My Fave Online Fabric Sources

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I pretty much exclusively buy my fabric online.  I use mostly quilting cottons, and living in the land of chain stores, there just aren’t a lot of local sources.  Plus it is so much easier for me to order fabric online than to pack up two kids with sufficient store-safe entertainment and make it to a fabric store and back. My UPS guy even knows not to ring the doorbell during naptime (I know you feel me, Hannah).

 

 

My first recommendation comes with a bit of a warning – their customer service can be a little lacking, and don’t count on everything you order actually being in stock.  But Fabric.com really does have some great sales and you can score some serious deals, like quilting cotton for $4 a yard.  I would recommend signing up for their emails.  There are a lot, but their super-cheap fabrics go fast and you’ll want to shop quickly.

 

 

Next up is Quilt Home.  I admit, the website is a little confusing, but there are also cheap fabrics to be found here.  On the right side of the home page are links to both a coupon code and the sale section – pretty often I can find fabrics in the sale section that I can use the coupon on.  They also send coupon emails weekly, so it’s another email worth clogging up your inbox with.

 

 

Fat Quarter Shop is great for current, beautiful fabrics.  I usually turn here when I need something specific and haven’t been able to find it in my bargain sources.  They also have an extensive sale section that is totally worth perusing.  I confess, as a branding nerd, I am drawn to this website because it’s so pretty and clean.

 

 

I just recently ordered from Above All Fabric, and I was so happy with her customer service and her gorgeous fabric choices.  Since I’ve started my own business, I’ve realized supporting smaller businesses is often worth paying just a tiny bit more.  And Melanie’s fabric is by no means expensive – she also has a great sale section (which, as you can see, is important to me) and a rewards program for frequent shoppers.

 

 

I occasionally order from Etsy, too, especially when I need something extra-special.  I love ordering from the Fabric Shoppe.  As an added bonus, if you follow Jody on twitter (she’s @fabricshoppe) she announces great deals to the first one who nabs them.

 

I do frequent my local Jo-Ann Fabrics, especially for basics like terry cloth (I finally started buying it by the bolt with a 50% off coupon) and fleece.  I also buy notions there, including velcro and thread (I’m a thread snob and only use Gutermann) because it often goes on sale for cheaper than I can buy online.

 

 

One last tip – if you haven’t started following True Up, what are you waiting for?  The weekly sale posts are worth their weight in fabric!

 

Any good sources you’d like to share with the class?  I love a good bargain!

Excused Absence

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I tell you what, last week was a hectic one.  We had one ER trip (the little guy, he’s fine) one big dentist trip for me (me, and now I have a broken temporary crown and an infected tooth – is that TMI?), and one bored kiddo (the original Bobaloo, home for spring break).  I kind of dropped of the face of the internet for a while. 

 

 

 

 

I’ve finally been putting all that brand new fabric to work!  I ended with one bolt less than I thought (the blue and orange polka dot one is out of print), but it still feels like a HUGE amount of fabric.  I love it.

 

 

 

 

The pink polka dot fabric makes just the cutest bias tape.  Speaking of, I switched around how I make bias tape this time and it was so much faster.  I usually use the continuous strip method, but this time I cut my bias strips first like this, then serged them end to end.  The serger is so fast, plus the seams didn’t get bound up in my bias tape maker like they usually do.

 

 

 

 

I’m on an apron streak right now.  I just finished up a custom Crayon Apron for an adult who wanted one for her face painting brushes (there’s a picture on the bobaloo! Facebook page) and now I’m working on new ones for the Irvington Iris Tea Room.  Doesn’t that pink polka dot bias tape look adorable?

 

I’ve got our Craft-Night-turned-Sewing-Night at my house tonight and a meeting of the Uncommon Craft Society of Indianapolis tomorrow night, then it’s time to get to work on products for Record Store Day on the 16th.  What have you guys been up to?  I’ve missed you!

Setting Goals for the New Year

Tweet This week has been a behind-the-scenes business kind of week.  I haven’t really done much on the product side – no sewing, no product photography, no listing and promoting.  Instead, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in paperwork and doing A LOT of planning.  I don’t really do the New Year’s Resolution thing, but I thought I’d share with you some of my plans so hopefully you’re inspired to put your goals in writing!



Etsy Shop Goals.  I set a goal of 50 sales for the first quarter of 2011.  I think this may be a little lofty, but I think it’s important to aim high.  I just stumbled across this great Etsy Goal Spreadsheet from Absolutely Small that I think I’ll start using for a little added motivation.



Blog Goals.  I’m planning on posting more often – look out for a new feature coming this Saturday!  Also, I tend to be a passive reader on other people’s blogs, so I’m going to try to come out of the woodwork a little more and make sure to interact with others by commenting on their blogs.  I love to hear from bobaloo! readers, so I know other bloggers feel the same way.

Along the same lines, I’ve installed DISQUS for comments (thanks to some advice from a Crafterminds tweet chat) so you guys will get an email when I respond to a comment here on bobaloo!  This is brand new to me, so if you have any trouble commenting let me know so I can look into it.  One thing I don’t like very much about Blogger is the inability to respond directly to readers’ comments, so hopefully this solves that problem.



Facebook and Twitter goals.  I know I’m not making the best use of either of these.  I don’t want to be one of those Twitter users that only tweets about products they’ve listed, but I know I can use Twitter to spread the word about my business.  I also feel like I underutilize Facebook – I post about new blog posts and occasionally product listings, but I know I can do more.  Anybody have any reading recommendations about Twitter or Facebook?



Local Sales Goals.  bobaloo! is carried in two local stores – the Irvington Iris Tea Room and the Little Green Bean Boutique.  I’d like to add one more store in the next three months.  Ideally I’d like to pick up a wholesale account, but I’m perfectly okay with consignment as well.  I’m going to ask all my mom buddies around my area if they know of any good kids’ shops and start calling buyers.

I have a few smaller goals, like finally setting up my Cargoh shop and reorganizing my sewing room yet again.  I’m planning on reviewing my goals every two weeks to keep myself on track.  This is my first time setting such specific goals, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

What about you guys?  Do you have any goals for your business or yourself?  Let’s have some inspiration!

Craft Show Recap: Handmade Promenade Last Minute Market

Tweet Last Saturday night was the Handmade Promenade Last Minute Market at Pure Eatery in Fountain Square.  It was loads of fun!  Of course I forgot my camera and only have one picture I took with my phone, so forgive the lack of pictures in this post.  I shamelessly stole a few from other vendors (thanks guys!).  Here’s my table – do you guys like the new clothesline set-up?



My table was in the midst of four lovely ladies, so I had plenty of chatting buddies to stay occupied in between customers.  Let me introduce you to my table neighbors!



To my left was Martha from Sunday Afternoon Housewife, who organized the event.  She has awesome Scrabble tile necklaces along with lots of other goodies.  I bought a few necklaces for some people on my Christmas list and I know they’ll love them.



Martha was sharing a table with Jen from EleanorMac.  She makes these beaded bookmarks, cute little planet crayons, and she had some adorable little Lego earrings!



I couldn’t resist buying myself some body creme from Kimberly, who owns Mocha Tree Organics.  I bought the Lavender Grapefruit scent after trying them all and I loooove it.  Kimberly uses certified organic ingredients, so I think I’m going to try her lotion on my food-allergic, eczema-y baby boy and see if it helps.

Next to Kimberly was Tonya from the CozyRose Boutique.  Tonya’s super cool wrist warmers are sold at the Little Green Bean Boutique, where you can also find bobaloo! goodies.  Since she sells locally, you still have time to pick up a pair for a lucky lady on your list!

I couldn’t resist doing a little shopping at the end of the show.  Besides the lotion and the necklaces, I also bought a ridiculously awesome monster ornament from Mamus, and some beautiful posters from Dan at Mile 44.



Afterward a few of us met up at Dorman Street Saloon.  I met Shan from Green Illuminations – he and his partner JUST started up their business, and whoa am I impressed!  Check out that website – Shan, can I hire you to design mine?!  I also had a nice long chat about fabric lines and designers with Ariane from Mother Tucker Sews.  Car junkies talk about Ford and Ferrari, people who sew talk Patty Young and Nicey Jane.  Rachel from bebito was there too – her toys are so awesome.

All in all, I would totally do this show again for a couple of reasons.  First, although it wasn’t my most successful show money-wise, it was certainly successful enough to make it worth it.  Second, it was just fun.  Nice people, awesome restaurant (the grilled cheese was to die for), good shopping – what’s not to like?  Make sure you check out the full list of people who were there because everything was so great.

I’m working on finishing up some gifts and cleaning my house in preparation for the holiday madness this weekend.  Somehow I have to fit the kids’ four-piece wood play kitchen in our already crammed living room, so send me some puzzle-solving vibes! 

Have a great holiday week, everyone!