Can’t find the perfect fabric for your project at the local fabric store? Looking for designer fabrics at discount prices? Here are four of my favorite online fabric stores (and why I like them):

Knoll Fabric from ModernFabrics.com - Abacus pattern in peacock colorway

Modern Fabrics: Their savvy customers are seeking a great value on beautiful fabrics at discounted prices.

  • They collect new fabrics from furniture companies and offer them to customers at 50-75% off list price.
  • They offer high quality textiles that are are generally only offered to-the-trade (to interior designers and professional upholsterers).
  • They carry a comprehensive collection of reclaimed interior textiles, including some of the best designer fabrics rescued from the cutting room floor.
  • I love their sustainable mission to reduce demand for virgin materials and minimize waste while staying on top of the latest textile design trends.
  • Located in Charlotte, North Carolina (a region of rich textile history).

The Modern Fabrics website offers free samples, each swatch approximately 1″ x 2″ in size. They ask customers to please limit to four samples per week (sample swatches ship out on Thursday and Friday only, so plan your order accordingly).

Robert Allen - leaf fabric design
Fabric Guru: A great resource for discount upholstery fabric, as well as drapery and outdoor fabrics.

  • They are self-labeled “fabriholics”
  • They boast “over 15,000 discount designer fabrics, with hundreds of new fabrics daily”
  • Designer remnants and close-outs, sold by the yard
  • Located in Birmingham, Alabama

You can order samples for $1 each

Fabric Guru Tropical Birds fabric


Pickering:
My go-to source for organic and natural hemp fabrics for upholstery work. My only caveat here is their 10 yard minimum order requirement per fabric (except for remnants).

  • Their specialties are organic cotton and linen, hemp, silk, wool, soybean, bamboo and recycled fibers – pure or in varying blends.
  • They offer light to heavy fabric weights, both wovens and knits.
  • They’ve been around since 1992 – a pioneer of eco and sustainable fabric suppliers.
  • Their mission: “We hope that our collection will inspire you to create things that not only look beautiful, feel wonderful, but are also gentle to the earth.”

Hemp Cotton Stripe Fabric
Pickering has sample swatches available for purchase (call for details)

Finally, a quick mention of Marimekko. Here’s how they tell it:

Marimekko is a Finnish company that designs textiles, fashion, and household goods with a unique point-of-view. In fact, everything we do, make, and create strives to inspire imagination and self-expression in people everywhere. The celebrated, Finnish entrepreneur Armi Raita founded Marimekko in 1951 with a singular vision: create fresh designs that never go out of style. In the 1960s and 70s, Marimekko exploded into a visionary design house that helped revolutionize modern design by giving the world some its most iconic textile patterns. This dedication to creativity continues to thrive today, as we pioneer good design and good times into homes everywhere.

marimekko kirsikka chair upholstery

A ‘cellularly singular’ chair upholstered in Marimekko’s Kirsikka fabric

 

Do you have your own favorite fabric resource to share? Feel free to post it in the comments below.

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