Thread: ordering fabric online from canada

Looking for input from other Canadians. I'm looking for a store that I can order fabric from online & that has reasonable prices, reasonable shipping, will ship to Canada & decent selection. So if you order fabric online from Canada what site do you use?

to be honest, I don't order fabric online. I need to see it live before I buy. The few places I've looked at (mostly trim stores) tend to be more expensive than what I can find locally. (Even of the online place has a sale, once you throw in the exchange rate, the charge to your credit card for the US purchase, shipping, customs and heaven forbid they ship UPS, add 200$ of *&^%$^%$ brokerage fees... It ends up not worth it at all.)

Where are you located? Are there any fabric stores within reasonable distance of you?

If you're in SOuthern Ontario, I can't recommend Len's Mill enough. It's a huge Ali Baba cavern for seamstersses! They got everything and they got it at 15% discount if you finish the bolt.

I ordered once from these guys Fabric By The Yard. Fabrics at Wholesale Prices

The price was reasonable with the shipping and I was pretty happy with the experience overall, the fabric was gorgeous and high quality but it was not quite the color I was expecting.

I don't think you can ever be 100% sure of the color when ordering online, so if I was looking for a very specific color I wouldn't do that again. I might if the exact shade was not crucial.

i'm an hour drive from edmonton & we have fabricland. plus my boy friend knows of another fabric store that is apparently cheaper so i'll have to check it out. i do get to edmonton about once a week. it's just those quicky shops when you just need to pick up that one thing that i can't do & miss by no living in a larger city.

I feel your frustration, GypsyStacey. I too live in Canada--small town BC. My Fabricland is a joke and the closest big city is 3 hours away. By the time I do get to big city shopping, I am so overwhelmed, I either buy way too much or nothing because I can't decide! Fortunately, I live 10 minutes from the US border so have a US postal box for online shopping. I buy alot of my dance fabric on Ebay with much success. Most sellers provide a good description of their items. Now, I realize popping across the border to pickup stuff isn't an option for you, but you could order online from the US and pay the duty/taxes. I believe the duty on fabric is 17%. Sometimes if the seller marks it as gift, then you don't have to pay.

If you happen to be in Calgary I found Fabric Depot in the NE end of the city, Fabric Depot - Fabrics for drapes, curtains, upholstery, quilting, clothing, weddings, and much more !. They used to just do wholesale upholstery fabric and supplies, but now they are offering more apparel fabric also. I got some nice stretch velvet for 1/2 of what fabricland was charging, and they have tonnes and tonnes of trims and embellishments. It's a warehouse so it's not like shopping at a fabric store, but the prices are great and the gentlemen were very friendly and helpful. If you know exactly what you are looking for you could probably call them to see if they have it in stock? Or maybe there is a similar store in Edmonton?

I was in China last year and had the chance to visit a small fabric market in a small city and the large market in Shanghai. I wish I could go back every year just to shop; the prices are already reasonable and then you barter to get it all even cheaper! I wasn't sure what I would do with all the choices I saw last year so I didn't buy as much as I should have. Am certainly regretting it now. If I ever get back there, there will be a lot of happy fabric merchants.

Hope you find a good store, and let us know if you do!