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My grandma passed away last year, and I miss her dearly. She gave me my first sewing machine and always encouraged me to learn how to sew.
Some of my fondest memories involve sitting at the pattern table at JoAnn Fabric looking through pattern books with my mom and grandma. We would always wait until patterns went on sale for $1 and then snatch up a bunch for future sewing projects.
Sewing is an expensive hobby unless you know how to save money on fabric and notions. My mom and grandma taught me a lot about being frugal at the fabric store. Here are five tips I learned from them.
Never Buy Anything Without a Coupon
Almost all fabric stores run promotions. If you’re willing to wait to buy something, you can get a coupon that takes a percentage off your entire purchase price or get a discount on a single cut of fabric. JoAnn Fabric runs promotions like this all the time. I signed up to receive JoAnn coupons by email so I always have one waiting for me when I go to buy fabric.
My grandma rarely bought any fabric at full price. I make it a rule to do the same. If you only buy discount fabric or use a coupon, it’s still cheaper to sew clothes than buy them at the store.
Wait to Buy Patterns Until They’re on Sale
When sewing patterns aren’t on sale, they easily cost upwards of $15. Sure, that might be worth your money if you’re going to reuse the pattern more than once, but I still can’t bring myself to pay full price for one.
If you have the time to wait, fabric stores often have sales where patterns are less than $2 apiece. That’s when I like to stock up.
Alternatively, you can find sewing patterns and tutorials on the internet for a low cost, or even free. I think they are easier to follow than typical sewing patterns anyway because they are usually accompanied by videos or step-by-step pictures. If you’re new to sewing, I suggest that you start with online tutorials for this very reason. A couple of indie pattern companies you can try are Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop and Rebecca Page Patterns.
Only Buy Seasonal Fabrics
Most fabric stores sell seasonal fabric at a discount. For instance, costume fabric usually goes on sale around Halloween and satin fabric goes on sale around prom time. You can also take advantage of the clearance racks at the end of a season because fabric stores want to quickly get rid of any seasonal fabric they still have in stock.
Browse the Remnant Rack
If you have a small sewing project in mind that requires less than one yard a fabric, you can save a lot of money by picking up your fabric on the remnant rack. Remnants are small cuts of fabric that are too small to be left on the bolt by themselves. They are sold for anywhere from 20-50 percent off their original price.
Comparison Shop
Before you make any large purchase at the fabric store, do some price checking to make sure you are getting a good deal. My grandma was not loyal to one fabric store. She was only loyal to getting a good deal.
With a barcode scanner on your cellphone, you can quickly check the price of the same item at another retail store for comparison. You no longer have to drive around to find the best deal. If you find a better deal, you might even be able to convince the cashier to give you the same price. The technology is there, so why not use it?
Do you have any other tips or secrets about saving money at the fabric store? What did your grandma teach you? Leave a comment below.
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