Be aware of the quality of the fabric you're buying even if you've purchase this same fabric many times prior to now. I was at my local Wally World a couple of days ago to pick up some wide muslin - for curtains. I love muslin! I could only find one bolt of the wider width which I wanted but there was just under three yards on the bolt. I asked if they had any other bolt stored out of sight and the associate found a 13 yard bolt for me. She was about to cut the 5 yard amount I was wanting when I noticed the quality was much lighter in weight than what I always buy. I mentioned it to the young associate and (as if I didn't know what I was talking about) she informed me it was the 'same invoice number' on the cardboard sleeve the fabric was wrapped around as was on the cardboard sleeve of the fabric which was with the less than 3 yard piece. I tried to tell her it wasn't the same as the new bolt was much 'cheesier' in weight. Just then another associate entered into our conversation and checked the number and sure enough it was the same but when she checked the fabric itself she agreed with me it was not the same quality. Now I'm wondering how many of us unsuspecting sewers have been duped. My question is was this error on the part of the manufacturer, Walmart or who. In an effort to get the cheapest price for the fabric it's purchasing for us, is Walmart accepting a lower quality of fabric expecting us the buyer not to notice it 'ain't what it used to be' or is the manufacturer screwing with Walmart thinking they'll never know there has been a quality change. Who's going to notice? When was the last time a buyer for Walmart checked what ends up in the store for the sewers and noticing or even caring about the difference. After all it's just our 'buck' so what! Something like this really pisses me off. I may be an old turkey in years but I've still a brain that is functioning quite well, thank you! Now I hope I feel better having gotten that off my chest! DottienTx

I no longer purchase fabrics at Walmart for many reasons.

Feel free to vent anytime.
I work at the fabric dept of the local Walmart, and agree with you. There are times that the 'new' but same fabric is a bit different than it used to be. Not sure why. But I always inspect the fabric as I'm measuring it for my customers and point out if there are flaws or quality issues with it.

I know I hate getting bad quality, bad service etc. I try to take care of my customers and fellow quilters/sewers.

Sorry you had such an issue with your Walmart associate.

I used to prefer the muslin at Wal Mart to ANY I saw at JoAnn's - but, you're right, lately - not so much. I rarely rarely rarely shop at WM and even less now that they've done away with the fabric dept. Just have no real reason to go there much anymore.

You pay for what you get...

For several years now Walmart has demanded its suppliers lower their price by 10% *every* year. Once you've off shored manufacturing to the countries with the lowest labor costs and no environmental restrictions, the only way to lower costs from there is to lower the quality of the goods.

Expect lower quality every day!

A lot of the Walmart stores around me are not even having fabrics anymore. I noticed that the quality of a lot of the fabric at Hancock's and JoAnn's is poorer, too.

This has happened recently in the UK too.

Thinking that I didn't feel like travelling too far, I was about to purchase some fabric from a nearby large department shop but noticed the fabric weave seemed more 'open', for want of a better word.

I put it back and took the long journey across the city to the only quilt store we have and paid more for the better quality fabric I was used to.

This is happening in WM, as well as other stores. We all need to check the 'hand' of the fabric prior to purchase.

That being said, there is an online store I trust to always deliver the best quality - Keepsake Quilting. I know it is a little more for the fabric when I have to pay shipping. But sometimes there is nothing locally that works for the quilt in question...

[quote=QuiltingGrannie]Feel free to vent anytime.
I work at the fabric dept of the local Walmart, and agree with you. There are times that the 'new' but same fabric is a bit different than it used to be. Not sure why. But I always inspect the fabric as I'm measuring it for my customers and point out if there are flaws or quality issues with it.

I know I hate getting bad quality, bad service etc. I try to take care of my customers and fellow quilters/sewers.

Sorry you had such an issue with your Walmart associate.[/quote

wish all employees were like you! you deserve a medal :thumbup: I am like you and try to serve customers like I would like to be served but some customers test your patience! :lol:

I'm wondering if anyone else has given a thought to what the young ones at WM have managed to do to the old man's vision...and how much we have all encouraged and enabled them to do it? That big picture isn't very pretty, is it?

if you know product lines, you should only buy product lines that are known for their quality, Many times I find Moda and Amy butler at Walmart, Joanns and other places. you have to dig but its worth it.

I did just that! I was looking for Roclon Muslin... and had to go to W/M and thought I'd just look and see. Sure enough, they did have it. Bought 5 yards of it because of a swap I'm in and wanted more bleached muslin. I made one practice block with it and OMGosh, you could see through it. It was horrible. I don't know if it was just because it was W/M or what, but I ended up getting Kona bleached at JoAnns and you can't see through it.

It's sad to see quality and pride in your products go out the window for profits.

I know what you mean about the material at WM and glad that our WM's don't sell fabric anymore. I'd rather pay a little more and get good quality fabric.

I no longer shop at WalMart for anything as it is not just their fabric but since they went to that great value brand
it is not worth taking home I use to shop them all the time as I liked the one stop shopping but no more I just stay out
theit fabric is sleezy I agree you get what you pay for

I no longer shop at WalMart for anything as it is not just their fabric but since they went to that great value brand
it is not worth taking home I use to shop them all the time as I liked the one stop shopping but no more I just stay out
theit fabric is sleezy I agree you get what you pay for

You have to be careful at JoAnns as well. I picked up a bolt of white flannel and there was not enough fabric on it. There were two more w/ the same skew on it. One was the same quality as the first while the quality of the second was terrible.

The economic crisis is worldwide and we are starting to see the results. Everything is getting more expensive and poorer quality. Im just glad I have a good stock of notions bought before all this happened.
I really noticed it when Joanns doubled the price of batting and went up in price on everything.

I recently saw some fabric at our WM that I was considering buying until I read the label that said "Machine wash COLD;Iron on wrong side only" It was 100% cotton and not "scrunchy" like a pique or anything that would be flattened by ironing. What do you suppose THAT is all about????

Sue

My family tries very hard not to shop at Walmart, for anything. I don't like what they stand for, I don't like that everything is made in China and I don't like that they are pushing the "little guys" farther and farther out of the picture. I try and buy from local stores owned by local people, and that includes my quilting supplies.

I just checked. Over 45000 people signed the petition to ask WalMart not to close the fabric departments. Since the quality of the fabric has deteriorated, I wonder if it is worth saving? They have forced our hand by offering such inferior quality fabric, we won't buy it. Some appears to be cheesecloth with a heavy layer of dye on top. Terrible stuff!

Many women signed and stated they would never shop in WalMart again if they closed the fabric department. For me, I don't even care anymore. They figured out a way to put themselves out of business. They don't need our help or our support.

If you mean 45 thousand that works out to about 5 and a half customers per store. That's not much of an impact.

I'm shopping at Walmart less and less. I do like the one-stop shopping but we have a nice HEB for groceries as well as a great Ace Hardware for anything else I can buy at Walmart. This has pushed me over the edge. I'm new to this area so what's another change! Thanks for all your input. DottienTX, an x-walmarter (I won't even acknowledge them with a capital 'W') :-)

I have often wondered why the thread count isn't on the end bolt; anyone know why? Seems like it would be good information to know.