9 Tips for Purchasing Fabric Online so you Love what you Purchase!

Fabric is a such a tactile experience. It is part of why we love sewing and working with textiles. As a sewist we can tell so much just by feeling a fabric. So in this age of so few brick and mortar fabric stores, how does one successfully purchase fabric online so we love the fabric that we purchase? Here are 9 tips to help you do just that, and a free gift to help get you organized! If you would prefer to listen, as always, the video is below.

But first, if you have the luxury of a brick and mortar fabric store nearby, make sure to support them and consider stopping at other brick and mortar stores as you are travelling! But for those times when ordering fabric online is necessary, here are 9 tips.

1.        Learn the name of Fabric Manufacturers 

Many online fabric stores will provide the name of the manufacturer of the fabric. This isn’t always the case, but that name can clue you in to a certain level of quality. I know that I love Robert Kaufman and Art Gallery flannel. Stof of Denmark Avalana cotton jersey knits are wonderful. Fabric Finders and Spelcher Vogel make a high quality broadcloth and beautiful finewale corduroy. Similarly certain fabric stores carry core fabrics and knowing if you like them or not can be incredibly helpful. Stylemaker Fabrics carries a bottom weight “Soft Washed Linen Solid” in a huge variety of colors. I don’t know the manufacturer, but if I like that fabric, I know where to go to get it in the future.

2.        Notice the Fiber Content, Construction Method & Weave of the Fabric

While none of these are a definitive way to know how a fabric will behave, they all provide clues. If that  fabric contains rayon or bamboo it is going to have some drape. A knit will have some stretch and a twill weave is going to be a more substantial fabric whereas a satin weave will have some sheen.

3.        What type of garment does the description recommend be sewn from this fabric?

This can vary by fabric store, but noticing the words that the store uses can be extremely helpful. Do they recommend a particular cotton fabric for skirts, pants and dresses, but not for blouses? That is a more substantial fabric. Do they describe it as a light, medium or heavy weight? Is it structured or flowy?

4.        Know the Weight or GSM of a Fabric (Grams per square meter)

The GSM is the weight in grams of a square of the fabric that is one meter by one meter. It is a wonderful way to compare apples to apples or fabric to fabric. Does that French Terry have a 240 GSM or a very cozy 340 GSM? Both will work for that sweatshirt pattern that you are considering, but one will be light weight and appropriate for many different situations while the other will be a cozy winter garment.

5.        Examine the photo to help determine drape.

Drape is probably the element of fabric that is hardest to ascertain without being able to touch the fabric, but one that is so necessary to determine to end up with a garment you love. Having the desired drape is often the difference between a garment that one loves and a sewing fail. Hopefully the website will provide a photo of the fabric hanging or at least folds of the fabric. Are the folds crisp, do they hold their shape or are they softly hanging?

6.        Check if the fabric store has a YouTube channel or ambassadors on youtube that show the different fabrics.

As I mention above, assessing drape is probably the most difficult aspect of purchasing fabric online and being able to see how a fabric moves can be so helpful. One way to see that movement is if the store is showing large swatches or the bolt of the fabric moving. Stylemaker fabrics has recently started doing this and it is so helpful. Check and see if the fabric store you are looking at is doing this.

7.        Look at Garments Made from that Fabric.

Seeing how a fabric behaves when made up into a garment is so helpful. Check social media sites, Pattern Review and the newsletter of the fabric store for garments made up in the desired fabric. It doesn’t have to be the same exact fabric to be helpful. Be curious about the type of fabric used in garments that you like. Do you like that knit top made up in a cotton knit which has more body as opposed to a rayon knit or ITY that has more drape?

8.        Start a Swatch Book of Fabrics Purchased Online.

This is the most important hint of all. Use our free download and start a swatch book of all purchased fabrics. Note the manufacturer, where the fabric was purchased, fiber content, gsm, recommended garments to be sewn from it and the weight description (heavy, light ect). After the fabric is sewn, note in the book the pattern sewn and any notes about how that fabric behaved in that garment.

A year from now you probably will not remember the fiber content, gsm and name brand of that fabric that you love. But if you have a swatch book, you can go in search of that fabric, or one that is similar, with that crucial information. It will also allow comparisons between fabric. For example, if you made a classic shirt in a cotton shirting that had a gsm of 120 and the fabric that you are now considering is a cotton shirting with a gsm of 70, are you going to like it? Maybe you will still purchase the fabric, but maybe in noticing those differences, you will  plan on making a more flowy short sleeve blouse rather than a classic button down shirt.

9.        Order a Swatch

I left this tip for last because in many ways ordering a swatch isn’t practical. Fabrics sell out, sales are limited, shipping takes time. Even if the swatches are free, the shipping often isn’t. In addition, swatches are often small and a small square of fabric doesn’t help you accurately assess how heavy a garment will be or the drape of the fabric. However, if that fabric is quite expensive, you need quite a bit of it, and time is on your side, ordering a swatch so you can feel the fabric and see the actual color can be helpful.

Opening a box of newly arrived fabrics should be a joy – a gift that you give yourself, not a surprise because the contents of that box are not what you expected! I hope these tips will enable you to experience that joy when your next shipment of fabric arrives!