I went into Joann’s today to get some denim fabric — sounds simple enough.  They had all their denim fabric on a round table type rack with a price sign above the bolts “denim $12.99 yd”.    Some bolts were 45″ wide and some 52″ wide, so I started picking up the fabric so I could read the bolt end to see if they were 100% cotton, or what the fabric make-up was.  WELL, I noticed SOME bolts had the regular printed $12.99 per yard on it, some had the “original” price blacked out and $12.99 hand written on the end of the bolt,  some had the original price blacked out and a printed new tag (from a tagging gun) with $12.99 on them, and ONE of the bolts still had the original $9.99 price on it.   I made up my mind very quickly that the $9.99 denim was exactly what I wanted —- AND I had a 50% off coupon.   When I went to the measuring counter I told the lady that I wanted to confirm the price to be $9.99/yard.  She scanned it with her little hand held device then informed me that the price of the fabric was $12.99, but was on sale 30% off (NO sale price was anywhere by the fabric bolts), so I’d be getting it for $9.09 per yard.  I told her that the price on the end of the bolt said $9.99 per yard, and asked if she could do a price over-ride to give me the price that was on the bolt.  I figured if she could do that I could maybe use my 50% off coupon.  Well, she did the price over-ride at $9.99/yard, but the charge slip showed that it was a SALE PRICE, so I wouldn’t be able to use my coupon AND I’d be paying more than the 30% off the newly raised prices.   So I asked her if she could do the price over-ride and take into consideration the 30% off as well to let me take advantage of the sale.   She really didn’t want to but finally said, “let me see if the hand held device will let me”, so she did figure the 30% off the $9.99 price and used that as the over-ride price and it went through just fine.   The facts are that all prices keep going up and up, however IF a company changes the prices, but leaves the end of the bolt with the old price, they are obligated to sell it to you for THAT amount, not the higher amount.  If you are not observent and notice the little things, you could end up paying the higher price, even though the price on the end of the bolt is the old price, simply because the NEW price is in the computer and that’s what you’ll be charged if you don’t question it.

We buy a lot of fabric and there have been times that we’ve gone in one week to buy certain fabric, and the next week the price has been raised by $2 or $3 per yard  —- in one weeks’ time!  Or some specialty fabric that all of a sudden jumps up by several dollars a yard.   I would suggest to you to check the prices very carefully on the fabric that you need — and if at all possible save up some discount coupons that you can use.  Most of all, be sure you read the prices on the end of the bolts and CONFIRM with the measuring person that the price you see is the price you will be paying!  You could just be saving yourself a couple dollars per yard by getting the price verified and confirmed.

Hancock Fabrics is celebrating their 54th anniversary with a huge sale where you can take 54% off most every type of fabric online, plus you get standard $4 shipping for your entire order through September 28th with no coupon needed!  If you prefer to shop in the store be sure to print these terrific coupons for 40% off any one regular priced fabric item and 40% off any one sewing or quilting notion.

Announcing the new iSewingRoom iPhone application that keeps track of your fabric stash, patterns, notions, projects, shopping list and more! 

Check out these screen shots to see the app in action.

Available in both Lite and Pro versions.  Click here to download your iSewingRoom iPhone app.

For years I’ve carried around a printout of a fabric conversion chart in my purse so that anytime I find a piece of fabric I can’t live without, I could figure out how much I needed to buy based on its width.  Anytime I tried to guess I’d end up with way too much fabric and spend a lot more than needed.  Now I’m super excited that I can trash the ratty piece of paper I’ve been carrying around and replace it with this simple and FREE fabric converter app for my iPhone!  The converter app gives me a simple way to calculate how much fabric I need based on ANY starting length and width – other similar apps are limited to five or even three yard lengths, AND you actually have to PAY for them.  Download your free iPhone app from the iTunes store, or check out the Fabric Converter website for more information.

I love Fabric.com because they always have a fabulous selection and they tend to run some pretty good sales. Now through Monday only you can save 15% site wide on any purchase of $50 or more when you use coupon code DOD409! Hurry in – this hot deal will end on Monday 4/12!

This is really the best time of year to be stocking up on your fabric stash!  For example, Fabric.com is offering 50% off all clearance fabrics, no coupon necessary.  They’re also having a huge President’s Day sale where you can get $10 off an order of $50 to $74.99 (use coupon code PRES1010), $15 off $75 to $99.99 (code PRES1510) and $20 off $100+ (code PRES2010).  This offer is good until midnight February 15th, and as always, shipping is free on orders over $35.  While you’re at Fabric.com, check out this free downloadable pattern for a cami and tap pants – just in time for Valentine’s day.

At JoAnn.com you can use coupon code TEF58B to get 50% off the regular price of any one item.  That’s a hot deal – plus they’ve also got a big sale going on, including 40% off paper cutting tools including trimmers, punches, scissors, cutting mats and more!

Save 60% at Fabric.com when you take 20% off the marked down price by using the coupon code CLEARJAN at checkout, plus you’ll get free shipping on orders over $35.  This sale ends 01/04/10 at midnight ET.  I just bought 27 yards of home decor fabric for $82.23, including shipping, what a deal!

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores’ New Year’s Sale starts online today and in stores on Thursday.  Save up to 70% with this huge sale through Sunday, January 3rd.  Use promotion code EADA3 for free shipping with a minimum $35 purchase, and promotion code EGD3A to get 10% off your entire online purchase.

Many of our readers don’t have the option of even one fabric store in their town, and we’ve been told of ones who have to drive up to 2 hours to get to a fabric store.

The solution to “nothing available” is to do online shopping.  Joann’s has a great online store where shopping is a breeze.  Also you can check out Fabric.com for special sale prices (now have a selection of “under $5 prints”), take advantage of free shipping on your orders, etc.   Fabrics.net is another great place to purchase fabrics, plus they have tons of articles to read and columns, such as “Ask Andy”, where you’ll get lots of good information.   If you’re looking for single knits, spandex or fold over elastic, visit FaysFabrics – her prices are the lowest I’ve seen anywhere for great quality products.

I’ve also found great fabrics on eBay — great fabrics and great prices.  WOW!  I’ve gotten some super fabrics at “yard sale” prices — and with this economy, who couldn’t use some special prices on fabrics we’re looking for?

If your town doesn’t have a fabric store, I’m pretty sure it most likely won’t have a sewing machine store where you can go in and check out and purchase a new sewing machine or serger.  In case you didn’t know, sewing machines and sergers of all types can also be purchased online.  Visit AllBrands.com and check out all the machines they have available. 

AND, if your town doesn’t have a good sewing machine repairman, you can visit  SewMachineRepair.com to check out the best selling Sewing Machine Repair for the Home Sewer book, or consider doing sewing machine repair yourself as a business.   

You can find just about anything you’d need online, and I just wanted to mention some of the fabric places that I’ve had good luck with.  If you know of others where you’ve had good experience with ordering, we’d love to hear about it.

In addition to the wide variety of wonderful fabrics available to purchase from Fabrics.net, there is also a directory of other sources for fabrics, accessories, notions, patterns, sewing professionals, publications, trade organizations and much more.  Additionally, you can enter your company information if you’d like for your business to be listed as a source.  The first listing is free and there are minimal fees for additional listings or services.

One of the neatest things about Fabrics.net is their free posting service that allows you to put your fabric requests out on the Internet.  The site has many agents who pay a small subscription fee to see the listings, and the contact information from the fabric requests is only viewable by subscribers.  That means that if you need say 25 yards of faux fur to create a new line of stuffed animals, you can post your fabric request for free, and any stores that carry the fabric will contact you directly.  You don’t have to worry about spammers getting your contact information, and you get to compare prices and offers without having to run all over town or scour the Internet for a source.

So if you’re looking for a special fabric, large amounts of fabric, or just need some information on identifying or caring for fabric, be sure to check out the abundance of information and sources available at Fabrics.net!