Sewing is a fun hobby, but with fabric costs going up, it’s starting to get expensive! It often cost more than just buying whatever you made and the cost can be a real barrier to continuing your hobby. I have been doing some research on how I can make my fun projects without breaking the bank. I came up with 5 tips to save on fabric.
Shop sales
This may sound obvious, but it is so helpful and how I save the most on my fabric. Most large fabric stores have coupons going all the time, and if you have a Joann’s near you, you, their cotton collection is on sale for less than $5.00 a yard frequently. Walmart frequently has rolls and fat quarters of fabric on sale too. I always check out Walmart when I need inexpensive fabric for a project, especially if I’m not too picky on the fabric itself. If you only need a small amount of fabric, the dollar store occasionally has fabric for sale as well. These fabric are usually better for craft projects than sewing projects.
Use Alternative Fabrics
You don’t have to go to the fabric store and get your fabric off a bolt. You can use sheets, blankets, or even curtains to make your projects. I love to buy inexpensive flannel blankets around Christmas time and use them to make Christmas pajamas. Of course this does limit the types of fabric available, so it doesn’t work for every project, but if it will work for your project, it can often cost much less than buying the fabric off the bolt. If you are looking for a solid color, white sheets are typically very cheap and so is a small bottle of dye.
Thrift fabric
Some thrift stores sell donated fabric, depending on where you live, you can even get it for a few bucks. You can also combine it with the idea from above and buy thrifted sheets or blankets. Just make sure to clean any fabric you buy really thoroughly before using.
Facebook marketplace and buy nothing groups
Lots of people are looking to get rid of their stock of fabric on marketplace, and if you don’t belong to a buy nothing group, they are fantastic. You can find cheap or even free fabric through Facebook.
Deadstock/scrap fabric websites like fabscrap.com
I love to go to the fabric store and go straight to the remnants. This is especially helpful when you don’t need a lot of fabric or if you aren’t too picky about the look of the fabric. Most physical stores will have a remnants area, but you can also find deadstock or scrap fabric websites. fabscrap.com is a great example of a scrap fabric website. Many of these websites sell designer fabrics too. These aren’t usually super cheap, but they are high quality and much cheaper than buying them outside of these websites.
