Sad face. Very, very sad face.
I have received an email that Textile Fabrics in Nashville, THE ONLY REAL FABRIC STORE within driving distance, will be closing as the owner is retiring.
I don't often get to go, as it is a 2 hour drive, and I don't even think I've made it to their newest location (they've moved twice since I first managed to visit), but just knowing they were there was like a security blanket.
I probably won't make it up this fall for the clearance sales; it's not like I NEED more fabric anyway, so I'm just going to have to remember how lovely it was to walk in...smell FABRIC and not cinnamon brooms, and see gorgeous silks and woolens live and in person.
I am grateful for the internet vendors, but even the best of them will sometimes send a 'Hhhhmmmm...' piece of fabric, something that wasn't quite what I pictured from the description. There's just something so luscious about actually touching that piece of fabric and envisioning what it might be...then putting it on the counter and watching it get unrolled and cut; finding matching thread and buttons right there...
I fear that is a thing of the past. At least in North Alabama. There's just nothing around...that I know of, anyway. Textile Fabrics was the last bastion of fine home sewing.
Now all there is...is JoAnn's World of Polyester and Crafts.
I'm going to be kinda blue about this for a bit.
I should find time to sew something I bought from Textile Fabrics in honor of the dreams I have dreamed there...
Oh dear. I am afraid Walmart cleared out our last real mom and pop sewing store (at least the one that had fine fabrics) . It also caused major upheaval for Fabricland and Fanny's fabrics (two chain stores here in Canada). Then Walmart closed the fabric department after all that! The last few years all we have had is quilt stores and finally Fabricland reopened. I have been ordering some online, but I do like to see the colours and touch the fabrics, so I feel your pain. Barb
ReplyDeleteI don't know if Wal-mart ran the indy fabric stores out of business or not; they never had the quality of fabric that the indy sores had. But there was a good $1 /yard table at one of the Wal-Marts in town; their buyer had connections to Golden D'or and would get their deadstock and overruns. Best place to look for costuming fabric. But, alas, they shut it down and now the Wal-mart fabric is just pretty much dreck, although one store does have some nice cotton poplin...in limited colors. I am telling folks now that the problem in making costumes is sourcing the fabric. It's getting very hard to find...and it costs $7 -12 US per yard. No more cheap Bible costumes...
DeleteWouldn't it be wonderful if we saw the come-back of mills to the west? While I ran my business, I saw the exodus of fabric-making to the far east and the closing of so many small fabric stores. Now the big ones are falling too. But if we had mills once again, we could produce our own fabric. I don't understand why that industry doesn't have as much importance as cars, after all we all wear clothes all of the time.
ReplyDeleteJulie!!! So good to see your post! ;-) And yes, I don't understand why we don't have a resurgence in American (US and Canada) manufacturing in general...especially after the 2020 shortages that proved container shipping is not infallible. Stuff made on this continent wouldn't need to be processed at ports; rail/truck transport would suffice. But I suppose people are resistant to paying the labor costs now. A high minimum wage sounds good until you're paying $12 for a cheeseburger...or $10/ yd for basic cotton twill.
ReplyDelete