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FFC Shiny Jersey Knit? Help with fabric & I thought Fashion Fabric Club had improved?
paulakiss   Advanced Beginner IN USA Member since 1/14/10 Posts: 98	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/24/12 11:55 PM I just received 7 yds of fabric I ordered from Fashion Fabric Club and am soooo disapointed. Again. I stopped ordering from them four years ago after several orders were wrong and they would not make good and the quality had really gone down hill. But, after I'd read that some other ladies were having good luck with them, I thought I'd try them again. I needed some specific knit fabrics and couldn't find them at fabric.com. Could someone help? Maybe I just need some perspective... Is jersey knit supposed to be sheer and see through? Maybe I don't buy enough jersey knit to realize this but that is the issue with the heather gray. The Shiny Black sounded so pretty, so I bought some of that instead of the regular knit. It's supposed to be 100% polyester. It actually looks/feels like sheer/thin swimsuit material with a shiny PLASTIC coating. It looks nothing like the flat black picture on the website. And the plastic coating ends a good 2 1/2" from the selvege on this 44" fabric. I am afraid to wash or iron it. Here is what happens when it is stretched. It looks much better in the pic. I only stretched the left side and you can see that side now looks like it's damaged and it no longer has the same shape. The plastic coating looks cracked and horrible on that side in real life. Has anyone ever used this before? Can you iron or wash it? Does it go back to looking like it originally did after washing? I'm about to pack it all up and mark refused on the envelope to send it back. This was nowhere near being worth $38! So my questions are: has anyone purchased these fabrics? If yes, could you wash or iron the black one? And has anyone received a full refund when returning to fashion fabrics club? Years ago, they use to charge a restocking fee and original shipping even if it was their mistake. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. -- Edited on 11/25/12 0:06 AM --
SandiMacD   Intermediate FL USA Member since 2/8/09 Posts: 1041	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/25/12 4:53 AM Oh my! Sorry I can't help but hope someone has insight. This is tragic. ------ re-living my youth through sewing...
paulakiss   Advanced Beginner IN USA Member since 1/14/10 Posts: 98	Login to reply to this post In reply to SandiMacD << Like this post Date: 11/25/12 7:07 AM Thank you, Sandi. I tend to be a little emotional sometimes. I thought maybe I was overreacting becuase I couldn't help comparing this to the 10 yds of AWESOME qulaity pattent leather looking vinyl I bought from fabric.com for like $30. And here is this terrible quality knit stuff I spent a bunch more on. I emailed ffc. I hope I hear something back on Monday....
Tarrbaby   Intermediate MI USA Member since 10/28/06 Posts: 104	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/25/12 9:33 AM I'm sorry you had this happen. I too used to love FCC but that was when they had a store front. Now, they take forever to ship and when I ordered a silk that looked and was labeled burgundy what I got was hot pink. I use fabric.com and fabricmart .com now. I would call for a return tag on their dime, and if they refuse it would be the last time I would buy from them. The last time I bought from them was the hot pink silk, three years ago. ------ Dawn T.
Sewliz   CO USA Member since 6/22/04 Posts: 4112	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/25/12 3:53 PM Yuk! Sometimes FFC has some amazingly crappy fabric, so bad I couldn't believe they actually allowed themselves to send it to a customer, but for the most part it is good to excellent fabric at pretty amazing prices so it is usually worth the gamble to order. FFC = Fashion Fabrics Casino, where most of the time you win. FFC's descriptions are sparse but I have never found them to be horribly wrong. The description of your black shiny fabric is exactly right, a lightweight polyester jersey with a shiny finish suitable for blouses. That gives the fibre, weave, finish, and weight. However, that description leaves a lot to the imagination and we all know how well sewing people's imaginations work! FFC has a guarantee and you can return any fabric you are not happy with, no questions asked. I used that guarantee once and the return went smoothly. I can't remember how long it took to get the refund credited to my credit card but it wasn't forever. Yeah, you do have to pay the shipping. ------ Liz thefittinglife.blogspot.com
paulakiss   Advanced Beginner IN USA Member since 1/14/10 Posts: 98	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/25/12 11:05 PM Thanks for the advice, ladies. I will be calling them first thing in the morning. I do disagree that the description of the shiny black was accurate. Nowhere did it say that it had a plastic coating that would crack if stretched. Plastic is not polyester. But, maybe it's hard to see in the pics. I've actually used a knit before that was described as shiny blue. I think I bought it from ebay. The actual fibers in that fabric were shiny/sparkly. That's why I was so surprised by the plastic coating on this. Btw, I realized the knits I've been working with are the cotton blend jersey from fabric.com and cotton or poly interlock knits. Those are probably just thicker than the gray kind I purchased. -- Edited on 11/25/12 11:07 PM --
LynnRowe   Advanced BC CANADA Member since 3/9/09 Posts: 6747	Login to reply to this post In reply to paulakiss << Like this post Date: 11/25/12 11:12 PM Jersey can be super thin and sheer, or thick and opaque, and all ranges inbetween, and this is not a quality issue. The most expensive top-quality jersey on the planet may be very thin and totally sheer. If the description doesn't give the weight or opacity factor of a jersey, swatches first are always the best idea, when possible. Hope your return goes smoothly and quickly. ------ I heart Panzy, Pfaff Creative Performance, the sewing machine love of my life! And Rupert (Pfaff 2023), Baby (BL Enlighten), Victor (BLCS), Ash (Bernina 350SE), Pal (Bernina 530), Kee (Bernina 750) and the Featherteen Flock! Most of all, I heart Woo (HimmyCat). Until we meet again, my beautiful little boy. I love you.
stitchywitch Intermediate KY USA Member since 10/15/09 Posts: 31	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/25/12 11:56 PM I find the key with FFC is learning their code. I have good luck now, but I've gotten the occasional dodgy piece. It's worth it in general for the deals. Your piece doesn't look great - I would send it back, especially as it's so easy to damage (I think they use the term "metallic" for the woven in threads, shiny for the coating, but how would you know that?) Jersey can vary in weight - at FFC "Good for blouses" means lightweight and "Good for dresses and blouses" means medium weight.
beauturbo Advanced CA USA Member since 5/2/09 Posts: 1434	Login to reply to this post In reply to paulakiss << Like this post Date: 11/26/12 1:25 AM I have seen stuff like that before. If you stretch your black shiny fabric all over and equally, then I think it will look the same instead all over and go back to original shape. I do think it''s polyester. Most times used more for costumes though, or sold in the swim suit/costume area of yardage stores. So if I was going to see it for sale someplace on the internet, I would kind of expect or want to see it more named something like "lightweight single knit polyester with a clear, shiny foiled top finish on it" possibly. But there are a ton of fabrics that are foiled or laminated out there now. Some I like (like some reptile looks and such, and sometimes gold foiling in just smaller places)and some not so much at all. If you foil or laminate on something knit, in just one place or all over it, is is going to still stretch later in use. When I see them in the fabric stores, on the bolts, and if thinking about making anything with them, I actually do be bold and just pull across the knit to see what happens when the laminated bond or foiling has been broken in just all the places between the knits and purls in the knit fabric. It's still all attached on there in all the other places. that is why I think if you stretch yours all out all over, then it will be back to shape and have it's more "final look". Fabric stores might not like that, but you got to do it if considering buying some fabric for some purpose, or you would never know how it would look in real use at all. As no way can it even be on a human body and never have that happen in wearing, if wearing it much either.
clothingengineer   Intermediate CT USA Member since 5/7/10 Posts: 354	Login to reply to this post In reply to paulakiss << Like this post Date: 11/26/12 11:28 AM Quote: paulakiss Is jersey knit supposed to be sheer and see through? Maybe I don't buy enough jersey knit to realize this but that is the issue with the heather gray. In the past 5 years there has been a trend in RTW for "tissue" or "layering" tees, which are made of very lightweight, nearly sheer knits. You're supposed to wear two or three shirts now instead of just one. IMO it is a way of cutting costs in this time of rising costs while still making a big profit. The customer buys two tees @ $10 each instead of one for $18 and thinks they are getting a bargain. Now these manufacturer run-offs are being sold in fabric stores. I shop exclusively online from places with detailed descriptions and a good return policy or at least a swatching service. If you are looking for a good non-sheer knit at FFC you need to look for "beefy" in the description. ------ -- Anne http://clothingengineer.com

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