I was just wondering what do you pay for fabric per yard? or metre?

I live in Australia and $26.00 a metre is cheap!!! Some quilt shops charge $28- 30 a metre! If not more!!! I loved when the Australian dollar and US dollar were nearly dollar for dollar but now the US dollar buys nearly $1.40 here add the cost of postage and works out nearly the same.

Sometimes you can get okay fabric at a discount store such as Spotlight but I dont find the quality to be as good - their fabrics are about $12.00 but you dont have the quality, and the choice of fabrc.

Plus if we dont support our local quilt store they wont be in business the next time we want to use them.

How long is a metre? 39 inches??? If that is the case, that is expensive!! Our quilt shops here charge up to $10.00 a yard (36 Inches x 42- 44 wide) Wal-Mart is cheaper of course and I am lucky enough to have a surplus store in Maine that carries quilt shop fabric for 2.69 to 3.99 a yard. Bought a bunch of Thimbleberries the other day and it was 3.99.

The last batch of fabric I bought most was on sale for $4. Some was still full price at $8. Wal-mart is usually $4.50. Joanns quilters cottons run $3-9. Same at Hancocks. Most LQS run $9 for the cotton, batiks run higher $12-15.

*All are per yard prices.

I work at a fabric store, and most of the quilting cottons are around 10 bucks a meter, regular price. The quilting shops have them between 15-20 bucks a meter, sometimes more depending on the fabric.

Check out thousands of bolts.com, they have decent prices, even with the shipping.

Like Baren*en*ked said, Thousands of Bolts are really good. Great prices for me here in Spain where the fabric is really expensive.

Elle

Isn't a meter just over a yard? We're paying 9.00-12.99 at local quilt shops per yard of quality fabric. Other larger stores charge less and you can find some quality pieces there but I think it's hit or miss. I usually spend $4- 7 a yard for that. Keep in mind that's US dollars so it would be higher in Australia for example simply because of the exchange rate. I think current Australian exchange is like 1 US=1.5 Aust and 2.0 pounds or so.

If a local quilt shop has what I am looking for, or if I like what I see there, I buy locally. By supporting them, they support other local businesses, the money stays local and we all benefit. Money spent at big chain stores mostly leaves the area altogether. And I buy nothing at WalMart, ever, because of their corporate "ideals".

If the local quilt shop does not have what I am looking for, or anything similar that will do, them I buy online from places with excellent customer service that I know and trust. Most also have brick and mortar shops as well as online sales.

There are many local shops (Keepsake Quilting is 'local' for me, as well as many others) and it is worth it to me to pay their prices to keep them in business. In return, I get lots of good advice, great fabrics, friends to share my quilts with, all that kind of benefit you don't get elsewhere. The average price is $8.50 (USD) per yard, no tax and no shipping.

I pay 8.50 to 10 Dollars a yard at quilt shops. Walmart is 2.44 to 4.44.
On line it is 3.00 to 7.00. I shop online at Marshalls dry goods, 1000's of bolts, Bear Paw, Quilt in a day, and E-Quilter. Many have free shipping specials throught the year or if you spend a certain amount.
Connie

I was in Victoria in early December and had to pay 18.99 a meter, thought that was a little expensive. I am paying 10.50 up here in Washington State. Seems the quilt stores are raising prices again.

I have been shoping my LQS "sale" fabric. They have a web site with their sale fabric listed. But it is very hard to see the true color. So I go in and ask them if they have something that I am looking for. They keep their sale fabric upstairs, so I can't just go in and look at them. Last Saturday I dropped off three UFOs that need border fabric and asked them to look in their sale group to see if they have something I can use. They were taking inventory and didn't want to spend the time then, so I just left the UFOs with them and they will call me when they get around to looking. But I have also gone in and they have gone upstairs immediately and brought 5 or 6 bolts for me to look through.

I just don't have $9 for a yard of fabric, and agree that if you don't patronize them, they are likely to close. Also, they are the only ones in town that can repair machines.

I also purchase sale fabric from Blue Bamboo (mybluebamboo.com), Connecting Threads, and Thousands of Bolts. Also I have purchased some from e-bay, but again, the colors are not always true.

A meter is about 39.5 inches.

I usually pay between $7 and $15 CAD per meter at the local fabric and quilt stores, depends on if the fabric is a "designer" one or not. Cotton broadcloth runs between $3 to $5 CAD a meter.
Zoo

I have several quilt stores within driving distance, I usually buy my fabric from their clearance and if I need for a project I buy fat quarters or 1/2 yard if I can get away with it. most of them have great sales also. The last Fri of the month is called Fat Friday because the store will have them for $1.25. It seems the quilts I have made lately use less fabric except for backing and I buy neutrals or fabric that will go with many colors when they are on sale. I have quite a few 4-6 yard pieces and I piece the backs if I don't have enough of one fabric.

The higest fabric cost per yard I've seen in most quilt shops is $12.99 a yard. Usually it's about $8 a yard. I buy on sale or when I find a clearance. I don't know about shipping but Connecting Threads has great sampler packs of their fabric lines. Some are 20% off now too. The code Charm will give you 15% off total order.

I will buy my fabric where I find something I like but I also know that I can't afford to buy a lot of quilt shop fabric at their regular price. If I love something, I will buy some at regular price and then try to find coordinating fabrics for cheaper. I have a Walmart where prices run from 2-6/yd, Joanns 3-9/yd, Hancock (don't really go there much) and a Mill End where fabric runs from 1.99-4.99/yd and they usually have a 40-60%off coupon. All of these are within 10 mile so I have great choices. I try not to spend more than 5/yd if I can help it, otherwise DH would probably ring my neck! :lol: Of course, what he doesn't know doesn't hurt him!

For those of you outside the U.S. are the online shops willing to ship, and if so, is postage too prohibitive? Otherwise, there are probably some of us willing to drop items in the mail...I know I would.

That is really sweet of you. The cost of fabric here is around 14€ equates to 20.41$ per metre (39") but I can pay for fabric on line and the shipping is not prohibitive, Its still cheaper to buy on line for me.

thank you anyway.

Elle

Hi Vanessa, I to live in Australia and the price of fabric is unreal. A friend put me onto www.hancocks-paducah.com and if you register with them they send you email with specials etc. Also about every 3 months or so they have free shipping internationally if you spend over $75-00 US. The free shipping only lasts a few days so what I do is look at things I want when I have time and add them to my "wish list" you can then send your wish list to a friend or they can send theirs to you so you can put in a combined order.
Their quality is great and their prices are from $2-98 per yard whick is great for fabric to use as backing and their good stuff is around $12-00 per yard, they will even ship batting and it's a great price.
I do support my LQS when I can but if I had to buy everything from there I wouldn't be quilting.

I do not like to pay anything more than $10.00 for good fabric. Sometimes I can get it for less. My sis just visited a place in Arkansas called Marshalls. She got me some 108" backing for less than $5.00 a yard.

the local quilt shops in my area charge $8-$12 a yard depending on the quality - batiks are the most expensive - i only shop at the LQS when there's a sale.

i live near the garment district in NYC so i go there to buy bolts like Moda/etc and then i pay about $3-4 a yard and for PFD i pay $2 a yard.

when i don't want a bolt i order online.

Some online shops (US-based) do ship internationally, and others won't. It is extra work to ship internationally as there are Customs forms to be filled out.

If you do decide to order from overseas, be sure to check out the detail regarding shipping. Though most international packages do get delivered promptly, delays and lost packages sometimes do happen. You want to be sure that there is some sort of insurance available or included, in the unlikely event that a package gets lost.

Being in Australia, when it comes to ordering from out of the country, you're much luckier than if you were in the UK! I believe that Australia does not charge any import taxes/fees unless you're importing more than $500. (At least, that is what I was told several years back from one of our repeat customers in Australia.) In the UK, they charge a handling fee, PLUS taxes... and even the shipping fees are taxed. (Now that seems pretty heartless!)

I'm wondering if the prices you pay for fabric in Australia vary depending on the exchange rate? I've occasionally gone onto Australian quilt-fabric websites, but not often enough that I can get a sense of how the prices change depending on the relative strength of your currency.

I live in France and would have to pay around 16 euros (26USD)a metre (a good yard!) but I order online, either from the UK or US. :D Sometimes if I go to Holland with DH, I have a look there but it's nearly as expensive as here! I got a good haul a while back at a fabric fair there, but some of it turned out to have poly in it although they swore blind it was cotton!

Oh well, the wine is cheap here! :wink: :lol:

5bucksayard.com always has great quality for cheap. The selection may not be as wide as the big stores, but I've found some real bargains there.

The international shipping rates:

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING - We ship GLOBAL Priority Mail up to 6 Yards in a Flat Rate Envelope ($12.35) to all applicable foreign countries (per www.usps.com). For 6-12 yards, we ship 2 flat rate envelopes. 12 - 24 yards we ship USPS Priority Mail flat rate box, which is $37. I can only fit 24 yards in each box so please don't request more than 24 yards. If you would prefer the envelopes, note in the comments.

Some of the premium fabrics are over $5, but you never know what you'll find.

Have you tried e-bay, searching by distance?

Most of the time I order in the UK...Because if I order outside of Europe I have to pay very big tax. A good tip is webfabrics.net. She is Dutch ans put the fabrics in a speciale rate enveloppe..

Prices in The Netherlands are between 12 to 22 euro's...Much to expensive to me...Only if I buy fabrics chints from Den Haan & Wagemakers I want to pay more..

I order mostly from the UK too for the same reason - fabric in France is a little more expensive even than Holland.

And I LOVE Den Haan & Wagenmaakers!!! Have you been to their shop in Amsterdam? It's like heaven on earth! :D