Fancy Turtleneck

[DorothyL]

Kaitlin, Gorgeous Fabrics is not more expensive because she gets them in the city. Actually they are cheaper there -- especially wholesale. There are a handful of port cities where imported fabrics come in and New York is one of the largest. The owners of small stores that can get to one of these ports get their fabrics cheaper than the ones that have to go through middle men wholesale dealers.
I think the prices are based more on what her coustomers want to pay so they feel they are better than people who shop at less expensive sources than on the wholesale source.
There is nothing wrong with that, it is just her niche.

Dorothy

[kaitlinnegan]

Kaitlin, Gorgeous Fabrics is not more expensive because she gets them in the city. Actually they are cheaper there -- especially wholesale. There are a handful of port cities where imported fabrics come in and New York is one of the largest. The owners of small stores that can get to one of these ports get their fabrics cheaper than the ones that have to go through middle men wholesale dealers.
I think the prices are based more on what her coustomers want to pay so they feel they are better than people who shop at less expensive sources than on the wholesale source.
There is nothing wrong with that, it is just her niche.

Dorothy

Oh, I didn't mean to say her fabrics are more expensive because she shops in NYC. I know the fabrics are much less expensive in NYC. I have seen many of the same fabrics in person at Metro Textiles, for about half the price. I would prefer to think that the prices are higher because she hand picks the best ones (which seems to be true, there are a ton of duds at those small garment district shops)...but I suppose the prices are also higher because people are willing to pay that, so you might be right about her customers wanting to think they are better...

I do think fabrics at Joann, for example, are overpriced as well in general (even when you use the 40% off coupon), and are lower quality.

[kaitlinnegan]

Sorry to go off on a bit of a tangent, Gina!

Back on topic, Vogue fabrics has a few sweater knits that look nice and are fairly reasonably priced: http://www.voguefabricsstore.com/Sweater-Knits/ They also have a huge selection of Sophia double knits, although they are a little more than you will pay for the Joann or Hancock double knits.

[DorothyL]

Vogue also has good shipping rates now. They used to be high but Aare much better now.

[Pudge99]

Kaitlin, I am the queen of tangents so it doesn't bother me much.

I'll have to have a look around at vogue fabrics. Really I should probably be searching my stash for an acceptable fabric.

[bridesmom]

Maybe, but its way more fun to find new fabric when shopping!!

[kaitlinnegan]

Vogue also has good shipping rates now. They used to be high but Aare much better now.

I noticed that -- I think that it was always prevented me from buying from Vogue Fabrics. Of course, like Gina I should be shopping my stash as well...

[Mule]

I really like Vogue Fabrics. They were super helpful last Spring when I was making a prom dress. I couldn't tell from the computer which satin was actually the shade I was looking for, or what the weight of the fabric was like. Their customer service explained the different weights/feels, and then told me which shade actually matched what I was describing. They also picked out matching lining and thread for me. Combine that with $6 shipping, and I was sold!

In my opinion, their fabric is nicer than what I find at Joann's or Hancock Fabrics. I've also been disappointed with some of my purchases from fabric.com -- several knits in particular looked and felt extremely cheap.

[DorothyL]

I've been shopping at Vogue Fabrics for decades -- since it was mail order not on line -- and have always been happy with them. By The way Gina, I got some beautiful knits from them but it was a couple years ago.

Dorothy

[Pudge99]

Dorothy, do you still get the swatches mailed to you? I was looking around on their site and see that they still offer the mail-order catalog. I'm not getting much from their pictures and am wondering if it is worth it to get the catalogs.