Christine Sews

I haven’t been posting a lot here this week.  But I have been sewing, and shopping.  Yesterday I drove out to Iva, South Carolina to check out All About Fabrics.  If you’re in the area, I recommend stopping by.  Iva is near Lake Hartwell.  So it isn’t a bad day trip from metro Atlanta.  And if you’re a sewing enthusiast; you might make it a monthly pilgrimage.

All About Fabrics is vast.  And I’m told that their inventory changes monthly.

There is a lot of home decor fabric in stock.  Or at least there was this month.  Some are very deeply discounted.  The very popular prints which I recognized were not marked down as much, but were still only $6.50 per yard. There were some very expensive fabrics, marked down to around $15 per yard.

There were some notions, but not a lot.  I was very pleased to see fusible thread, which seems to be sold out all over Atlanta, and a compass type marking attachment.  I also found three yard rolls of beaded trim deeply discounted.

The staff were very helpful.  Not everyone knew the location of everything.  But they were more than willing to find someone who did.  And it is worth noting that this went on for an hour prior to me identifying myself and requesting to take pictures.  Because hey, if you’re going to take pictures, you’ve got to tell people why so they’ll understand you’re sharing the link love not plotting to blow up the building.

This was a true warehouse setup.  And as such, some of the fabrics had tears, seams, and other flaws.  When encountered at the cut table; the people with the shears just pulled past the flaws and began measuring on the perfect fabric.  They calculated and charged from there - but still gave the customer, me, the flawed fabric.  I am certain I ended up with an extra quarter yard or more of two different fabrics where a flaw can simply be cut around.

In one area there are flat fold fabrics by the pound. I’m a bit confused about how many yards I ended up with.  But some of the ones I picked out were $2.50 a pound.There were not a lot of formal or bridal fabrics.  I happen to be making a ring bearer pillow for a good friend.  So I hunted through two shelves of satin, a relatively small selection compared to other types of fabrics available in the store.  And I found some silk dupioni in the fabric by the pound.

Two disclaimers:

1. This is my opinion.  It is not a paid advertisement.  I genuinely feel the two hour drive was worth the effort.  For a less glowing fabric store review, see my thoughts on Frugal Fabrics .
2. I am loath to refer you to the web site address because I do not think the site is a good representation of the quality of the goods, facility and staff.  But, you’ll need to know the open to public dates and address.  So here it is, All About Fabrics .

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