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fabric swatches (Moderated by Deepika, Sharon1952)
Posted on: 2/27/11 12:53 PM ET
I have been thinking about joining a fabric swatch club. I have looked at Julie's Pick and also Vogue Fabric Club. I am not sure if there is others out there or not. My questions is:
Does anyone belong to a swatch club?
Is it worth joining?
I need to start to purchase fabric on line instead of JA which is so limited. I also want so me club that combined material so it easy to make outfits. Suggestions?
Does anyone belong to a swatch club?
Is it worth joining?
I need to start to purchase fabric on line instead of JA which is so limited. I also want so me club that combined material so it easy to make outfits. Suggestions?
Posted on: 2/27/11 2:05 PM ET
I don't belong to any swatch clubs, but I've wondered the same thing. I've come to the conclusion that for me it probably wouldn't be worth it since the swatches are arranged by season, and I simply can't wear winter or fall colors.
One of the things I love about sewing for myself is that I can always find fabric in my best colors during the time of the year that the fashion world is clearly against me.
That being said, I wonder if you could just subscribe for part of the year to any of the swatch clubs.
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One of the things I love about sewing for myself is that I can always find fabric in my best colors during the time of the year that the fashion world is clearly against me.
That being said, I wonder if you could just subscribe for part of the year to any of the swatch clubs.
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elizabethmadethis.com
Creative sewing outside the lines.
Creative sewing outside the lines.
Posted on: 2/27/11 2:46 PM ET
In reply to Mary Heckman
At various times I've had subscriptions to Vogue Fabric club, Sawyer Brook's swatches and Fabric Mart's club. Michael's Fabrics doesn't have regular subscriptions but they do email me from time to time and ask if I want a mailer of swatches -- this is usually advertised on their website as well.
These subscriptions are very useful -- especially if you don't know a lot about fabric weights and weaves and pricing and find it hard to figure out what the fabric is like from the website.
I don't belong to any clubs now because I am always looking for very specific things and while there were many good swatches, they rarely worked out to be exactly what I wanted at the time I wanted them. But I learned a lot about fabrics from having the subscriptions.
The Vogue club is a good starting point. THe fabric prices were usually moderate, the fabrics were nicely co-ordinated, there was a good number of swatches. Many of the fabrics were polyester or poly blends -- I don't know if that's acceptable to you. The subscription price is reasonable and they have a $5 single-issue offer if you want to try 1 issue before committing $30 to an entire year.
Sawyer brook fabrics are much more expensive (see their website.) Michaels Fabrics concentrates on classic tailoring fabrics (imported shirtings, wool suitings, silks). I remember fabric mart as being a more eclectic mix of fabrics and prices.
I hope you find something you like!
These subscriptions are very useful -- especially if you don't know a lot about fabric weights and weaves and pricing and find it hard to figure out what the fabric is like from the website.
I don't belong to any clubs now because I am always looking for very specific things and while there were many good swatches, they rarely worked out to be exactly what I wanted at the time I wanted them. But I learned a lot about fabrics from having the subscriptions.
The Vogue club is a good starting point. THe fabric prices were usually moderate, the fabrics were nicely co-ordinated, there was a good number of swatches. Many of the fabrics were polyester or poly blends -- I don't know if that's acceptable to you. The subscription price is reasonable and they have a $5 single-issue offer if you want to try 1 issue before committing $30 to an entire year.
Sawyer brook fabrics are much more expensive (see their website.) Michaels Fabrics concentrates on classic tailoring fabrics (imported shirtings, wool suitings, silks). I remember fabric mart as being a more eclectic mix of fabrics and prices.
I hope you find something you like!
Posted on: 3/1/11 1:11 AM ET
In reply to Mary Heckman
I've had a subscription to Julie's Picks (aka Fabric Mart Swatch Club) for several years, as well as Fashion Fabrics Club. Only recently I decided to cancel them because I have waaay too much fabric.
Is it worth joining? Stand back while I shout, YES!! The size of swatches is nice enough to see prints as well as to be able to pin one to another piece of fabric and run it through the washer to see how it will behave. With Julie's Picks, you don't get the same fabric that is posted on the website, so you feel a little special...
FM keeps those fabrics hidden from the common viewer.
The only drawback is that you might end up like me--over 200 yards of fabric and not enough time to sew!
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Is it worth joining? Stand back while I shout, YES!! The size of swatches is nice enough to see prints as well as to be able to pin one to another piece of fabric and run it through the washer to see how it will behave. With Julie's Picks, you don't get the same fabric that is posted on the website, so you feel a little special...
FM keeps those fabrics hidden from the common viewer.The only drawback is that you might end up like me--over 200 yards of fabric and not enough time to sew!
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"Play the cards you are dealt, but choose who is sitting at the table"..AARP magazine
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Posted on: 3/2/11 8:02 AM ET
I've had subscriptions to Vogue Fabrics and Thai Silks, but stopped as I'm not currently in the US. I'm not sure Thai Silks is doing their swatch club any more. About Vogue, I would completely agree with emg above. The fabrics are very nicely coordinated in a few different sets for each mailing. IIRC there were at least 6 fabrics in each set, but maybe someone can correct me on this. The colors for the different sets were varied and I could always pick out at least one that had good colors for me. The swatches came with a writeup with care instructions and pattern suggestions.
Posted on: 3/2/11 8:38 AM ET
In reply to Margaret
Quote: Margaret
IIRC there were at least 6 fabrics in each set, but maybe someone can correct me on this.
IIRC there were at least 6 fabrics in each set, but maybe someone can correct me on this.
You can see the older ones on the site:
Vogue Fabric Swatch Club - Winter 2010
Now, I'm not a member of ANY of the swatch clubs but it's a well-documented fact that I'm very interested in this topic

Thai silks doesn't talk about a subscription but has sample sets of between 5 and 18 bundles of samples of their fabrics:
Thai Silks Sample Sets
It looks like the samples are approx. 4in wide from the images online. Very interesting!
Posted on: 3/2/11 11:06 AM ET
I'm a member of the FabricMart swatch club, which I love. I renewed it back during the free scissors deal, so between the scissors set and the $25 certificate, the cost for the membership itself was very low. And the prices of the fabrics tend to be really good too-- many are cheaper than equivalent fabrics on the site, and they have a range of price points. Some issues are better than others.
Vogue fabrics advertises their coordinated fabrics club as being "the best of the best" and that's reflected in their prices as well; I found most of what they had to be pretty expensive. So far as actually buying fabrics, I prefer the FabricMart swatch club. However, you can also get the back issues of Vogue's swatch club at a discount --$2/issue-- so that's particularly useful if you want examples of different general types of fabric.
Vogue fabrics advertises their coordinated fabrics club as being "the best of the best" and that's reflected in their prices as well; I found most of what they had to be pretty expensive. So far as actually buying fabrics, I prefer the FabricMart swatch club. However, you can also get the back issues of Vogue's swatch club at a discount --$2/issue-- so that's particularly useful if you want examples of different general types of fabric.
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