When I shop for fabric in stores like Joann's, I buy based on the feel of the fabric. After a while, you can tell if it is a good fabric or not. The good stuff has a nice, dense, smooth feel to it. One time I bought some not-so-nice fabric and when I got it back from the topstitcher it had several holes in it. The fabric was weak. Now my feeling is, if it is a wall hanging it doesn't matter but if it is something special I will spend the extra money and get good fabric.