With the reality of JoAnn Fabrics stores closing all over the country, those of us that actually sew are looking for new sources of fabrics…especially where we can touch and feel the fabric. In my area, central Pennsylvania, JoAnn’s has been the go-to source for many years. Recently, I really haven’t needed much except fleece for the greyhound coats. Now that I’m not making as many coats, and my other sewing projects involve using up the fabric I have, I realized I didn’t know what my other choices were.
Today I’d like to share what I found at my local WalMart for fabric and sewing notions. A store near you may have other choices.
I found many prepackaged yards of fabric…mostly 1-yard and 2-yards…of poly/cotton blends and 100% cotton. Prices were pretty standard.
They offered a section with utility fabrics, ready to cut to length…assuming someone was nearby to do the cutting.
A whole section of cotton fabric, ready to cut, was available.
Muslin and interfacing were available.
Fleece, prepackaged into 1 1/2 yards was available. I could make two coats out of one package, plus the linings out of another.
Poly-fil stuffing and pillow forms are stacked up.
The price of patterns in stores and online are crazy now! The display at WalMart seemed to be focused on the needs of families…clothing for children, costumes, etc., and ranged from $2.97 to $4.97!
The offerings for appliques and buttons were pretty sparce, but I can see those can easily be sold online…probably even at WalMart.com.
The rest of the items for sale were tools and other notions that could be useful to folks that sew or craft…scissors, rotary cutters, magnifying lights, Velcro, needles, rulers, safety pins, etc.
WalMart’s offerings of sewing fabric and supplies can certainly fill a need for those many useful items that you might need right now when you’re in the middle of a project. If you’re looking for specialty fabric, or high-quality fabric for clothing or quilting, you may want to find another source for that. I’ll continue exploring resources in the area for those projects.