The Best Places to Buy Fabric Online
If you've been to your local JoAnn Fabrics lately, you've likely experienced some of the heart-warming or down-right horrible moments that have been recorded for posterity on the JoAnn Reddit community. Watching the company go down has been rough. Watching the company reap the karma of putting Hancock Fabrics out of business has been a small consolation.
At least in my experience, our local store here in small-town middle Georgia has been pretty well organized amid the tales of chaos. The staff there have been incredible; most have stayed on to close the store out properly when they could move on to better opportunities. One cutting counter employee told me, "I could have retired last year. I stayed because I love my regulars and want to go out hand in hand with them."
As I waited in the cutting counter line to measure the last four yards of rayon challis I'd likely ever buy in person, I heard the same question repeated ad nauseam by other customers.
"Now where will I buy my fabric?"
Never mind that there is an incredible local fabric store that specializes in quilting not two miles from the soon-to-close JoAnn.
To buy any decent garment fabrics, a two-hour trip to Atlanta will be the only option here outside of shopping online.
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I myself will be buying nearly all of my fabric online; a habit I developed years ago living in a small Norwegian town with very few options beyond yarn shops. I kept fabric shopping online even when we moved back to the U.S. I have a rather exhausting auto-immune montage and don't travel well so I can't just pick up and drive two hours for a shopping trip.
I always prefer to shop locally but that's seldom an option. So where do I buy quality fabrics online? What fabric stores do I trust?
I made a big list for you!
*Hot tip: start a notebook just for fabric swatches. Keep notes on the fabric type, fiber contents, and washing instructions. This will be a great reference someday for future fabric purchases!
--My big handy list of places to buy fabric online--
B&J Fabrics
www.bandjfabrics.com is located in New York, NY.
Back Room Finds
www.backroomfinds.com has an amazing selection of vintage new old stock fabrics.
Black Bird Fabrics
www.blackbirdfabrics.com/en-us is located in East Vancouver, Canada.
B.Black and Sons
https://www.bblackandsons.com is located in Los Angeles, CA.
Blue Moon Fabrics
www.bluemoonfabrics.com is located in Los Angeles, CA.
Burnley and Trowbridge - purveyors of accurate goods for historical fashion.
https://burnleyandtrowbridge.com
Denver Fabrics - The best prices on silk fabrics I've seen anywhere. I bought the fabric for my wedding dress here 20 years ago!
https://denverfabrics.com is located in Denver, CO.
eBay - It can be hit and miss but you can get some great deals on fabric there. Its my go-to place for printed Indian Sanganeri hand block printed fabric like the one I used to sew my 1920s robe.
Etsy
www.Etsy.com has hundreds of independent fabric and notion sellers.
*Pro tip: do the extra work of comparing prices on Etsy fabric shops. Some resellers from Etsy and eBay have cannibalized their local JoAnn Fabrics to resell at insane markups. Others are fair and professional fabric sellers.
Fabric Mart
www.fabricmartfabrics.com is located in Sinking Spring, PA.
Fabric Fetish - I have bought some beautiful cotton prints here.
Fabric Wholesale Direct
Fabric Mart
www.fabricmartfabrics.com is located in Sinking Spring, PA.
Gorgeous Fabrics
https://gorgeousfabrics.com is located in Billerica, MA.
Heddy’s Fabrics
www.heddysfabrics.com is located in Las Vegas, NV.
International Silks and Woolens
https://intlsilk.com is located in Los Angeles, CA.
Marcy Tilton Fabrics
Metro Fabrics
www.metrotextilesnyc.com is located in New York, NY.
Mulberry Silks & Fine Fabrics
https://mulberrysilks.net is located in Carrboro, NC.
Mood Fabrics
www.moodfabrics.com is located in New York, NY.
Mrs. Depew Vintage - Occasionally has vintage fabric in stock.
Sew Sassy Fabrics
https://sewsassy.com specializes in lingerie fabrics and notions!
Silk Baron
Spandex House
www.spandexhouse.com is located in New York, NY.
Spandex World
www.spandexworld.com is located in New York, NY.
Stylemaker Fabrics
www.stylemakerfabrics.com is located in Stanwood, WA, USA.
Wawak - I just added this because they are so darn useful...
https://www.wawak.com/ for every kind of notion and tool you'll never need!
Wool House Toronto
https://thewoolhousetoronto.com is located in Toronto Canada.
But wait, there's more!
Sewing Through Fog has created this handy map of second-hand fabric shops throughout the United States.
They also have a marvelous list of online second-hand fabric shops! (Also in the U.S.).
And don't forget your local thrift shops. I get about 25% of my fabric from my local Hospice-run thrift shop! I get to shop locally, pay a great price on fabrics, and support a good cause all at the same time. Fabric hoarding never felt so good!
Bonus tip: If you're not terribly familiar with the types of fabrics being advertised, you're not alone. Check out my comprehensive fabric encyclopedia.
How about you? Do you have any favorite fabric sources I should add to this list?
Comments (6)
This is very helpful, thank you
My pleasure!
Thank you for the really thorough list. I had also gotten use to buying fabric online when I moved to Reno, but I have not been able to find good online sources for notions and finishings - really need hem tape and bindings and Joann's was already not keeping up on stock
I think Wawak might be just the place for those.
I love Burnley and Trowbridge and Fabric-store. Most of my fabric comes from Etsy, though—some of the shops in the LA fabric district maintain online shops there, and it’s quite convenient to get things relatively quickly here in Oregon. There are also some NY fabric district shops there, too.
I love Fabric Mart! I order most of my fabric from them anymore. Great service from my experiences.