Where do you buy your fabric is the most common question I get asked all the time. I guess people love the variety of all the beautiful floral prints I use in making doll clothes. In this article, I will be sharing my favorite stores for buying fabrics.
Joann
Joann is the my number go-to store when it comes to buying fabrics. They have a large collection of pretty fabrics which are all neatly organized according to types and colors of fabric. The keepsake calico and premium quilting cotton sections are where I get most of my beautiful floral fabrics.
The best thing about Joann is they occasionally run a 40-50% sale on their cotton fabrics so always be on the lookout for that. Don’t buy fabrics at full price, if they are not on sale, make sure you use a coupon which you can easily get from their app or website.
Hobby Lobby
Hobby Lobby is another favorite store of mine next to Joann. They don’t have as large a selection as Joann but they do have some pretty woven cotton fabrics too that are only exclusive to them. The apparel section is the section I check most often too because they have some unique fabrics here that they sell on limited runs. And just like Joann, make sure you wait for the sale (30% off) on their fabrics which they run I believe every two weeks.
SAS Fabrics (local fabric shop in Phoenix)
SAS fabric is a local fabric store here in Phoenix and they have a large collection of designer fabrics. This is where I buy most of the hard to sew fabrics such as chiffon, satin, velvets and printed knits. They also have lots of special occasion fabrics such as beaded and embroidered tulle, fancy laces and silky fabrics. These are the challenging types of fabrics that I use for sewing doll clothes every once in a while (when I am in the mood for it). These fabrics are just beautiful and most of the time I just can’t help myself even though they are the hardest types to sew. When fabrics are these dreamy and flowy, I just can’t help myself. I will worry about how challenging it is to sew them at a later time.
Mulqueen Fabric Center (local fabric shop in Phoenix)
Mulqueen Sewing and Fabric Center is another local shop here in Arizona that I love shopping fabrics at. I literally spent hours here because they have the most beautiful quilting cotton fabrics to choose from with over 5,000 bolts of fabric. So if you are in Arizona, go check them out, you will have to spend a lot of time there because of all the sewing goodies they have.
Fabric.com / Amazon
Fabric.com is owned by Amazon so if you are a prime member you can get free shipping. They have literally hundreds of fabrics in their selection but they have filters in their website so you can narrow down the results. This is my go-to place when I feel like going for designer fabrics and my favorite ones are Riley Blake and Robert Kaufman.
The disadvantage of buying from this fabric.com is fabrics tend to be expensive at an average of $7-$9 per yard. But they do occasionally have sales and clearance so make sure you sign up for their newsletter to get notifications of their promos.
ETSY
When I am looking for a specific fabric that I can’t find anywhere else. I just type in their search bar the kind of prints I am looking for and they immediately return with hundreds of results. The downside is that fabric and shipping can be expensive when you purchase here but a lot of sellers do offer free shipping once you reach a certain amount.
Here is an example of their selection when I search for "daisy fabrics" for shops in USA location only. I was presented a lot and this is where I bought the fabrics that I used for my daisy dress pattern.
ALIEXPRESS
Aliexpress is a website based in China and this is where I buy fabrics occasionally too when I want to look for unique and beautiful prints. I have bought fabrics here that are imported from China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for the fabric to come in but I don’t mind the wait to be honest.
The disadvantage is that if you buy here there are literally thousands of selections and you will have to spend hours browsing over them. Prices also vary a lot so you have to keep looking if there are sellers selling the same fabric at a cheaper price.
So there you go, that’s literally where I get most of my fabrics and for me they are the best places to buy. I am sure there are still a lot of other good stores specially online but I have yet to explore them. For now, I am sticking with my favorites.
