Seriously a snob and if you don't know that you don't know me! LOL! I love fabric and all of it's different fabrications. Now I won't sew it all but I do love it! I also don't like basic fabric or buying fabric that a lot of other sewists use cause who knows when you will see yourself coming or going.
I know I have the luxury of snobbiness because I work in NYC and can visit the fabric shops there anytime. While the garment center has changed, it's still a treasure trove of amazing fabrics that can be touched, purchased and even shipped home from some merchants. I know I'm not limited to "The Craft Store" commonly known as JoAnns.
However, that's one of the things I want to discuss...The Craft Store. It's obviously been upping it's fabric game. Lately I've been seeing fabrics that sewists I admire are using purchased from The Craft Store. Color me impressed! Not impressed enough to give them my fabric dollars but impressed just the same.
Especially since I understand that not all sewists want to shop for fabric online. Though as an aside, I don't get that since online fabric merchants do a fabulous job of photographing and describing fabrics. They also offer things that The Craft Store doesn't carry. But, if you need fabric, The Craft Store is offering better choices now so bravo to them.
Now back to my snobbery...I'm an old school fabric aficionado. I love natural fabrics. I love types that aren't so commonly sold any more - wool crepes, linen and linen blends like linen & silk, silks of various weights, beautiful challis, jersey knits and rayon pontes. I like a fabric with a beautiful hand that pretreats well and resembles the original fabric after the pretreatment process.
I love a good print. A print woven in is always superior to a printed one. However, I will buy a printed fabric if the colors are vibrant and the borders clear. I love, love, love a good panel or border print because the flights of fancy you can take while using them is unlimited.
I'm such a fabric snob that I have a list of online fabric stores that I will always shop. I use to experiment more and try out online fabric stores mentioned by sewists I admire. Now though I stick to what I know because my list of retailers haven't let me down.
Now my love of fabric is well documented. But what about you? Do you love fabric as much as you do patterns? Are you a keeper of many different types of fabric or do you buy as needed? Shop online? At The Craft Store or another local fabric store near you?
Talk back to me because this is "The Question of the Day"
...as always more later!
I love fabric far more than patterns. I have enough fabric for another working lifetime and possibly enough for the rest of my retirement years. Having grown up in a semi-rural area, I was very comfortable with mail order fabric "clubs" or swatch services and continued to use them when I lived in an urban area with a good fabric district. I also picked up many many pieces of fabric of all kinds via Craig's List postings. Online purchasing was an easy transition for me. I live in a semi-rural area again, and it's 25 miles to a very good but home-dec-heavy fabric store and about the same (in the opposite direction) to an excellent but quilting heavy fabric store. I am 35 miles from the closest "Craft Store". I buy all my notions online as well, and stock up on basics, so I don't have to wait for another order or drive 25 or more miles just for one thing. Buttons are sure tough, though.
ReplyDeleteBetsyV
Besides Mood Fabrics where in NYC do you shop for fabric?
ReplyDeleteChic Fabrics and Mood are my go to. I can usually find what I want there. Honestly I mostly purchase notions out of the district now. I have a raging online fabric habit.
DeleteI am somewhat of a fabric snob. I do have more fabric than I will ever use and especially nice fabrics. I am now retired but still have some very nice fabrics suitable for work in a more upscale office and dressy occasions. Unfortunately I live in the desert and have a tshirt and jeans lifestyle now. I am not ready to turn loose of my "nicer" fabrics yet. I do still create nice tshirts and tops because I am not ready to wear a standard tshirt. They are just not comfortable and don't fit right most of the time. I have some nice wool, some silk, and a piece of really nice cotton linen blend. I live in the desert where it is almost always too warm to wear woolen fabrics except for two months of the year. But while the bottom half is wearing more casual pants, the top half is wearing nicer tshirts and blouses. I'm not buying much fabric any more and never buy fabric at that local chain store. Internet stores have a tendency to catch my eye.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn D
I'm similar to Marilyn D: I have many fabrics suitable for the office but I'm retired and wear mostly casual pants & knit tops. What to do with all that nice fabric?
DeleteI find I am becoming increasingly more of a fabric snob as I get older. Probably there are several reasons for this: (1) I am no longer an impoverished graduate student, (2) I now have a decade of experience understanding what makes a “good” fabric, (3) I have a *very* deep fabric stash and when I find something it has to be better than what I already have to be worth buying, and (4) as I get older I have less tolerance for uncomfortable fabrics (itchy, static-y, plastic-y). While I fully appreciate that using fabrics from The Craft Store let me afford some of my early sewing experiments, I find I am much more likely to spend more money per yard on less different fabrics if they are better quality, and if I want a bargain I know I can’t beat a day in the LA garment district, so I don’t even bother trying. Post-pandemic I barely even go to The Craft Store, whereas I used to go for every pattern sale and might happen to pick up some fabric while I was there. But now I’m much more likely to buy fabric and patterns online now than I was pre-pandemic, but it also means I’m a lot more discerning in my purchases. I think this is probably a very good thing, honestly, because I have to be a lot more intentional with what I buy.
ReplyDeleteI love fabric just as much as I do patterns. They go hand-in-hand for sewists, don't they? Well they do for me.Yep, got a lot of fabric, no doubt about that. I shop online, occasionally shop at JoAnns for fabrics, thought not very often. As you've stated, they have upped their game quite a bit. Badgley Mishka has a line of bridal fabrics and trims there now, and they're really rather nice. Plus, they put the fabrics in a very nice white gauze bag that has a ribbon that can be cinched, pretty cool. Kim
ReplyDeleteI have really cut back on my fabric purchases as my stash is very deep and I have plenty of clothes for my retirement lifestyle. I prefer to buy in-person rather than on-line. I used to journey over to the fabric district in Dallas once or twice a year to shop, but there are only a couple stores left now (a tornado took out my favorite store unfortunately). I go to the Craft Store for thread/zippers/elastic as needed - it is only 1.5 miles from my house. Interesting to hear Jo-Anns is starting to carry better quality fabrics. Nancy
ReplyDeleteHmmm...maybe just particular about what you wear. That said, I too am particular. About where and what I buy. After donating a lot of fabric my stash is much smaller, not gone, just smaller. I still have a stash. Like you I have online stores I know I can rely on to be accurate and have amazing quality. I tend to stick with them. And, like you, I hate that we can no longer find some of the fabrics that used to be common in the stores. Cotton/silk and linen/silk I miss and rarely find. I envy you having such a great selection of stores. I always look forward to your makes as it is apparent that what you make makes you happy. That is where the beauty comes in. Your happiness comes through. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a fabric snob, though that has been a slow realization! I'm going through a "de-stashing" right now and almost all of the fabrics I'm donating are old purchases at that craft store! As I look at the fabrics I'm keeping, it's clear that linens and cottons are my go-to favorites, with the odd blends for summer sewing endeavors. My favorite fabrics were often purchased while traveling, and the items I've made from those are now classics in my life! Of course, de-stashing means there's a little more room on my shelf right now and I'm actually heading to NYC this weekend.... If you have recommendations for stores, I'd love to check them out!
ReplyDeleteOpps... I see someone already asked this question! I'm looking forward to checking out Chic! Thanks!
DeleteOf course I love fabrics 😍. I haven't been to NY in years and drool with envy. But I make it to LA a couple times a year and that's an adequate substitute. There's a Crafts Store an hour and a half away, mostly the source of the flannel for the house pants that have become my pandemic-into-retirement staple. I'm more stoked about a new store in my small town , aiming for garment sewing for a change, and will be supporting that as my first choice. But my online skills are improving, much as I need touch to really feel the love, and I'm getting most notions from Wawak now
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I don’t sew much these days (work, family, etc.) but I prefer to buy in person. This is not usually possible for me but touching fabric (or clothes!) is so important to me. I find it hrs to buy online because I want to feel it first 😂
ReplyDeleteErin
I love fabric and I live in a small town with a Joanns I rarely go to and a great quilting and garment fabric store that I do use. I have my stash that is my go to and the internet for all else.
ReplyDeleteFabric snob in a variety of ways but also a serious bargain hunter. One way I am snobby is that I don't really care for online shopping. Over and over my fabric arrives and it just isn't what I imagined. It might be the size of the motif, the color, but usually its the drape. I need me some drape and you can only get that in person. I have one merchant that never lets me down and that is Apple Annie fabrics. I have been in their store as well so am familiar with their type of offerings and quality and have met the owner, extremely gifted sewist and teacher with great taste. No affiliation but they do have a website. As far as bargains. I am not against buying a XXXl garment out of fabulous fabric and recutting something for myself. That may happen every two years or sew. My eyes are always open for great fabric opportunities, no matter where I find them. Drape and color will sell me.
ReplyDeleteThat XXXL garment can be male or female. I troll both areas for fabric potential.
DeleteI love fabric more than patterns. There's this tug of war where it stresses me out to have lots of un-sewn fabric hanging around, but it also stresses me out to be trying to hunt down suitable fabric for a particular project. My sewing brain works best when I start with the fabrics on hand. For that reason, buying online works pretty well for me. If the drape, color etc. isn't what I expected, I'm fine with changing the project to match the fabric.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I also buy in person. My city fortunately has a few independent, garment-focused fabric stores. The Craft Store is dead to me. They have betrayed my garment sewing dreams too many times 🙄
-SKP
Aloha from Hawaii where linen and fine cotton voile and lawn are king for garments with fine woven rayon are queen. We generally have only quilting cotton available locally (quilting is big here) and so online shopping is essential for a dressmaker. I shop all the ones you probably know, EmmaOneSock, MarcyTilton, Liberty of London etc but maybe you haven't heard of Nerida Hansen out of Australia. Her designers are local, many of them indigenous. Their designs are hip, chic, colorful and are available in cotton sateen, tencel linen, and lightweight linen. This was a good question of the day. Vicki
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to have forgotten about Sawyer Brooks. Have gotten some great pieces from this site.
DeleteHi Vicki. No more Makiki Dry Goods? I still have a yardstick and patterns with their store stamp. Loved their remnant sale.
DeleteA bit in defense of JoAnn Fabrics (and Crafts) aka: "The Craft Store".
ReplyDeleteI've been sewing since I was eight years old. That means it's been well over fifty years that I've had a needle and thread in my hands. Not a few of those years, mind you, I didn't do much sewing but kept up with it through copious amounts of Threads, Sewing with Nancy, Sandra Betzina, Sew Much Fun, Shirley Adams, Clotilde, Roberta Carr....
Without going over the whole spiel, I've enjoyed and learned from all of the garment sewing sources I've come across.
And I count JoAnn Fabrics (now "and Crafts") among them.
It's true what you say, Carolyn, about being a "fabric snob". I'm one, as well. And equally true that I've done my fair share of looking askance at JoAnns' as a viable source of good/better/best quality fabrics. They seemed to have gotten worse and worse as a reliable source for garment sewers (now sewists). I suspect it was one thing affecting the other. That being that there were fewer and fewer people who sewing their own clothing, thus fewer and fewer customers purchasing garment fabrics. So, what was JoAnns' to do? How would they stay in business? Well, by pivoting to a different clientele and business model, of course. They began to include more and more crafting items, as well as cater to the quilters, who I was told by an independent fabric store owner, was what kept the home sewing industry afloat back when independent garment fabric stores were closing seemingly all at once.
I don't begrudge them their success. I'm glad of it. Now, I did feel slighted when the garment fabric section grew smaller and smaller in favor of jewelry making supplies and scrapbooking paraphernalia, and card-making papers. But that's what kept them afloat. In the meantime, and honestly, it didn't hinder my fabric buying in the least.
I found independents that I shopped at regularly, and then online was just coming to the fore, and it was game over, at that point. Carolyn, you introduced me to Fabric Mart, and after that first few shipments, I've never looked back.
What JoAnns IS good for, for me are it's revolving pattern sales. I have a boatload of patterns, mostly the Big Four, mostly purchased for anywhere from .99 to 5.99. I don't have a lot of independent patterns, since I've already got a comparable silhouette lurking somewheres in the vast pattern stash, and just have to go on a deep dive if I see something a new company has issued. Not to say that I wouldn't purchase from one of them, as they do indeed have lots of cute, innovative and up-to-date stylings (that often look like vintage Big Four patterns, but hey, that's just me).
And then there are the notions. Thread, zippers, hand and machine needles, elastic, etc. I can't think where I'd be if not for JoAnns being close by when I needed something of that sort. Being a notions store in and of itself has been more than extremely helpful.
So anyway, yeah; I'm a JoAnns fan and grateful customer. I do see why some don't shop there, but they've gotten better about offering better quality fabrics (not a lot better, mind, but "better") that one has to look (dig) for. But hey. Who doesn't love a good scavenger hunt?
Kim
I have always been a fabric snob. I have also also been partial to fabric clubs. I’ve been a member of Vogue fabrics club for well over 2 decades. I was also a member of the Fashion Fabrics Club when it actually was a club that sent out monthly subscriptions with coordinating fabrics. I have local access to several excellent fabric stores in South Florida. Beautiful linens and silks are readily available (which are my favorites). Joanns is great for basics, but I still prefer fabric stores as opposed to “craft” stores.
ReplyDeleteI too am a fabric snob and always have been in my 60+ years of sewing. I am blessed with a gigantic and eclectic fabric warehouse in my town, and any rainy day you can find me browsing for treasures.
ReplyDeleteI am also a dyer and fiber artist, and use cotton, linen, rayon and silk in my work - sourced online, gathered from friends or thrifted. I recently demonstrated to a group of indigo/shibori dyers the difference in results between using any old fabric and a quality fabric .
Until meeting you IRL in New York in 2008, I have never bought fabric online and shopped almost exclusively at the craft store. Although, back then, House and Fabrics was still around and it was much better than the other one. Anyway, I now buy quite a bit from FM (my hubby thanks you). My biggest issue with the craft store is how expensive they are for mediocre fabrics. The good stuff isn't always that great, but it's priced like it is. g
ReplyDeleteI buy mostly remnants at the Craft Store, and only when they are interesting, of quality natural fiber or fabrics I just like. Of course, they have to be big enough to make a small top, shorts, ribbing for bands or for color blocking, and any piece of even a yard is rare. My local store also carries Burda Magazine occasionally, and that’s a real treat. As for patterns, I have quite a few and try to not look, as I might be tempted!
ReplyDeleteI have bought online from only Fabric Mart (favorite) and Fashion Fabrics Club. There is an independent jobber I buy from in Asheville NC called Foam & Fabrics Outlet, and they have lots to look through. Usually I find great notions, a piece or two of fabric, and on my last visit, wonderful inexpensive buttons (it did take some time to sort through the bin for sets, but at 10 cents for metal buttons, it was time well spent).
Purchases of fancy fabrics are mostly a thing of the past. I still have a sizeable stash of wool and silk, and occasionally find great bargains of both at Fabric Mart if I really want more. In the past few years I have gotten steadily better at buying solids and fabric types over interesting prints I might never get a chance to wear. I am also better at finding coordinating pieces if I am starting with a busy print. A change in hair color (to all gray) has required some adjustment as well, from intense, saturated gemstone colors to more pastels and softer shades that work better for me. Robin
I've been a quilter for a long time and come back to garment sewing after a long break when I couldn't find things that I really WANT to wear anywhere, in fabrics I like - and because of blogs like yours. I am a fabric snob too - and find that I just can't wear polyester in most cases. Thanks to you, I've also recently ordered from FabricMart - what wonderful fabrics! I still go to The Craft Store for crafts, zippers, thread, and Kona Cotton when I'm quilting. Today I'm wearing a me-made top and jeans - I tend to make the same pattern a bunch of times with variations, it's so enjoyable to have a successful sew time and again, and to be comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI love everything about fabric, but I too am something of a snob. Over the past couple of years I will admit to buying bits and pieces at my local Craft Store, but lately I have been unhappy about (1) their very high prices with not such great discount sales; and (2) the quality! As they tried to take over the sewing world, they private labeled their own stuff, and it's just not very nice. I'm old, no longer work, but I'm a sucker for an interesting print to make blouses for summer. My closet is therefore abundant with color, and there's enough in there that it will certainly outlive me. Plus I just can't help myself -- in April I bought three pieces of blousing from a Portland, Oregon fabric shop called Josephine's .Drygoods, just because of the name.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a pattern in mind and shop your stash more/less than finding a fabric in your stash and look for a pattern? I'm wondering what is your more common method and if you "discover" a fabric in your stash how do you decide on the pattern? I'm sure some of your stash fabrics are for blouses and longer lengths for dresses, but I'm curious about your thought process. I waffle between looking at a fabric and trying to decide among several patterns (for example, a jacket) but sometimes I want to sew a specific jacket pattern and then have to decide on the fabric. I make jackets, blouses, and pants, so most of the lengths in my stash are good for a jacket or pants. TIA.
ReplyDeleteI love quality natural fiber fabrics, and have a large "fabric pantry" of mainly wovens, accompanied by a notebook listing content, an inch square sample, and recently, when purchased and from where. It helps me to shop my pantry to be able to see what I have. A very nice independent garment and quilting store is 30 miles away in Boulder Colo, plus sells online, and I buy online from Core Fabrics in Canada (same owner as Closet Core Patterns) and Oak Fabrics in Chicago, plus occasionally Guthrie and Ghani in UK (her sale Liberty plus shipping is more economical than US buying) - all have too notch fabrics.😊
ReplyDeleteI have bought very little fabric on-line. I’m scared of it! I have always walked through a fabric store with my hands out, touching everything I could. When I was on hiatus from garment sewing, but was quilting, I felt sorry for the people I met on-line who couldn’t shop in person. And that’s just considering plain-weave cotton! I am edging closer, though, as the only competitors to Joann’s locally are quilt shops.
ReplyDeleteRebecca L