Anyone remember House of Fabrics?
 

I worked at the Serramonte Mall store in Daly City while I was in college. It was a fun place to work but in the early 80s the selection of quilting fabrics was abysmal at best. I was sad when New York Fabrics and then Joann's bought them out because they closed down all the mall shops. It was fun to shop for fabric at the mall with my friends. Of course that was a different era. I'm sure there are still some malls with fabric stores in them but none near me.

Do any of you miss the mall fabric shops? We had Singer and House of Fabrics. There were also fabric departments in the major department stores. Those were the days!

Ben Franklin, Perman's (in Northfield, MN), Sears, Montgomery Ward, JC Penney - all had fabric departments "way back when"

I do remember House of Fabrics, although I didn't shop a lot there, I preferred Hancocks. I also remember every store bearisgray mentioned, except Perman's.

I think it was called So-Fro in Ohio. I used to shop there when my kids were little.

I loved House of Fabrics. I still have a key chain that they had given away. It was bolts of fabric lying horizontal with the last two bolts on top touching at an angle. A house of fabric! Anyway, I loved that store and like everything else that seems to be going by the wayside - I sure miss them.

Marshall Fields in Chicago. They have wonderful designer quality wools I used to sew business suits.

House of Fabrics became So-Fro in my area. The mall across the street had Beaconway Fabrics and Zayre Department store had fabrics in the craft department. Singer was located with the downtown shops away from the mall.

Yep, and I worked for House of Fabrics/So-Fro, and also Singer.

I remember those stores. My grandmother used to buy fabrics in those stores. I loved the machine they ran the fabric through to measure the yardage. It made a cut at the desired length and then the lady tore it. Our town had Penney’s, Sears, Perkins and Singer. In Dallas, all the major stores had a fabric department.

Amluxen’s on the Mall in downtown Mpls had an amazing collection of dress wools. Orecks’s, GlassBlock in downtown Duluth.

I miss them a great deal. My wedding dress fabrics were purchased at a Singer fabric store and I know I still have some fabrics around here from House of Fabric. We also had Hancock Fabrics and of course they too are gone. I still have fabrics from them. Ben Franklin was fun. I remember buying my first fabric for $.35/yd. at a Five and Dime in our town. We still have one competitor in our area and that is Hobby Lobby. The closest LQS with fabric is about 20+ miles from me so I don't get there. Now I purchase most of my fabrics on line where I am able to still get some good quality fabrics. It was nice to go to the local Mall and browse all the beautiful fabrics and just smell the freshness of the new fabrics.

How about Monique Fabrics? My first job at age 16 was at one of those. I feel like they were also a division of So-Fro/House of Fabrics? This was in southern Indiana in the early 70s.

Not only did we have 4 fabric shops in Randall Park Mall, but there were at least 6 manufacturers in the area that had outlets for the most wonderful fabrics. There was Jerri Laurie, Bobbie Brooks, Dalton's, The Woolen Mills and the rest of the names escape me, but shopping for fabrics and supplies was heaven.

Minnesota Fabrics and House of Fine Fabrics.

Joanns in Torrance California is in the Del Amo mall. This makes it the largest (physical size) Joanns store in the country. They bought out the old Broadway (remember them?) 2 story store, closed off the escalator and leased out the upper level.

Unfortunately the fabric content is such that you can't risk tearing most fabrics. Even if it says 100% cotton, they will at times tear crooked. That is why we never risk tearing a customers fabric. And, of course, poly will just rip any old direction. I also was taught on the machine that cut the tiny clip and then you tore it at Newberries. Wow, does that show my age!!!!

I remember House of Fabrics. I think before Joann bought it the location I go to was "Best" fabric.

In the early 1980s I worked at the Pacific Fabrics in Anchorage, Alaska. I still have a piece or two left in the collection from back then but it took about 20 years to work through most of what I bought while I working there. We didn't have a lot of choices for fabric back then, but I remember getting a lot of stuff at Fred Meyer (which was brand new there then). I don't remember what was in the mall near Sears but I used to go and drool at the sewing machines (at Sears) when I was still a teen :) My first major purchase after leaving home was a good sewing machine.

I bought the fabric for my first quilt from the Montgomery Ward catalog.

I not only remember House of Fabrics, I'm ancient enough to remember Stretch & Sew! I had forgotten about ordering fabrics from Sears & Monkey-Wards catalogs. What a trip down Memory Lane!

I remember House of Fabrics. Way back when I was a kid doing 4-H sewing, I spent many hours in House of Fabrics and JoAnns. I was sad too when they went out because choices of fabrics in our area was cut in half at that point. It didn't take long after that for the quality of JoAnn's fabric to become horrible. I don't know what I would do now if I was sewing garments - the fabric quality and selection at JoAnn's in bad. You can't even find pretty wool/wool blends anymore there.

I did a lot of fabric shopping in Penney's and Sears and Montgomery Ward. My girls would pick out the fabrics they liked and I would order it and then makes their school clothes.

Yes I remember The House of Fabrics too. I liked shopping there and Hancock's Fabrics which was pretty close in location to them. Ben Franklin's was another favorite, since they had designer brands of fabric.

I worked at SoFro Fabrics in the early 80's. That is where I bought the fabric for my first quilt. It was in the local mall.

I do miss House of Fabrics and SoFro. They always had such interesting things.

So many great memories! I was reading this thread and just remembered something I'd forgotten. I was no more than seven when the Newberry's store in our town was closing. They had a table full of bolts and bolts of fabric that were on clearance. My mom was looking through them for fabric to make clothes for me, (I had the cutest clothes at school, all handmade by my mom). I can still picture those fabrics and remember how much I wanted all of them.

I recently asked my mom if she remembered the same thing but all she could remember was the popcorn in the long skinny bags they sold there.

I remember those too! I worked at Sears in the mall and there was a singer sewing store and House of Fabrics and Penny's all with fabric!! Those were the day's!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]614903[/ATTACH]

Yes, I remember House of Fabrics and selecting fabric that my mother used to make my high school prom dress!

I remember them! We also used to be able to buy patterns and fabric from The Bazaar. I like finding fabrics in the department stores...

We had Woolworths, I have fabric with the price still stapled on. I remember going in as a child with my mother and picking out patterns to make school clothes. We stopped at the lunch counter after and got a treat, mine was always home made Boston Cream Pie. Oh My! thanks for that memory, so much fun.

I remember House of Fabrics in VA. I worked for Minnesota Fabrics in VA--might have been part of Hancocks. I still have the Gingher shears they gave us for Christmas one year. Still in excellent condition. Had nearly forgotten about the fabric departments in department stores.

Another Southern California native here-although I was located a bit north of Torrance growing up. When I started to sew almost 50 years ago, there were a wide range of fabric stores open for business at a wide range of locations. All easy to reach around my parent's house. The quality of fabric (even the inexpensive ones) easily surpass the ones available now. I still have laundry bags from House Of Fabrics I made way back in those days still in use in my closet. I like to see if the fabrics being sold now would survive that long!

By the 1990s, most of those stores were gone. Now I only have 2 choices (Joann's & Michael Levine's) fabric stores around here. And online if I have to go there. Positively depressing.

We had House of Fabrics and Cloth World. That was in Riverside, California.

My Grandmother made pillow cases and crocheted around them and the fabric had to come from Penny's. I would buy remnants at the department stores to make my formals since the fabric was always discounted more than 50%. I did shop House of Fabrics for fabric for my kids clothes and the left overs from all of those found there way into quilts.

I remember House of Fabrics and SoFro! Also had Fenstmacher's, which was a favorite of my mom's. We shopped at Wurzburgs in the downtown area of Grand Rapids too. Great memories!

Yes please! We live 1 hour from the nearest town, we had a JoAnn's and House of Fabrics... they closed and I was there for their sale. It's so sad when stores close and nothing replaces it. Our JoAnn's is dinky and there are no quilting store here. I have to go the other way 1 hour and there's a JoAnn's (still small) But there's LQS there so it's all good.

Yes, one mall had both Joann Fabrics and So Fro, the other Singer and Joanns. Also Montgomery Wards and J.C. Penney sold fabric and sewing machines, Sears sold machines but I don't recall much as far as fabrics.
Y