So, I had two experiences in the last week that made me think about my fabric shopping habits. First, fabric shopping with all the sewists in town for Pattern Review weekend. (Oh and here's a few pictures from the PR Weekend flickr group. I was photographed in purple locks, so I'm hoping those pop up spoon).
And the second, last night Mood held a focus group about their on-line store which they are planning to give a major overhaul. I attended, along with some other NY area sewists, bloggers and craftsy people like Carolyn, Nancy K, Elizabeth and Marina,to provide some feedback.
Anyway, shopping with and hearing about other sewists' habits and experiences really got me thinking about my own fabric buying habits both on line and in person. And I'm curious about yours.
First, are you a stasher or do you buy fabric as needed? I don't have all that large a stash, but I'm also not the type that is restrictive about my buying. I don't do fabric diets, but my general mantra is there will always be more fabric. So, if it's a fabric that there will not be more of - that special something that I really love or catches my eye or is orange (my true weakness) - then I buy with glee. I also do a lot of my buying for a specific project that I'm working on. So, what's left in my stash is generally fabrics that I think are spectacular but just haven't gotten to sewing quite yet. I do pro-actively stash interfacings, lining and an assortment of miscellaneous notions. Nothing is worse than realizing you didn't buy something you need for a project.
Do you buy fabric on-line or only in person or a blend? Even though my office is near the Garment District and I prefer to support brick-and-mortar stores, I'm actually pretty omnivorous. Like most of the other participants I prefer to feel the fabric before I buy. However, I'm definitely susceptible to the lure of free shipping, special fabrics and on-line sales. So, ultimately what I've sewn and what I've stashed is a blend of on-line and in person buying.What about you? Why do or don't you buy on line or in person?
What do you buy on line? Just fabric? Fabric and notions? Do you buy basics to keep in your stash or just what grabs you? I tend to only buy fabrics on line. Most notions I can find in the Garment District and I actually really like shopping for them. Is that odd? I do, however, usually buy interfacing on line since I have a preferred brand.
Where do you shop on-line? And what motivates you to shop there? I have to confess that most of my on-line buying has happened at FabricMart. They are very good about emailing sales, special fabrics, discounts and fabric-of-the-day type picks. I never mean to buy fabric; I just sort of end up with something in my cart that I can't pass up.
What is your worst fabric buying disaster and what do you do with your mistakes? I recently documented my worst fabric ever: the faux leather that I attempted to use as muslin for my leather jacket, which you may recall ended up in the garbage:
What are your best fabric shopping tips and what are your do's and don't's? I hate polyester. I know. That's not a tip; it's a hostile statement. But I'm almost always disappointed with polyester, particularly the varieties that seem to inhabit the internet. So, I just don't buy the stuff on line. And since I came up with that guideline for myself, my fabric purchases on line have been much more successful.
Anyway, tell me about your shopping!
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| Me and Deepika (credit: click to go to flickr) |
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| Me, NancyC, Karen and Andrea (credit: click to flickr) |
And the second, last night Mood held a focus group about their on-line store which they are planning to give a major overhaul. I attended, along with some other NY area sewists, bloggers and craftsy people like Carolyn, Nancy K, Elizabeth and Marina,to provide some feedback.
Anyway, shopping with and hearing about other sewists' habits and experiences really got me thinking about my own fabric buying habits both on line and in person. And I'm curious about yours.
First, are you a stasher or do you buy fabric as needed? I don't have all that large a stash, but I'm also not the type that is restrictive about my buying. I don't do fabric diets, but my general mantra is there will always be more fabric. So, if it's a fabric that there will not be more of - that special something that I really love or catches my eye or is orange (my true weakness) - then I buy with glee. I also do a lot of my buying for a specific project that I'm working on. So, what's left in my stash is generally fabrics that I think are spectacular but just haven't gotten to sewing quite yet. I do pro-actively stash interfacings, lining and an assortment of miscellaneous notions. Nothing is worse than realizing you didn't buy something you need for a project.
Do you buy fabric on-line or only in person or a blend? Even though my office is near the Garment District and I prefer to support brick-and-mortar stores, I'm actually pretty omnivorous. Like most of the other participants I prefer to feel the fabric before I buy. However, I'm definitely susceptible to the lure of free shipping, special fabrics and on-line sales. So, ultimately what I've sewn and what I've stashed is a blend of on-line and in person buying.What about you? Why do or don't you buy on line or in person?
What do you buy on line? Just fabric? Fabric and notions? Do you buy basics to keep in your stash or just what grabs you? I tend to only buy fabrics on line. Most notions I can find in the Garment District and I actually really like shopping for them. Is that odd? I do, however, usually buy interfacing on line since I have a preferred brand.
Where do you shop on-line? And what motivates you to shop there? I have to confess that most of my on-line buying has happened at FabricMart. They are very good about emailing sales, special fabrics, discounts and fabric-of-the-day type picks. I never mean to buy fabric; I just sort of end up with something in my cart that I can't pass up.
What is your worst fabric buying disaster and what do you do with your mistakes? I recently documented my worst fabric ever: the faux leather that I attempted to use as muslin for my leather jacket, which you may recall ended up in the garbage:
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| You know it's bad when a muslin ends up as a wadder! |
What are your best fabric shopping tips and what are your do's and don't's? I hate polyester. I know. That's not a tip; it's a hostile statement. But I'm almost always disappointed with polyester, particularly the varieties that seem to inhabit the internet. So, I just don't buy the stuff on line. And since I came up with that guideline for myself, my fabric purchases on line have been much more successful.
Anyway, tell me about your shopping!
