What is a fair price of fabric?
 

Being a newbie and somewhat of a tight wad, lol, I tend to :shock: when I see some prices of fabric. I understand the higher the quality, the higher the price but what is a good price? I went to my LQS today, first time, and was just looking around since I had my DD with me. One fabric was $13.25/yd! It was nice fabric but still. I didn't catch the designer name...I was too shocked over the price to think to look. I have only shopped at JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby currently and even their prices shock me sometimes.

So what is a bargain on nice quality fabric? Help me get over my shock. lol

Thanks!

did you notice the width of the fabric? my lqs carries wide goods (108"-118") which range from $13.95 up to $18.95 a yard---which is reasonable-since you only need 3- 3 1/2 yds to back a quilt- could be the (shocking) price was on a wide fabric.
in the lqs's around here fabrics range from $7.95 on up to about $12.95- depending on the fabric-
you could join the (fabshophop) and visit over a hundred on line shops and find a vast range of prices-and selections. it pays to shop around- i spend about 1/2 of my quilting $$ at my lqs and the other 1/2 on line shopping....out of the on-line percentage- 85-90% is spent at fabric.com the other 10-15% is spent at random shops.

Buy on the internet. Fabric.com has free shipping if you spend $35.00. Thousand Of Bolts actually weighs the fabric so if you only want a small amount you don't have to pay for one of those pre-priced envelopes. Have fun!

You have asked the impossible question. The shortage of base cotton goods in the past two or three years has changed how we view, value and buy fabric.
It was once believed that only LQS fabric was the best. However, one could and still do find good fabric at the chain stores and recently not so good, but high price, at the LQS.
So, I can't answer your question as I interpret it.
If you will search back through the posts about this subject you will find that the best answer is to learn to test the fabric and then buy what is affordable to you. The best test, without actualy buying, is to feel. If stiff and thin then it is not so good at any price.
The board is also full of good suggestions for mail order.
I have a loal store that is named "The $1.99 Fabric Store" It has both good quality and lesser quality.
If you will indicate where you are located, I am sure there will be those who can give you suggestions of good places to buy. One mail order company that has good sales is Connecting Threads.
If you should live in or near or visit Maine, there is a store there (several in the state) named Marden's. They buy prior seasons fabric from the manufacturer and price at about 3.99-5.99 per yd.
So you understand my difficulty in answering your question. Its a cruel, cruel fabric world out there and it doesn't appear to have good news in sight. Did your LQS have a mark down space. My local LQS does and it is $5 per yd.
The Old Country Store in Pennsyvania has current fabric at about $8.50 per yd.
There are many reports that WallMart is bring fabric back to many of their stores and some good bargains are to be found of better quality fabric. I have always found Hobby Lobby to have good stuff. I am cautious at JoAnn's now. However, I have bought at JA's to get an assortment of color value which I needed at a good price.

I have looked at Fabric.com and found some I like but I am hesitate to buy online since I can't "feel" the material. I guess since so many of ya'll like the fabric, it is good quality.

I really would like to stock up on my fabric since I am having surgery in 2 weeks and won't be able to do much but sit...I hope at the machine for at least a little while. I have 2 quilts I want to do...one for a friend is having a baby and my mom has asked for me to make her one.

I didn't get to look long at the LQS since my daughter was with me but they had very nice fabric and were super sweet so I hope to go back next weekend to shop without my daughter. Our Wal-Mart does have a fabric section and I have found some good fabric there for a good price...my curtain material for one, sturdy type material for $8/yd.

JoAnn's here has some different fabric that I like but are about $2 higher than Hobby Lobby who has some great fabric too.

I understand it is hard to determine what is fair, but I guess the $13 scared me. I didn't check the width but know they carry 108" wide fabric.

I think a reasonable price is that which you can afford. I won't pay over $5 per yard because I believe the whole cotton shortage excuse for high priced fabric to be a complete fabrication. It simply makes me mad to see cotton fabric in the over $7 a yard price ranges and I don't appreciate anyone taking advantage of me. It's easy to find fabric online in the 2.50-$5.00/yd. price range so that's where I do my shopping. I'm also far more interested in color and quality than I am in designer names and brand names so I have no problem finding fabrics that will work in my projects, online at great prices!

I buy mostly sale fabric in stores or online. Hancock's of Paducah is having a sale now. So are a lot of other online stores. I only buy a very limited amount of non-sale fabric.

Connecting Threads online also has good quality fabric with free shipping on orders over $50. I've ordered quite a bit and love their fabric and the collections. I ususally order fat quarters. And they have fantastic sales.

A 'fair' price is whatever you are willing to pay at the time, for the quality of goods you want at the time, without feeling taken advantage of. Simple as that. You are the only one who can define what is fair to you, and it will probably change rather often depending on circumstances.

Be sure to look up the quilting coupons. I just ordered from fabric com and used a $20 coupon. Surely makes the price of fabric come down.

Thanks everyone! I guess I feel better about the price. It was a nice feel fabric so I guess $13 wasn't a bad price. I will pay more attention to the width when I go back.

I buy ***a lot**** of fabric from Fabric.com and I have been absolutely pleased. Their return policy is such that, if you get fabric you can't/don't want to use, you can send it back or exchange it. They're very good to do business with! No connection to the company, just a very pleased customer!

I'm fortunate in that I have several stores near me that carry good quality fabric, and a few of them run sales. Fabric Depot is a good one, they also have a website and as long as you buy name brand fabric (such as Moda or Timeless Treasures) you can't go wrong. There's also Craft Warehouse, which is a regional chain, and they occasionally have coupons and sales. No website, though. One of the quilt shops has a back room full of clearance fabrics. You could always check your LQS for clearance fabrics.

As an aside - this thread made me chuckle, remembering something my mom told me a few months ago. She's a beginning quilter, and persuaded my dad to stop at a quilt shop so she could add to her meager stash. He told her not to spend more than $5.00. I laughed out loud when she told me this - obviously he hasn't been in a fabric store since the 70's!

I pay 4-5.00 a yard from my LQS. So glad they have wonderfu deals all the time.

Well I had some fabric to my cart at fabric.com. I saved the cart and if I can't find what I need next weekend when I go to the stores, I will buy from them.

lol at $5 only.

It all depends on the store and the kind of quality you are after. A lot of times, you can find some nice fabrics in a discount store as opposed one of the higher priced quilt shops.

Connecting Threads has great fabric - with free shipping on orders over $50.00 - they also run sales all the time & clearances as well

Where do you find coupons for fabric.com???

I live in australia and all our fabric is between $20.00 to $28.00 a metre. I would like to buy here in Australia to support our economy but if I did I wouldn't be able to sew the fabric that I like. I go to my local quilting shop and look at the selvage and find out what the fabric and maker is then google it when I get home on the internet. Even with postage it is cheaper than buying here locally. I can't wait to visit the US one day I am going to be in fabric heaven.!!!!!

If you just type in fabric.com and coupon or coupon code into a google search engine, you can find those coupons...retailmenot often has coupon codes that work.

I think that once you get your stash started and learn what you want/need for your projects, you will notice more opportunities and be in a position to take advantage of them. I shop garage and estate sales, as well as trade fabric with my guild friends. Today I traded 2 rolls of furry fleece that I got for $5/roll at a custom costume store close-out with a friend for a pile of wonderful quilting fabrics. She had also been to the same store sale and purchased furry fleece. Now 6 months later she has found someone wanting to buy a bunch of the stuff, so asked me if I had any to sell to her. I suggested a trade for quilting fabric. It was a win/win situation, and I left with at least $100 of beautiful fabric. She said she felt like she was the big winner.

Building a stash is so much more fun when you can do it with the help of friends!

Dayle

We also have a classified section here that has good buys :) http://www.quiltingboard.com/items-sale-trade-f20/

Check back often as the sales change often - I also shop Joanns for the sales, Hancocks - haven't been to Hobby Lobby in a while, and of course my LQS . Very seldom do I pay full price. Good deals are to be had- you just have to watch for them :thumbup:

Remember also that it's often possible to make a marvelous quilt using just a little bit of one (expensive) focal fabric and lots of (less costly) coordinates and blenders. Sometimes it's worth splurging on one beautiful fabric and then averaging your costs down on the rest.

I shop at http://bnpquilts.com/ love that shop...awesome sales. I do not pay shipping since I live an hour away...but they do have great prices for shipping in the US and international.

id feel comfortable buying from fabric.com ive bought from there several times and never gotten anything even slightly disappointing as a matter of fact its been better than the photos online i even bought more because i used it all and wanted some for myself ))). theyre prices are pretty good and they often have sales as well.
carla

I always look for sales online. Fabric.com and others have free shipping if you buy a certain amount. I have not been disappointed with my purchases. LQS have the overhead to pay and everything is going up!

Thanks everyone! I have about $100 worth in my cart on fabric.com...oops. lol I am going to go to my local stores first and if I can't find the colors I am looking for, then I will order online.

Has anyone ordered from Esty? It is name brand fabric and seem to be priced the same as other stores.

I have had good luck with buying from fabric.com though I get more apparel fabric from them than quilting. I just got a decent deal ($5-$7) from Keepsakequilting.com but the bargin bin didn't have a large selection...

Depends on who you buy it from via Etsy. Etsy is not a single seller, it's a collection of sellers listing their (usually hand-made) items on one site. There's actually quite a bit of "vintage" fabric listed, which makes me wonder how they determine what is called vintage.

I have bought from Etsy before so I know it is several different sellers, just never bought fabric. I found some cute fabric cake layers that is about $2 cheaper than fabric stores.

I feel the same as Rose L.

I'm stuck shopping online while in Germany, its hard to find thread here much less fabric. I look for sales but for quality I know moda is my fail safe. Good luck!!! I draw the line personally at 10.00 a yard. It has to be special f
or me to pay that. 8.00 a yard is what I aim at when buying online.

I guess that you don't read the Wall Street Journal? They have reported on this for the last couple of years. It I not a hoax

Sandy

I also love Connecting Threads. They have great quality fabric as well as, great prices. Also love their cotton thread.

Thanks everyone! I told hubby about the prices and he was like WHAT! lol But he knows I won't go overboard so he wasn't too upset. He also knows I have 2 quilts that I need fabric for...and some interfacing for his quilt since some of it is t-shirts.

Yep, can just about buy two metres of fabric for $50...

As the sister of an LQS owner - I see how much it costs her to buy the fabric and even though she doesnt like to mark it as high as she does - she's trying to stay in business - she only gets the better names and quality cotton now -some of her early stuff wasn't quite as good. Batiks and wide backs are getting a little out of hand for my budget but I'm not happy with the quality and selection of fabric at either Joannes or Hobby Lobby here - just my opinion, though.

this really depends on where you are from..I've noticed on here rather its FW or fabric; location plays a big part on price and availability.