101 Independent Fabric Stores in the USA!

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Well, it’s almost summer, which means summer travel is about to begin. For me, this means discovering some new independent fabric stores. Seeking out these little gems is a survival tactic. Allow me to explain.

While I don’t know what your adventures entail, it looks like I may be traipsing around the South visiting Civil War battlefields.  This is definitely not my idea, nor my dream destination. Don’t get me wrong. I know this is very educational and good for our children, but I really COULD. NOT. CARE. LESS. What keeps me sane in these situations is visiting unique independent fabric stores wherever I go.

How the pursuit of the best independent fabric stores makes my summer travel tolerable.

Since this is not my first rodeo, (my husband has dragged us along to many historical landmarks), I know how to prepare for this type of vacation. The pain of sweating it out on a battlefield can easily be reversed with a visit to a darling little independent fabric store. It is so fun to find fabric that you don’t see in your local shops. And, it will forever remind you of your trip. Independent fabrics stores tend to have regional specific selections that you will never find in your local Joanns.

Some of my favorite independent fabric stores

Fabrika in Savannah, GA

One of my very favorite independent fabric stores I’ve visited is Fabrika, a small independent fabric store in the historic district in Savannah, Georgia. This tidy little corner shop has a limited stock of primarily printed cotton broadcloths. They have plenty of solid colors and a nice variety of retro prints, all in 100% cotton. It took me two visits to discover the back room that has additional bolts of fabric in range of types beyond the cotton featured in front.

Owners Ashleigh Spurlock and Emily McLaughlin maintain an active blog sharing their creative ideas, inspiration and store news and sell some of their products on-line.

I ended up purchasing four different solid colored cottons and a cool retro print with the intention of patching them together for a duvet cover for my daughter’s bed. I also purchased some dish towel fabric that I will trim up and embroider. What did I get myself into? As the cool woman who helped me in the store optimistically put it… “a whole lot of fun!” We will see about that.

Santa Fe Fabrics in Santa Fe, NM

On a recent visit to Santa Fe, New Mexico, I discovered Santa Fe Fabrics. (www.santafefabrics.com). What a cool fabric store! They have a lot of unique, modern prints. But the selection of notions and trim blew me away. You would not believe the selection of gorgeous buttons that could be the focal piece of any garment. I bought the cutest most dainty decorative zipper that is designed to be stitched on the outside of a garment

Prices at Santa Fe Fabrics were very reasonable and the owners were warm, friendly and helpful. Santa Fe Fabrics has only been in business a couple of months, but I expect it will be around for a while.

Citycraft in Dallas, TX

My trip to Citycraft in Dallas actually saved me from missing my flight. I had been working in Frisco, Texas for a couple of days one summer. Prior to my trip, I discovered a really interesting looking fabric store in Dallas, called Citycraft. Due to my work schedule the only time I had to get to the store was the afternoon prior to catching my flight back to St. Louis, and I didn’t have a lot of time.

When I was finally ready to leave for the airport via Citycraft I checked its location once again on my phone.  But here was the weird thing.  The last time I had checked I recalled Citycraft being close to the airport.  Now my phone was saying it was about 20 miles out of my way.  Was it worth making the trip?

I decided to go for it… with the mantra: “I will not miss my flight for a fabric store, I will not miss my flight for my fabric store…. I will only spend 10 minutes in the fabric store…” running through my head.  Then I noticed the highway I was driving on looked very similar to the one I had taken from the airport.  Was Citycraft actually near the airport as I had originally suspected?

Ummmm…. yeah.  I had completely forgotten that I had flown in to (and supposed to fly out of) Dallas LOVE airport and not Dallas Fort Worth Airport.  Had I chosen to forgo fabric shopping at Citycraft I would have been at DFW and most likely missing my flight.  How serendipitous! And yet how completely STUPID of me.  I guess I get really excited and distracted when it comes to fabric.

So when I made it to Citycraft I actually had a few minutes to browse and OMG OMG OMG!!! They had such beautiful fabric.  I discovered a fabric designer called Kokka – which is awesome.

If you make it to Dallas, you must go to Citycraft.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s the #1 attraction in “the big D.”  In the meantime – check out their web site: http://citycraftonline.com/

The Needle Shop in Chicago, IL

Anyone who does appliqué knows the value of a scrap. A small piece of fabric is all you need to make a big impact.  But if you rely on using scraps from your own projects AND you do a lot of appliqué… you start to run out of fresh options. So when I walked into The Needle Shop in Chicago and saw a large bin of free scraps, I got pretty excited!

What a fabulous concept! I have never seen such an offer in any fabric store, and I think it’s absolutely brilliant. After rooting through the scrap bin for a good 10 minutes, and feeling very grateful for my finds, I WANTED to find something to purchase from this totally awesome store. And this was not a problem.

The Needle Shop has tons of modem (primarily) cotton printed fabrics and many examples of garments made from their stock to provide lots of inspiration. I didn’t even go near their trims for fear that it would be just too tempting.

Don’t know how to sew? Not a problem – The Needle Shop also offers an assortment of sewing classes and from the looks of it – it’s not your grandma’s sewing school.

So if you find yourself in Chicago – make sure you drop by and help yourself to the free scraps. Just save a few for me!

Learn more about The Needle Shop, Chicago

Fabric Outlet on the Eastern Shore of Virginia

I discovered the Fabric Outlet while driving like a bat out of hell on my way from Atlantic City,  New Jersey from Norfolk, VA. I wasn’t expecting to find any fabric stores like I’ve encountered on recent travels like Citycraft in Dallas or even Sewcial in Madison, Wisconsin. Actually I wasn’t expecting to encounter any fabric stores at all because from what I have heard, the Eastern Shore is pretty rural.  So I was extremely surprised when I saw a sign for “Fabric Outlet” shortly after I started up the Eastern Shore while still in Virginia. I had to pull over.

When I entered the parking lot I noticed that there was a “Closed” sign on the front door. However, just as I was about to pull away a guy in his truck emerged from his truck, walked up to the front door and flipped over the sign to “Open.” So, I jumped in my car to go check it out.

The octogenarian woman who appeared to be the store owner looked at me like I was nuts when I walked in and exclaimed, “This is the best surprise, EVER!” And, I ran in to do a little shopping.

When I got back in my car, I realized that my fabric store stop set me back a bit on my schedule which made catching the Cape May ferry from Delaware to New Jersey very tight.  Oh, Lord – the things I do for fabric…

The best independent fabric stores you should visit in the U.S.A.

So, in the spirit of bringing some fun, beauty and inspiration to your summer travels, I’ve compiled a list of 101 independent fabrics stores around the United States – ready to surprise and delight you. Of course, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but I’ve managed to find at least one unique fabric in every state.  Please let me know the great ones I’ve missed!!!

Happy travels and happy shopping at these amazing independent fabric stores.  I’m off to some battlefields!

xo

Julie

101 Independent Fabric Stores in the U.S.A.

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