Price of fabric

I just came home from a shopping trip for, what else, FABRIC. I was in the south part of town with time to kill, and I knew that Joanns had closed one of their older smaller stores last summer and moved to a bigger place. I went to check out the new store. We had been discussing on the forum the quality of fabrics you can find at Joanns, and this is what I found. They had a very large selection of what they refer to as premium quilters cottons! You might say they were premium, because the regular price per yard was $12.99. I don't believe I've seen cotton fabric that expensive anywhere, not even at the high end quilt shops.

So, they've responded to requests for better fabrics, but at a price to the consumer. At least, we can use their coupons and get a discount on the stuff. I didn't look at the solids or the regular less expensive fabrics. Very little was offered for sale prices, but I did get some patriotic and licensed fabrics at a nice discount.

I've heard that the U.S. domestic cotton market has been affected by the drought conditions, especially in Texas, and this will have a direct effect on fabric prices. Is that true?

I'm sure that the drought is already raising our prices on fabric and cotton batting. Warm & White/Natural has gone up $4.00 in the past 4 years. $1.00 a year may not seem like much, but it adds up. I mostly get seasonal or basic fabrics at Joann's and always use coupons or hit the sales. I shop online for other quilting fabrics. I've purchased some from my LQS, but am not real happy with their selection.

Fabric prices in the UK, always higher than the US because we can't grow our own cotten, are horrible now. VAT increases hurt a lot, general price rises also effected us. I can rarely come out of the shop without spending £50 these days. Nasty

We get most of our fabrics from the US here in Canada too. The prices are terrible....12.99 and up. Premium is $14.95 a meter. It's really terrible. I mostly order on line and pay almost half for what I could get here. We have a Fabric land here in town and another small shop that does mostly draperies and alterations but sells some yardage. I would have to travel at least an hour and a half to two hours to find another fabric store. Then their prices would be through the roof.

Last year's drought has already affected the cotton prices from the US and even Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. So with this continuing dry seasons, it will be even worse. Hold on quilters...it's gonna get wicked!!!

well, prices in Canada are higher than in US too - our LQS doesn't have anything cheaper than $10 and most fabrics go for around $15. Good thing I live in a border town and can hop to the US side - I always feel like I'm getting a great deal at Joanns, even without coupon.

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Originally Posted by Alana

Last year's drought has already affected the cotton prices from the US and even Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. So with this continuing dry seasons, it will be even worse. Hold on quilters...it's gonna get wicked!!!

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maybe we should stock up now, while we still can ;)

I have noticed some prices going up on the newest precuts here, too. I know they are just responding to what they have to pay. What isn't going up? Oh, this weekend gas......it is still dropping in price in our area!

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Originally Posted by alicaz

maybe we should stock up now, while we still can ;)

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Good excuse to increase the stash! I think I have enough to last me until I'm 100!

Joanns has a free app available for iPhone called Jo-Ann. You can download coupons easily. I have gotten 40 to 50% off a single non sale item. I use those coupons to buy yardage of their nicer fabric. Also the manager in the store told me Joann's has 50% off sale every quarter. If this is true then another sale is due in July, will have to wait and see. Makes the better fabric more affordable.

Material in Australia is unfortunately a lot more expensive I bought some "Plume" fabric from USA for $10.75 a yard, I found the same fabric in a store here for $22.00 a metre so even paying for postage from America it is still cheaper to buy overseas, we do have our cheaper fabric stores - Spotlight and Lincraft but you have to watch the quality some times it is just not there, so I do what every one else does and watch for special and stock up when I can.

Most of the 'decent' stuff is priced at $22 or more a metre. You can find a few bargains in warehouses and country stores at sale time. Spotlight have some good stuff but generally you get what you pay for and the $10 a yard stuff is very thin. You are lucky that you can access loads of great stock at HALF the price we have to pay - no joke when you are a pensioner and just starting out on this hobby.

(I've placed my first order with MQC and am still waiting for it after more than 3 weeks but even with $50 postage and packing it worked out much cheaper than if I had sourced it locally - should be here soon)

Was at JoAnn last weekend, and was not impressed at all. I thought everything there was high for what you got. Looked at new blades for my rotary cutter, and flat refused to pay $9 for a single blade. Ordered 5 pack on Ebay for less than $15 including shipping. I quilt for the love of doing it, and give away almost everything I make. That being said I am not going to pay $13 per yard for quilt fabric that I am giving away. I do not believe that if I use less expensive fabric that my quilt is going to fall apart after being washed. It may not last 50 yrs, but it doesn't need to. As long as they are loved and appreciated is more than enough for me. My very first quilt I still have, and has been washed many times over the past 20 years. It is almost a comical quilt to me when I look at the simple blocks and huge quilting stitches. It was made from left over Christmas fabric that I had used making other crafts. I have a limit for what I will spend on fabric and it is no where near that price. I feel bad for all the peeps that do not have such easy access to the fabrics that I do. Quilt for love or not at all. I am not going to be impressed just because the materials used to make it are so expensive. Ok enough ranting. I just love the creative process and putting something together with my own hands.

SO: Now it is my turn to give you all a sort of shock....

My DH and I went to a nice quiltshop the other day, all very nice quilting fabrics......I was so happy to have find this store.......until I saw the prices......we left without buying any fabric...

Hold on to your seats.........(drum...)

1 meter nice quilt fabric goes in a quilt shop around: $ 30,00!!!!!!!!!
One meter is a little over a yard! Prices are around 20,00 euro a meter up to 25,00 euro a meter......there are some a little less, but I did not like those, they looked old.............

So dear quilters in the USA: Be happy with your fabric stores, you are so lucky to have them all over the place!!!!!!!!!!! ( ;) )

Same here in Ireland!

I buy by the half metre because nice fabric in local store cost an arm and a leg (AND a few teeth!). I'm starting to buy more on line but it just isn't the same without being able to feel the fabric and lay different colours alogside eachother...

There's an American lady in Wexford who's a Quilter and has opened a wee shop where you can buy (gasp!) MODA and all the other amazing fabrics. She sells out in a jiffy, though and is an hours drive from where I live.

Oh, well! If it were easier, perhaps we wouldn't appreciate it?

Jen x

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Originally Posted by Klasien

SO: Now it is my turn to give you all a sort of shock....

My DH and I went to a nice quiltshop the other day, all very nice quilting fabrics......I was so happy to have find this store.......until I saw the prices......we left without buying any fabric...

Hold on to your seats.........(drum...)

1 meter nice quilt fabric goes in a quilt shop around: $ 30,00!!!!!!!!!
One meter is a little over a yard! Prices are around 20,00 euro a meter up to 25,00 euro a meter......there are some a little less, but I did not like those, they looked old.............

So dear quilters in the USA: Be happy with your fabric stores, you are so lucky to have them all over the place!!!!!!!!!!! ( ;) )

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I saw your map fabric at Joanns yesterday, and thought of you immediately! I know you carried home a nice heavy suitcase full of Joanns stuff when you visited earlier this year. And you have that wonderful fabric market, which I think you said carried reasonable priced fabric. Guess it is just the sign of the times that the prices on cotton goods are creaping up worldwide.

I have a wee Quilting book which has a 'History of Quilting' section. It says that quilters who live in Amish parts of America repurpose old or worn out cotton clothes. I have actually bought a couple of 100% cotton Summer frocks (for half nothing!) in my local charity shop, which I intend to break down for scraps. (Wooly jumpers for felting, too!)

It's nice to be thrifty but there's something special about the SMELL of a lovely new bolt of fabric and wandering about dreaming of this project and that... Now, if my SKILL would only catch up to my imagination! LOL!! :D

Jen x

Fabrics prices have risen in the quilt shops as well. I saw that $12.99 fabric at Jo-ann's and bought some! Only quarter yard cuts for a pinwheel quilt. The quality was very nice. Cotton prices have skyrocketed as China bought most of it for their hugely growing economy which of course influences prices everywhere.
And our prices in the US are nothing to complain about: I went to some quilt shops in Europe 2years ago and I paid about $28 per meter! I only got a few small cuts at that price!

An interesting read (relatively interesting, there's a lot of alphabet soup of government organizations in it, which I skipped) is "Travels of a T-Shirt in a Global Economy" by Pietra Rivoli. Follows the source trail from beginning to end of a cotton t-shirt's life span. I learned so much about cotton production and distribution from reading this book.

I have gotten a lot of fabric from Joann's. It has all been good, in my opinion. If I am lucky, I get it for $5.99. I have paid $9.99. I also buy fat quarters for $2, which I like because I can get a wide variety of fabric. I usually buy 4 of each so that makes a yard for $8.00. It helps to shop sales when fabric is 30% off, or to have a coupon.

I have just found out a new quilt shop in the West Chester area called the Quilt Block. I am making a baby quilt and I bought 2 yard and it was $ll.95 a yard but it is very nice. I had to put my quilting on hold for a little while because I have a lot of alterations to do. Of course it always comes when I want to do something else. The extra money comes in handy so then I buy more fabric.

Grace

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Originally Posted by Jean Sewing Machine

I saw your map fabric at Joanns yesterday, and thought of you immediately! I know you carried home a nice heavy suitcase full of Joanns stuff when you visited earlier this year. And you have that wonderful fabric market, which I think you said carried reasonable priced fabric. Guess it is just the sign of the times that the prices on cotton goods are creaping up worldwide.

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Yep I bought a suitcase full of real quilt fabric, I am very happy to have the market, but if you want real quilt fabric in a certain line of so, that's what you pay..........SOOOOO much!

I can life with the market, but sometimes I would love to have a quilt shop around the corner, just to go in an look..........