Replies

1. 
   user-51823 | Jun 27, 2007 11:43pm | #1

   hi- i'm in your general region, but i have never heard of Sir's. we just have a few Hancock's left and a very few pricey boutiques. i'll have to try Sirs if i ever get around huntsville.
   i like the idea of the scarves for pillows. i'm always on the lookout for curtains etc on sale at pottery barn, etc for unique clothes. found some lovely white cotton batiste sheers, pintucked, on sale that i want to make a beach coverup out of.

1. 
   416 | Jun 29, 2007 05:54am | #2

   I'll be posting new places to buy fabrics when we start shopping in other small towns that we can travel to and return in a day. No othernight trips for us, we need that money for shopping. You can travel to Sir's in a few hours and return to Huntsville when you finish. Try it soon.  

2. 
   cafms | Jul 01, 2007 01:51am | #6

   I tried Google maps and found Sirs Fabrics in Fayetteville, TN.   Looks like it is on Hwy 431 out of Huntsville, AL.  Found this review of the store also. Looks interesting. 

   http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Sirs.Fabrics.931-433-2487

1. 
   user-51823 | Jul 02, 2007 06:14am | #8

   thanks. i'm in TN but nowhere near huntsville; i meant if i ever should be near there it would be wortha stop, but i don't expect t be going there in the foreseeable future. i need to work with the huge stock i've built up before buying anything new anyway!

1. 
   416 | Jul 04, 2007 06:38am | #10

   I stopped by Textiles Fabric Store on Franklin Road in Nashvile, TN.  It was a well organized store with fabrics for apparel, home furnishings, commercial and special patterns, sewing books and drapery fabrics. It was an interesting store. I needed a long white metal zipper for an upholstery pillow and I bought one there. Fabrics are no bargain. They are not discounted. Every now and then they have a sale but it is a wonderful store to visit when you need just that right fabric or button or a special pattern for a gift or something out of the ordinary. I know they will start getting new customers since Walmart no longer carries fabric and Jo-Ann Fabrics is just too far in Cool Springs when you live just down the street from Textiles. Visit it when you can.

2. 
   Josefly | Jun 30, 2007 08:53pm | #3

   Mary Jo's Fabrics in Gastonia, NC is also a wonderful bargain place. I read about this store on this site - I've now forgotten who originally mentioned it here. I've never seen some of the fabrics sold there, in any other store, including some kimono silks. The cottons are amazing in quality and variety, and arranged in such a way that coordinating fabrics is easy. The prices were about 70% or even lower, than what I find in our local (Atlanta) stores. The store is very near I-85, on our route to visit family in the DC area, but really too far from me to travel to just for fabric shopping, I regret to say.I recently found a book that listed gardens by area of the country, for travelers. Does anybody know of such a book for fabric sources?

   Edited 6/30/2007 1:55 pm ET by Josefly

1. 
   user-51823 | Jun 30, 2007 10:56pm | #4

   books on this subject are unlikely, and they can be dated by store closings as soon as they've gone to press. try searching for blogs?

2. 
   Teaf5 | Jul 04, 2007 01:18am | #9

   I don't know of a book of fabric stores across the nation, but when we stop for the night, I check out the yellow pages for fabric (and yarn) stores in the area and where we are heading.  It's even easier now that we travel with a laptop; lots of places have free internet access so that I can check the online yellow pages.  If I don't have access to either, I ask the clerks at local grocery stores; if they don't sew, sometimes the other, local customers do.

   Although I can't get the rest of my family excited enough to stop in the middle of a road trip for a fabric store, sometimes I can head out for an hour or so while they're watching a movie or lying by the pool.  I also try to take advantage of break times in tournament weekends to discover a new fabric (or used book) store.

   When I find a new shop, I always buy at least something (like pins or zippers or thread) even if I don't find a bargain on fabric.  It becomes a souvenir, and every time I use it, I think of that stop in Frisco or Westcliffe, CO or that neat shop in Raton, NM.  Happy hunting, and fill us in on your finds!

1. 
   user-51823 | Jul 04, 2007 06:48pm | #11

   aye yi yi- me too. my attic is full of "souvenirs"

2. 
   Josefly | Jul 05, 2007 06:55am | #12

   When I was trying to find Mary Jo's Fabrics, I stopped at the visitor center at the state line, and they knew exactly what I was asking for, gave me a printed map, and also a list of other fabric stores in the area. I was very impressed with their ready familiarity with the fabric stores - something I might've expected at a Chamber of Commerce office, but not necessarily at the visitor centers.

1. 
   SewFit | Jul 05, 2007 02:38pm | #13

   Were you happy with what you found at Mary Jo's.....

1. 
   Josefly | Jul 06, 2007 05:24am | #14

   Yes. I was exercising restraint, since I have a stash I've promised to reduce, but I came away with some tencel and a bamboo knit, nice quality at good prices. If I'd had more time on that trip, I would've stocked up on some of the cottons. They had a beautiful selection - an entire aisle about 20 feet long on both sides - of "Asian" print cottons, many of which could be coordinated, and I've wished I had not passed them up - I have a Kwik-sew pattern for an 8-gore sundress (for my daughter) which calls for 4 different fabrics, and these fabrics would've been great for that.Have you shopped there? Oh, now I see from your profile that you're from NC, and you may even be the person who first mentioned the shop here?

   Edited 7/5/2007 10:27 pm ET by Josefly

2. 
   SewFit | Jul 06, 2007 05:36am | #15

   Actually I haven't venured down there yet although I have lived in NC for 7 years.  I'm hoping to make a trip down there in the next few weeks.   This weekend I'm heading to VA and MD to see my children and I plan to stop at G Street Fabrics in Centreville, VA on Saturday.....I can hardly wait! 

    

3. 
   Josefly | Jul 06, 2007 08:10pm | #16

   Ooh, have fun! I've been to the G Street store in Rockville, MD, and thought it was wonderful!

3. 
   cafms | Jul 01, 2007 01:39am | #5

   Do you ever shop at Textile Fabrics on Franklin Rd. in Nashville?  I wanted to stop there when we came through in May but my husband was driving...  Maybe another time.

   The website looks interesting.

1. 
   416 | Jul 01, 2007 01:53am | #7

   You know I haven't been to Textile Fabrics even though it's not that far from where I live and we pass through Franklin Road often.  When I stop in I will let you know what the deal is there. Seems  to me they moved from Hillsboro Road or Green Hills. I'll make it my business next time to stop.