Please welcome Meagan back to the blog. She’s been no stranger around here. In the past she has stopped by with her How to Add Ruffled Sleeves to a T-shirt tutorial, Marbled Yoke Hide-and-Seek Dress, Hide-and-seek Dress with Faux Chenille Yoke, and her favorite Oliver + S pattern. Today she is taking us fabric shopping in her home town. Thank you so much for being here Meagan!
When you try to shop for fabric in a country that isn’t your own, you’ll find that sewing terms aren’t easily translated. To help you out, we created the Sewing Translator, which many of you have contributed to and use. We hope it will be useful to you as well in your travels. Sewing Translator is now available in 14 different languages, and if you have an iPhone or iPad you can download it to use the native iOS app off-line as well. We hope you’ll make good use of it! You can find Sewing Translator in the Apple app store, and it’s free.
Welcome to Phoenix, Arizona also known as the “Valley of the Sun,” where in the summer it gets upwards of 115 degrees Fahrenheit. We like to say it’s a dry heat, but when you’re in any weather over 110 degrees, hot is just plain hot. If you’re lucky enough to visit during fall, winter, or spring though, the weather is absolutely beautiful. In fact we often attract people who come to live here seasonally while it’s winter in their snowy cities to escape the cold. Phoenix is ranked the fifth largest city in the U.S. and has beautiful unique desert landscapes. It has an up-and-coming downtown that seems to be growing by the day. There are lots of suburbs that spread pretty far across the state. While we don’t have the volume of great apparel fabric stores as most other large cities, the ones we do have are gems that are all well worth the visit.
First up is one of my all time favorite places to peruse. It’s a fabric warehouse called SAS Fabrics Superstore. You know you’re in for a treat when “superstore” is in the title. SAS is a giant warehouse filled with anything fabric related you could ever dream of. Upon arrival, you’ll find endless aisles filled with boxes, bolts, and rolls of fabric to get lost in. They not only have amazing fabrics for garment making, they also have notions, appliqués, foam, and trim galore. Silks, satins, lace, sequin, leather, knits, velvet, and even quilting cotton are just a few of the kinds of fabrics you can find. You could easily spend a few hours here and not even realize it.
Next up, while Phoenix has many great quilting fabric stores to offer, a store called 35th Ave Sew and Vac is a fan favorite. It’s a family owned and operated quilting fabric, notions, and vacuum store on steroids. They also sell many kinds of sewing machines, from entry level all the way up to large industrial embroidery machines. They have every brand of quilting fabric you would ever need or want and they are all neatly separated by category. One of my favorite things about this store is the thread selection. I kid you not, they may have just as many types of threads to choose from as they do fabric. They also regularly hold events and sewing classes.
Last but not least is actually another store called SAS. It’s not a “superstore” like the first one I told you about and they are owned by different people. Here is where I like to come when I’m looking for a unique fabric you wouldn’t find at regular chain stores. They have tons of fabrics and trim to choose from and each time you go, you see something new and different. It’s the kind of place where if you see something you like, you’re not guaranteed to find it there again if you don’t buy it that day. It definitely has more of an industrial feel, so it’s not out of the ordinary to have to dig through some boxes or look through what feels like library shelves full of trim to see what you can find.
Our fabric stores may not be as traditional as most large cities, but they definitely provide a unique shopping experience. I hope that when you visit, you can make it to a few of the places on the list. You won’t regret it and I guarantee you’ll find something truly special!
Another great spot in Phoenix is Bernina Connection. It’s primarily a quilt shop and sewing machine dealer, but they also carry some gorgeous apparel fabric. I love it.
SAS stores have a huge assortment but you should also know that much of their inventory are millends, factory seconds and leftover stock. There are some wonderful finds but you do have to wade through a lot to find the treasures sometimes. There are actually 3 SAS stores.
35th Ave. Sew and Vac at the Northern location now has a small but growing collection of apparel fabrics including Cotton and Steel knits, linen, batiste, etc.
OMG, I needed this list last week. I just got home from Phoenix yesterday. I have found four shops I really like. Will be checking out these places next time I get to AZ..
I lived in Phoenix for 20 years and have been gone for close to 15. SAS Fabrics Superstore was my favorite – though it was not yet a superstore when I was there. I bought dozens of yards of lace edgings, elasticized lace and lace motifs for anywhere from $0.50 to $4.00/yard. Prices have probably increased since then. I am now running out of it all. I so miss this store. Nothing like it anywhere else I have been.
I don’t know how you could talk about favorite fabric stores and not mention Mulqueen’s. They have three stores, with the one in Mesa being the biggest. Their prices are absolutely fantastic! I just bought a sale fabric for $1.99 a yard and it’s absolutely beautiful…irons and sews like a dream. All the fabrics are priced below what other stores charge, but it’s the same designers and manufacturers. And if you want to deal with pleasant, helpful and knowledgeable people who are happy to see you in their store, you can’t beat Mulqueen’s for customer service. They have classes and special events as well. They sell fabric of course, but also dies for the Go! products, notions, patterns, thread and all types of sewing machines and have their own in-house repair people. I don’t go anywhere else for my sewing items.
I will be visiting Phoenix next month and will explore fabric places. Looking for apparel fabric, exclusively. It’s always fun to bring back a piece of fabric to construct into clothing to bring back a travel memory. From this blog and other web sites I have learned of SAS. Any others hidden away with fantastic apparel fabrics? Thank you.
I have yards and yards of high quality quilt fabric that my mother purchased for her quilting. I’ve heard of a store in Denver that “buys back” unused quilt fabric at a price per pound? Do you know of any shop in Phoenix that does this?