Everyone wants to save money when crafting. Sewing and Quilting can be expensive hobbies. Fabric bought new can be expensive. If you want to look for alternatives to buying new, and maybe save a little money, look into buying thrifted fabric or at creative reuse centers.
Stephanie at Swooden Says has a great list of creative resuse stores across the US. You can find it at https://swoodsonsays.com/a-creative-reuse-center-near-me-map-resource/
I'll talk about a few I'm familiar with below and some not on her list.
Thistle has been my local go-to shop for a long time. I have actually only been to the physical store a handful of times and primarily purchase from their website and have my purchase shipped to me. What I love is that they often get vintage fabrics that are unique and fun and sometimes I find the elusive out of print fabric that I have longed for. You just never know what you will find. Their prices are also really good and they have sales regularly. The one downside is that you don't always know the fiber content of the material - but this is a common issue with all thrifted fabrics.
Untrash is very new. It was recently started by one of my neighbors. She sells a variety of craft items and always has a selection of fabric and notions in her shop.
Feel Good Fibers is a fabric destashing platform. I love that shipping is free. You can find some bargains, but there are also a lot of postings for out of print fabrics that can be pricey. But it is always a fun place to look for secondhand fabric.
Super Textiles used to be located in Dallas, Texas on Perth Street on what was known as Fabric Alley (or the Fabric District). It was hit by a tornado in October 2019 and went to a virtual marketplace on Etsy in 2020. I loved Super Textiles for 2 things. One being that they sold a lot of dead stock fabric and you could find some fun stuff leftover from apparel makers for Anthropologie. Two - Buttons. They have a HUGE assortment of buttons (and a few other notions) at excellent prices.
One of my local quilt shops, Not Your Mama's Quilt Shop, has a DeStash Blast. This is a great opportunity to rent a spot to sell your stash you no longer want or to buy from other individuals who are looking to destash. I went last year and came home with an armload of fabric for less than $20. Many of the Quilt Guilds had booths and had amazing deals. I found many sold fat quarter for a quarter and a yard of fabric could be bought for a buck or two. The next one is coming up and I will be going.
My Local American Sewing Guild also has a regular fabric sale as well. It is also a great opportunity to get fabrics at an amazing price. I went last year and bought a few bundles of quilting cotton and some apparel fabrics. They even had a huge amount of "scraps" that were free! It was fun to dig around to see what I could find.
I'd highly recommend checking with your local Guilds and Quilt Shops to see if they also offer these kinds of events.
Then there are always thrift stores. You would be amazed at what I find at thrift stores. I get fabric there - sometimes full bolts. My mom found me a bolt of batting a few months ago that was unopened. It was 90" wide 20 yard bolt of Quilters Dream. I often peruse the clothing at thrift stores for fun prints that are cotton to cut apart for the fabric. I also check out the bedding section. Sometimes I find new sheets that I can use for quilt backs. I've also found vintage quilt tops that I plan to quilt and make a quilt coat with. If I do see a lot of fabric in a thrift store, I will go look in their bins and pre-bagged stuff to look for things like quilting rulers and templates and have come across some fun finds.
I know I am likely forgetting some great online shops that specialize in deadstock that are also great to shop at. I think buying deadstock is a fantastic way to reduce the amount of textiles that end up in the landfill. I know there are many shops online that specialize in deadstock fabrics, but I am drawing a blank on them as I write this blog. I honestly heave not done nearly as much fabric shopping online as I have done in the past. I am trying to be more conscious of what I am buying and trying to avoid overbuying. I hope you find these shopping suggestions helpful. If you have other places to recommend, I would love to hear them! Thanks!
