Judie

When I was working for one of the huge chain fabric stores, they were just death on each of us cutting exactly the amount the customer ordered.. They wanted it EXACT.

The reasoning behind this was that if I cut you an extra quarter INCH, and I make 100 cuts a shift then that's what, 6.25 inches I've given away.. and by doing that I've lost money that was theirs... If you mulitply that by 1000 employees that's a bit over 173.6 yards each shift, that the company does not make any money on.. While .25 inch cut over seem pretty petty, a chain like JoAnn's or Hancock's can loose a lot of money with these tiny slices of fabric going out the door..

ON THE OTHER HAND... if they cut fabric short by that same .25 inches, then the exact same thing is happening, only they are making the profit and we are asborbing the loss.. If they want to cut that close to the line, then they need to make sure they give us the amount we have requested and paid for. I watch and make sure they are lining up the fabric straight, not stretching the fabric as they measure and that they cut it straight! If I have to ask them to remeasure it, even though I hate to do that, I will. What's fair for them is also fair for me, and for you.

Since I am not a manager and do not have current knowledge of all the in's and out's, it may no longer be true, but until some time in the recent past, fabric was priced with some loss for straightening, flaws, and the like built in.. They knew there would be some loss and priced the fabric accordingly. I can understand that prices are going up for them, but this started before the big cotton crunch.. Personally, I think greed has far out paced the cotton prices.

Watch carefully when you buy a new uncut bolt as well.. they are often several to many inches short of what should be on there. Usually we never know because you don't cut the entire bolt, but take off what you need today.. and more tomorrow.. Once it's cut, of course then you're out of luck if it is short.

mary hennessey

If it is to little tell them to keep it.It could be to small for you project.

karate lady

write to Joann corporate office. it can help,....esp if all of you who have been basically cheated they may listen.

Auntie B

Greetings Cheryl, having been a sewer and a quilter all my life I can completely relate to your issue. For the last 12 years I have worked and assistant managed one Fabricland Store, and now am sales clerk in a machine sales/quilt shop, and I have always tried to be considerate of the buyer, trying to allow as much leaway as management would allow, and also have been eagle-eyed as to flaws and such. Fabricland (Canadian) was always very generous with their cuts, but the shop that I work in now, wants the cuts to be exact, and to only give the customer the exact amount that they have paid for. (This is a privately owned shop, and not Canadian wide business) Fabricland has 49 stores across country. Probably similar to Joanne's Fabrics. Even at the privately owned shop, I am always looking for flaws, asking the customer what increments they need their fabric in so they can work around flaws and always adding extra AND with a discount. Always PLEASE the customer! If customers don't come back, the shop and I are out of business ! But that's just me. And yes I see that the extra wide backing fabrics are tricky to cut. At Fabricland we always tore our fabrics unless the customer requested it to be cut, the shop I am at now, we only use a rotary cutter and ruler, and with the fabric not always being rolled onto the bolt on grain and straight, this is very tricky. Certain fabrics need to be prewashed, because they shrink at different rates as other cottons. We recently had a customer come back with complaints with a rag quilt, she had put Osnaberg as her batting, and it had shrunk at a greater rate than her flannel. When I suggested that she buy 4" extra per yard, and pre wash, then cut her rag quilt, she was , well I shall say, not very pleseant. But the results of her not pre-washing anything, was a disaster to her beautiful rag quilt. And that's what it is like on both sides of the fence. Always allow a small amount extra for errors, shrinkage, crooked cutting, ask the clerk to cut not tear, and yes, ask her to re-measure, even if there is a lineup. Fabric isn't cheap, make sure you are getting what you paid for. Nice to hear from you, and glad to put in my 2cents worth. Greetings again from Auntie B in Saskatchewan, (That's Canada , eh) Yes we quilt here allot, just to keep warm. ha ha Take Care !!!!!!!!!

Sadiemae

We used to have Fabricland, but it sold to JoAnn Fabrics here.

I don't really understand how JoAnn Fabrics can cut so crooked when they have the slot to put the scissors in, but it happens a lot. I am so glad our Hancock Fabrics listens to the customer. Quite awhile ago, I went in to purchase some fabric on clearance. This night three new kids were on the floor cutting(The manager didn't realize that they had not been trained properly). The young girl, probably about 18 or 19 cut a couple of fabrics and they were a mess. I very quietly took the fabrics to the manager and had her measure them. I made sure that she knew I wasn't mad. She then came out and did a training session with the fabrics and the young kids and also recut the first two. It was a very good experience for the kids. I was really glad that it was me that it happened to, because I stayed calm and didn't get upset. I was in no hurry because I just have to come home to a lonely quiet world.

sewtruterry

Yes this has happened to me as well and I work inside a JoAnn's and watch this happen at the cutting counter frequently. However there is never anything lost on insisting that they remeasure the fabric because the cutting counter people at JoAnn's has to go through testing once a month anyhow and the ones that short cut are not sewers and should be pointed out and sent to work at the front end of the store or the back room. As far as the woman that someone was mentioning that was trying to purchase fabric for a whole cloth, if I was observing the process as a customer standing behind her I would have given her the courage to say no recut the fabric I cannot use this for my project and if they did not have enough because there was not enough on the bold insist that they find more at another of their locations and transfer it at no charge or not take the fabric and shop somewhere else. I can tell you that the fabric with the flaw had to be a big box otherwise the store owner never would have taken it. I find that most QS get the better quality fabric or the first instead of seconds on fabric runs. It will only be when we all stand up for what is right that things will change, whether we are the customer or standing behind them in line.

sewtruterry

The main reason that even with the cutting guide they can still cut uneven is because they do not line up the folded edge of the fabric perpindicular to the cutting guide. Next time you watch them cut when they are lining up the nick that they put in notice if they are lining up the folded edge parrellel to the measuring guide. They must not have learned about parrellel and perpendicular in grade school.

bmorawitz

I have found that the shortage usually comes when I buy from Joanne's and the fabric is 90 or 108 inches wide - they try to cut it instead of tearing on the grain because the fabric that wide usually isn't folded straight and cutting seems to leave less that a yard you've asked for.. I buy my fabric at a small store in Homer and the clerks there usually add a small amount to the total yardage I ask for... The fabric is a little more expensive but I get what I ask for..plus more. They are pleasant and more than helpful. I live in a small town and next town with fabric is 75 - 80 miles away...

libber

I've been buying fabrics for over 50 years. Even this week I bought just a yard of muslin and watched the lady cut the fabric with about an inch and a half or 2 inches over the 36". In the long run 'shorting the customer' will short the stores sales in the long run if you ask me.

cattailsquilts

I was at my QS yesterday, trying to replace some fabric I ran out of but need for my BoM challenge (noone's fault here, I've had the piece for at least 6 years)

I ended up buying a bunch more fabric than I had intended, but to get back on topic, I watched the lady closely as she was cutting. As I had thought, she was most definitely cutting long yards. I told her about this thread & some of the comments, and we had a nice little discussion. I mentioned that the store I used to work for did the same thing, and she replied that it was well worth the loss for happy return customers.

I think every person who has cut for me there has cut at least 1/2" over. On my 2 yd cut I have almost 2-1/8, and on my 3 yd EOB I'm sure it's closer to 3-1/4 yd.