioni
Dharma Trading - for excellent natural fiber fabrics and dyes

And I was told to not forget ebay and etsy.


Thank you everyone.  I certainly have learned of a few new places to look for fabrics.

4 Comments
Emily Navarre
8/13/2013 10:30:11 am

Thanks for writing this blog -- I admire your work (and frequently use your patterns), so I love hearing your take on things. The best fabric store I've ever been to was the Mill End Store in Portland, OR. Your description of Discount Fabrics USA sounds just like it!

Regarding Walmart's fabric selection, it varies store by store. I know of at least one store that never discontinued the sewing department and still carries the full fabric selection. My local store initially stopped carrying fabric, but recently started stocking it again. However, instead of selling it on bolts, they have pre-cut, pre-packaged fabric swatches (maybe a yard per package), of basic, cheap cotton blends. The notion wall is decent, all taken into consideration (though there are no patterns), but the fabric selection is pretty shabby for costuming purposes. I don't know if other stores have brought back the full selection of fabrics or not.

Reply
Val LaBore link
8/14/2013 01:11:40 am

The fabric store in the Garment/Fabric District of Los Angeles is called Em-Be's (305 E. 9th St #135/in the interior corridor). He's a favorite among early time period reenactors for his linens. One of my favorites is Fabrics & Fabrics (403 E. 9th St) for his great selection of good silk taffetas, linens, cottons & cotton voiles. But our favorite less expensive store is LA Alex across the street from him.
I don't think any of these have websites tho.
Val

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fast personal loans link
10/12/2013 01:48:26 am

You can only expand your capacities by working to the very limit

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MaryD
4/12/2014 04:56:08 pm

Fabric Mart in Sinking Spring [near Reading, PA] and PA Fabric Outlet in LeMoyne PA are great sources for garment fabrics

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    I am a commercial pattern maker who is now "sewing over 50"!
    I love to sew and hope to encourage others to come back to sewing.
    The water is fine!!

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