Where do you buy your fabric online?
This is one of my most asked questions and I have been meaning to write it for months and months (years?)! Sometimes it’s hard to step away from the sewing machine and write a blog post, so it’s finally here! This is my current guide to shopping online, right now. I’m always finding new shops and adding to my list, so I may update this in the future! But right here, right now, this is my online fabric shopping routine! I’m also including some general sewing supplies, because if you’re not going into fabric shops, you’re probably not getting those either! Some of these shops are brands I have a working relationship with, but only because I’ve been ordering with them for years beforehand, so this is truly my list fabric shop favorites.
I do probably buy more fabric than the ordinary person, since I make so much stuff for this blog and other projects, so I feel like I have a good grasp on fabric shopping. And with small children, online shopping is my favorite kind. So let’s go!
First let’s talk about the downsides of shopping for fabric online and why I do it anyways.
Downsides of fabric shopping online:
- Not being able to touch the fabric is one of the downsides, but this really only applies to apparel fabrics.
- Sometimes descriptions are vague or confusing, this especially applies to knit fabrics. Stretch recovery is not usually discussed in online listing and that can make or break a project
- You have to wait more than an hour to use your fabric. Hah. hah. ;)
- I do love supporting small brick-and-morter shops. It’s nice to have those around and I know it’s hard to run a small fabric shop as a business. So not supporting them is a bummer
Why I do it anyways:
- Shipping is generally pretty fast and there is usually a free shipping offer if ordering over a certain dollar amount.
- LESS ERRANDS WITH KIDS. I love my kids and I love being a mother. I love spending more time doing interactive activities like reading and crafts and less time yelling at my kids to not wander off or not touch things. So, this is my #1 reason.
- Errands also exhaust me, with or without kids in tow. I don’t even want to talk about grocery shopping (and then you have to cook the food….le sigh.).
- Once you know fabric, fabric shopping online has little risk, especially when ordering trusted brands, stuff you’ve worked with and basic supplies.
- Prices are good online! Sometimes better than in stores.
In no particular order, these are the shops that I order from:
Raspberry Creek Fabrics is my go-to apparel fabric shop. There is a good solid selection of popular and basic knits and wovens! She does carry quilting cotton, but the apparel fabrics are where it’s at! Raspberry Creek also recently started a signature line of knits, called CLUB fabrics that print every so often. I’ve never had a quality issue with any of the fabrics from RCF and the shipping is fairly cheap and always priority.
Fat Quarter Shop is my quilting cotton source. They have every line, when it comes out, organized nicely! They don’t carry apparel fabrics besides a few lawns, so I’m on there for the quilting cottons, which actually makes shopping at FQS pretty simple. I love the website, the selection rocks and the shipping is also very fast. One unique thing about FQS is the way they stack their fabric before shipping it to you. It’s so flat and nice, you almost don’t want to dive into it. The free shipping threshhold is $80, so I’ll usually purchase for quite a few projects at once to save on shipping.
Spoonflower is a fun site! If you’ve ever been on there you know that. I design my own stuff on there and order that generally. I don’t go into the Marketplace much, but it is a fun place, too. I usually order basic cotton or Kona cotton. There is a new Jersey blend that I am anxious to try since I haven’t had great luck with their other knits. Find my doll fabric, quilt cloths and other designs here!
Fabric.com is my source for the cheapest Kona cotton. I back most of my baby quilts with basic Kona solids and I can’t ever beat the prices at Fabric.com. The free shipping threshold is only $35, so done and done. I also love Fabric.com because they carry pretty much every Riley Blake print. Since I design for Riley Blake, that is exciting to me!
I can’t leave out Amazon. Though it will probably run the world one day, I order SO MANY sewing and craft supplies on Amazon on a weekly basis. Usually if i need just one little thing (a spool of thread, a package of elastic, KAM snap refills, pacifier clips) I get on there and 2 days later, bam! In my mailbox. They have started carrying some fabric, I also love to buy Kraft Tex on there.
Miss Matatabi is a unique shop with a unique selection. Every once and a while I crave a good Japanese print and Miss Matatabi is the source for that! It ships US shipping so you don’t get an postage charge. So much eye candy on there!
Fabricworm is the birthplace of Birch fabrics and I love Birch. I haven’t ordered from them in a while, but I always have a good experience when I do. They also have most popular fabrics, including a selection of apparel stuff.
Girl Charlee is another favorite for knits. You need to know knits to order from here since they carry all types and some are thinner than you may expect. Any spandex blend is my favorite.
Mood.com is the online Mood store. I don’t order from here often, but their selection is incredible. The price range also gets really high, so I generally go to Mood for specific things. Mood is my favorite place to order coating fabrics from.
And I also order from Joann occasionally. Usually, if there is a good sale on notions, pillow forms, or other basics and an online coupon code to use(like a 20% off total purchase), I’ll place an order. Shipping has never been very fast for me, so I don’t place an order that I will need right away. Another downside is you can’t use more than one coupon online, so it’s usually a better deal to just go to the store.
Need something rare, specific or out-of-print? Etsy is a great option if you know the name of the fabric.
And that’s about it! Sometimes I’ll try a new shop, but these are my favorites that I keep going back to!
I’m sure there are lots more great fabric shops that could be on here, so join the See Kate Sew Facebook Group and add to our conversation about it!
Yes to Raspberry Creek!! Join her Facebook group to never miss a sale ;) I order from her waaaayy too often! Another good source for knits is Purpleseamstress on Facebook. I also tend to buy from Peekaboo Pattern and Fabric Shop since she has a great rewards system. I’ve had great experiences with Fatquarter Shop and Fabric.com as you listed above.
I shop fabric.com and fat quarter also. Love both. Also use craft town fabrics and fabric shack, HANCOCKS of Paducah and craftsy and an occasional smaller company, depending on what I’m looking for. I usually Google fabric needed and see who has it and choose from there depending on their shipping costs. I have been satisfied with all. Excited you’ve listed some new ones for me to check out.
Thanks
What is the trouble that you’ve had with spoonflower knits? I am anxious to try them, but I’d love to hear your experience! And I love Fresh Modern Fabric and Fabric Bubb, as two of my faves that you didn’t mention!
Thanks for this list! You should also check out Blackbird Fabrics, they are awesome for sewers from Canada :) Perfect Bra kits!
This is an awesome round up thanks for posting. I don’t know if you’ve ever ordered from Hawthorne threads but they have an amazing selection, the best prices, the fastest shipping, and a program the more you buy the more you save based on current and past orders. I’ve ordered from a lot of the stores You’ve posted also and have found them to have great service.
Bloomerie, Hawthorne Threads, Missouri Star Quilt Co., and Hancock’s of Paducah are where I buy fabric online. Cannot say enough good things about Bloomerie! Donna and Jess reply to customer emails ridiculously quickly, and everything is packaged beautifully for shipping. I spend about the same amount of money buying fabric online as I do buying from LQS’s…I’m also fortunate to live in an area with a LOT of LQS’s, but when the brick-and-mortar shops runs out of fabric I didn’t buy enough of, the online shops have it.
Thanks for the online fabric stores list. I also order from some of those and some were new to me. I have some oopps at the beginning with wrong fabric and unexpected size in the fabric design, so it might worth ordering swatches before hand.
I want to love Fabric.com, I really do…. but they are just not your friend if you reside in Hawaii or Alaska due to their shipping policies. I can only think that they must not ship with USPS as USPS shipping rates are comparable for continental and non-continental US addresses.
Yes! Thank you for this post! I’ve actually only taken the plunge and bought fabric online once in my whole life! But it’s on “the list”! I feel you on the errands, though! I recently started doing online grocery shopping (the kind where you drive up and they load your pre-shopped groceries in your car)… complete game changer with little ones! (even though it makes me feel quite spoiled!)
fabric.com was purchased by amazon.com a few years ago, so, you’re getting amazon.com anyway …. however, NOT their prime shipping nor customer service … it’s just order from fabric.com, then pay through amazon.com … again, without prime ….
darlene
I really wish there were more online fabric shops in CANADA! Ordering from the US is a nightmare for us – the difference in the dollar added to ridiculous shipping charges we’re often levied it’s just so much less expensive for us to shop here and I do! But shops can only stock so much fabric which limits our choices. So there is my rant. I do order from Blackbird Fabrics which is wonderful – Caroline has great taste and very reasonable costs.
Ooo thanks for sharing! I’m relatively new to buying fabric online, and have only really used spoonflower so far (to buy a couple of your designs actually :). Looking forward to testing out a few of these other ones!
I enjoy designig and just wonder if there is any other place besides Spoonflower tthat takes designs to post and sell. Is there any manufacture that out sources?
I just put a few on Spoonflower but they don’t seem to be coming up for sale?My Studio is under charliesflower. Thanks Sharn
Two more places to check out are Pink Castle and Hawthorn Facrics.
You forgot to add that there are less disapproving eyes awake as you whip out your credit card at 2am!!
So glad you wrote this! It helps me a lot! Thanks!
Great List! I’ve heard all about Rasberry Creek, but still haven’t tried them. I’ll need to finally give them a shot. I do almost all of my fabric shopping online since I live an hour away from a fabric store and have 3 young kids. My personal favorite is Harts Fabric. I get my fabric within 3 days (they’re located in L.A.) and they have a pretty good selection of rayon, my favorite fabric to work with.
I also like Missouri Star Quilt Co. for quilting fabrics, fleece, and minky & Craftsy has some really great sales you can jump on at times!
One of your cons was that you aren’t supporting brick & mortar, but many of the online shops are small businesses too! So it is good to support them as well.
Love this post!
Today, I went to the beachfront with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to
my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the
shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her
ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell
someone!