Maybe you decided to sew drapes for your living room, or perhaps you want to sew matching dresses for all your grandaughters! Either way, buying yards and yards of fabric will not come cheap. Unless, of course, you know how to find cheap online fabric stores!
Cheap online fabric stores offer various options to make the fabric more affordable such as coupons, discounts, bulk pricing, or free shipping. Some of the most popular affordable online fabric sellers include Fabric.com, Etsy.com, Spoonflower, and Hobby Lobby. Other sites like Blick, Fabric Depot and Fabric Wholesale Direct also offer great deals.
In this article, you will learn all about the top 17 cheap online fabric stores. You will also find information on designer fabric sites. Finally, you will get tips on tracking down the cheapest material ever!
17 Best Cheap Fabric Online Stores
Ordering fabric online gives you a much broader range of patterns and textures to select from, and it also lets you easily compare prices to find the cheapest material on the market!
Despite these advantages, you do have to know what to look for when shopping for cloth online. While you can find many excellent discounts or affordable options like the sixteen sites listed here, you can also find many designers or high-end fabric sellers online. Of course, these sellers offer lovely material, but it may cost more than $100 per yard!
On top of that, you need to keep an eye out for shipping fees. Otherwise, you might find a seemingly perfect deal on your material, only to realize the seller is charging exorbitant shipping fees to make up for the discount!
Finally, the biggest advantage of buying fabric in person is touching it and physically assessing its quality. For this reason, make sure you read both the full product description and customer reviews before buying fabric online!
For example, don’t just assume that a piece of cloth contains 100% linen because it looks linen-like in the online picture. Read the description and find out if it contains polyester and any other key details.
You can find excellent, high-quality fabric at great rates from online sellers, though! You just have to know what to look for. Check out the top sixteen cheap online fabric sellers here to get started!
1. Calico Corners
Calico Corners does not offer the absolute bottom-line lowest prices out there, but what it does offer is your chance to buy cool designer brands for less! The lowest by-the-yard price you will find here is around $10, so if that falls outside your budget, scroll right on past this option! That said, Calico Corners has a good selection of specialty prints and designs at around the $40-$50 per yard range.
Calico Corners specializes in home decor fabrics, though it offers many other types of material as well. If you want one-of-a-kind window treatments, upholstery, or bedding, you should check out the heavyweight drapery, faux leather, and linen available here. Plus, you can easily limit your search to pull up a certain price range or color to narrow down the options!
2. Etsy
Everyone loves Etsy! Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but you can indeed find every possible type of material or sewing supply on this DIY-friendly site! Or you can download the app if you would like a personalized experience.
Of course, prices fluctuate a lot on Etsy depending on individual sellers, the shipping discounts offered by each seller, and the type of material you want.
The key thing to remember here if you want cheap cloth is that you have to do the legwork and read product descriptions carefully. While you won’t find coupons offered here as you might at a store, individual sellers often issue discounts for their products. Plus, you can easily use Etsy’s “filter” tool to select your preferred price range or shipping options!
Etsy offers everything from vintage silk to custom-printed cotton. You can browse using the handy navigation tools supplied, but you will get millions of results this way. You may find it easier to search for exactly what you want, such as “yellow linen by the yard.” This way, you only get several thousand results to scroll through!
The cool thing about Etsy is that you can message individual sellers if you want to buy a bulk amount of material, for example, and ask if they offer a bulk discount, Or you can touch base with a seller to make sure the material really is 60” wide as opposed to 45” wide, and so on.
3. Fabric Bubb
Fabric Bubb sells a curated selection of quilter’s weight material in an amazing range of designs. Some of them feature pricey exclusive designer options, but you will also find more traditional Robert Kaufman options here! If you’re tired of selecting your quilting blocks from the same old prints at your local sewing store, you want to check out Fabric Bubb.
You can find higher prices for certain types of quilting material, but the store does offer regular solids at as little as $9 per yard and a sale and discount page with options as cheap as $5 per yard. But some of the designer prints may go up to significantly higher prices.
Fabric Bubb offers affordable pricing and delightful designs for all your quilting needs. The only real downside is that the site seems quite new and sometimes you click on links that go nowhere! It also is not as easily searchable as some more developed online stores.
4. Blick
Blick offers a wide range of art and craft supplies, including certain types of fabric. You can find affordable bleached and unbleached muslin here, as well as any type of felt you might ever need!
Though you won’t find a huge amount of knits and prints here, you can search solids in either remnant or bulk amounts. You can also sometimes find select designer items such as specialized printable fabric or handkerchief material. Burlap and canvas also come in as large or small an amount as you need.
In terms of pricing, Blick falls right around typical Joann Fabric prices for fabric by the yard. They do offer coupons and frequently run shipping deals such as free shipping on orders over $45.
5. Fabric.com
If you have ever shopped for material online, you have almost certainly heard of Fabric.com. This massive site offers every kind of material imaginable. As a fun fact for you, Amazon now owns Fabric.com, possibly because it stands out as one of the largest fabric providers around!
The site provides easy navigation tools like shopping by color or material type. You can also head straight to the handy “sale and clearance” tab to get the biggest discounts. In any search, you can choose to rank items from lowest to highest price to help you find the cheapest option, as well.
While Fabric.com offers a user-friendly and expansive site, prices do range widely. You can find netting for as little as $1.74 per yard, but some designer prints may cost over $600 per yard! Fortunately, you can choose your preferred price range in the sidebar if you want to limit results to what you can afford.
The site does run frequent specials to highlight collections or types of material. While the site does not often issue coupons, you can get free shipping on any order over $49. Plus, regular shipping only costs $4.99.
6. Fabric Depot
Fabric Depot has great prices and an excellent selection of materials ranging from home decor to apparel to sportswear fabrics! You can expect to find apparel fabric ranging in price from around $5 per yard to $15 per yard, though of course, home decor and specialty material may have a higher price tag. You can also browse a fun remnants discount page to pick out a super-cheap yard or two of fun cloth at a super-low cost!
Or, if you want to go in the opposite direction, Fabric Depot also offers the option to purchase fabric by the bolt. This gives you a bulk discount if you want to embark on a large-scale project like sewing curtains for your whole house!
The website looks a tad dated but offers accessible navigation tools such as limiting by price range and searching by sewing purpose, such as “blouse and dress material” or “bottom weight material.”
7. Fabric Direct
Fabric Direct focuses on offering wholesale and bulk material. Often this kind of large-scale purchase gives you the biggest discount possible, but you do have to need quite a large amount of material to make it worth your while! You can buy cloth in bolts or cases, though the site also offers some by-the-yard options.
This doesn’t mean the site has a limited selection of material by any means! You can find everything from European linens to sequined dance fabrics and fire-retardant upholstery material here.
You really cannot beat these prices. You can find sale items selling for as little as 1.99 per yard, even for some stretch or sequined materials! Plus, the site offers coupons and discounts regularly, as well as a standing policy of free shipping for any order over $75.
8. Fabric Mart
Fabric Mart is the online store for a physical store located in Pennsylvania. While not the sleekest website by any means, you will find some stellar deals here! The sale and clearance fabric tab offer material for as little as $1 per yard, which is pretty much rock-bottom pricing.
The downside to the excellent pricing is that Fabric Mart charges a flat $9.99 shipping fee and does not seem to run frequent promotions outside of the discount fabric section.
You can browse a rich array of types of material by selecting the top drop-down A-Z menu, as well. That said, this does not seem quite as expansive an operation as you would find on Fabric.com, by any means. On the other hand, if you happen to live near PA, you could drop in and check out the store in person!
9. Fabric Wholesale Direct
Fabric Wholesale Direct offers bulk discount material starting at $9.99 per yard. The types of fabric available vary from Ottertex Nylon to designer home decor. You can pretty much find anything you’re looking for here, in bulk!
This site does specialize in supply event planners, professional seamstresses, and organization with the material, but you may find exactly what you want here, too!
Interestingly, Fabric Wholesale manufactures its own material rather than reselling material made elsewhere. They do offer great customer service and even have fun how-to videos and blogs available on the website!
10. Fashion Fabrics Club
Fashion Fabric Club offers fabric by-the-yard or on the bolt. The site often has discount material for sale and runs special sales as well. Shipping discounts or free shipping at certain order minimums also occur regularly.
You can find drapery fabric for as little as $4.95 per yard here! Of course, some prices rise significantly, depending on the type of material. But overall, you can expect to find many kinds of fabric at a reasonable cost from this site.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Fashion Fabrics is its wide selection. The store offers more than 20,000 different types of material!
11. Hobby Lobby
Hobby Lobby has a chain of physical stores stretching across the United States that remains hugely popular with artists, crafters, and sewers because of its low-cost supplies. Hobby Lobby’s online store does not offer as much material as Joann Fabrics or Fabric.com, but it does have some of the most affordable prices you will find anywhere. Plus, the site regularly offers free shipping with a special code or at a minimum order.
When Hobby Lobby stopped issuing 50% off coupons, fabric lovers were hit hard. It was such a steal to get an already cheap piece of material for half of its regular price!
The good news is that Hobby Lobby now adds all of its fabric into its regular monthly rotation of discounts. Once a month, you can find Hobby Lobby material for 30% off its regular price. Just make sure you check out the weekly ad online to see the current deals!
12. Joann.com
Joann.com does not always have the cheapest fabric at its regular price, but you can always find a coupon or two to help lower the cost! Plus, this massive chain has stores in so many cities across the nation that Joann Fabric is the be-all and end-all of fabric shopping for many sewers.
You will find all of your basic quilting, costuming, or apparel fabrics on this site. Like Etsy, you can also download the app and get special deals too! Sometimes those deals include special shipping offers, though you will have to pay a shipping fee without that.
One of the nice things about Joann Fabric’s website is that you can enjoy a broad experience besides just shopping. You can see tutorials, view project ideas, and easily find all the notions or accessories you need to complement your material!
13. Michaels
Michaels emphasizes art and craft supplies more than sewing supplies, but Miachels.com does have a surprisingly good selection of craft, quilting, and fleece fabrics despite that! Plus, you can find crafting staples like felt, canvas, and burlap, as well!
On occasion, you can find fleece for as little as $3 per yard on clearance or quilting material for around $5 per yard. On average, Michaels has regular prices that fall around the same range as Joann Fabric. But like Joann Fabric, Michaels always has a coupon to offer or a shipping code deal you can snag!
14. Minted
Minted operates quite differently from most other online fabric shops, as it sells fabric designs created by independent artists! For this reason, you will not find rock-bottom pricing on this site.
That said, you get unique artwork in fabric form for very reasonable pricing, such as $30 per yard. When you compare that to some of the prices you can find at designer stores such as Mood Fabric, it seems like a steal!
Like Etsy, Minted is all about giving independent artists a chance. It allows designers from around the world to sell their work. Minted essentially crowd-sources fabric design ideas and gives the artists a platform and a lot of support along the way!
You will have to pay to ship unless Minted runs a special deal. Sometimes first-time buyers will get a discount, as well.
15. Online Fabric Store
Of all the fabric stores online, Online Fabric Store has the most fun and accessible website! Colorful icons to the left of the screen immediately invite you to shop by color, texture, brand, or use. And the “Clearance” tab pops out at you in bright orange, making it easy to track down the steepest deals of the day!
Clearance material regularly sells for as little as $2 per yard on this site, though regular prices typically fall around the average price point for each type of material. You will have to pay standard shipping rates, but the site caps shipping costs $11.95 no matter how much material you buy!
16. Rifle Paper Co
Rifle Paper Co. primarily offers paper products, as you might expect! That said, it also features a line of unique one-of-a-kind home decor fabrics. These lovely prints feature designs like a holiday village or metallic flowers.
You can select from cotton, canvas, or rayon material types. The cotton prices at around $12.50 per yard, and the canvas at $20. You may sometimes find fabric at a discount under the “sale” tab, as well!
Rifle Paper Co. does not have the best price in the world, but you really won’t find this kind of stylish and unique prints for lower prices anywhere.
17. Spoonflower
Spoonflower probably offers the most unique online fabric store available anywhere! On this site, you can either select or upload a custom design.
Then you can also customize your product. You can have the design printed on various material types or a fabric item such as a duvet or canvas bag. Spoonflower will print the design and then sew it if you selected a pre-made item instead of fabric by the yard.
Or, if you prefer to browse designs created by other users, you can select from unique pre-made designs and purchase in fat quarters or by the yard! Fat quarters often sell at around $10, and by-the-yard depends on the type of material.
Now, you’re not going to get material for $2 per yard here! But what you do get is an affordable, custom-made fabric designed exactly to your specifications. Spoonflower also offers periodic discounts for shipping or certain products.
Designer Fabric Online
Typically, “designer fabric” is any fabric with a pricey brand name. Sometimes fabrics become famous and considered designer when a clothing line or famous designer uses that fabric in a new clothing style. Famous designer fabric stores include Mood Fabric, AphroChic, and Fabric Guru.
You can find some designer fabrics for sale through most online fabric stores, including Joann Fabric. You can always easily spot the designer materials because they have extremely high price tags! Name-brand wedding dress material can easily cost more than $100 per yard, for example.
Mood Fabric is probably the best-known designer fabric seller. It rose to prominence thanks to the TV show Project Runway. In the show, you can often see fashion designer contestants browsing through the bolts of fabric in the physical store.
Thankfully for those who can’t travel to New York City, Mood Fabric also has a comprehensive online store!
It’s really fun to look at the original, exclusive fabrics available on this website. But you will not find affordable prices here. You pay for the brand names and the high-quality material!
Cheapest Fabric by the Yard
Here’s the thing: you can buy some types of fabric from some online stores for as little as one or two dollars per yard, especially if you catch a sale or discount at the right moment. But what you need to do is familiarize yourself with the average price point for the kind of material you want. Velvet will never cost $1 per yard, but if you can find it at $9 per yard, you will have made a killing!
On average, many apparel fabrics sell for between $7 and $20 per yard. Your best bet is to search two or three different sites and compare prices to get a good price point for cotton, rayon, or taffeta. Upholstery fabric, which is much more heavyweight, typically costs $20-$60 per yard.
Once you know the average price for the type of material you want, you can find a seller offering a discount and get the material as cheap as possible!
Offline Affordable & Discount Fabric Stores
You can always find discount fabric for sale at popular chain stores like Joann Fabric and Hobby Lobby. If you don’t want to support a chain store, you can also Google “fabric store near me” to see if you can find any local knitting or sewing stores nearby.
If you prefer something a little less mainstream, you can search thrift stores, garage sales, and senior center sales, and even estate sales to get your hands on fabric stashes for next to no cost! Seriously, visit any community yard sale and look for an older lady selling tables of fancy china and perhaps a few antique china dolls. Chances are pretty good that she has a Rubbermaid bin of fabric to sell, too!
Other options for discount fabric include repurposing the fabric out of cheap bedsheet sets or tablecloths. Sometimes stores like Walmart, Ross, or Kohls will find curtains or blankets that have minor defects. They often throw those items on clearance for hardly any money.
You can cut up the fabric items and re-sew them into a dress, skirt, or apron with a little care!
Where to Buy Inexpensive Fabric Near Me?
Even if you don’t have a big Joann Fabric in your neighborhood, you can often find cheap fabric in the remnants bin at places you may not expect, such as Walmart. Even Ikea sells discount fabric, though they do offer a limited selection!
Of course, you can also check out thrift stores and yard sales, as mentioned above. But finding the remnants bin at any fabric seller often gives you a great way to the cheapest possible material in small quantities.
What is a remnant? A remnant is whatever fabric is leftover toward the end of a bolt after another customer purchased the bulk of the bolt. You can find remnants ranging from 1/8th of a yard to about 3 yards. Walmart gives great pricing on remnants, though they don’t have the world’s biggest material selection.
Joann Fabric also offers remnants for sale at their in-person stores, as does Hobby Lobby.
Conclusion
Few things in life are as satisfying as hand-sewing a gift for a loved one or designing your own clothes to wear to a special occasion! But purchasing fabric gets more expensive every year, so you should familiarize yourself with the best cheap online fabric stores to make your life easier and your sewing less expensive.
A few of the most popular cheap online fabric stores include Fabric.com, Spoonflower, and Fabric Direct. Stores such as Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Joann Fabric also offer online shopping options for purchasing fabric.
What is your favorite place to get discount fabric? What is the best deal you ever found there? Leave a comment below to let us know!