Okay really what do we do with these fine people gone? Where has everyone started shopping at since they closed? The convenience they offered by having local stores to sample fabrics in person instead of ordering online hoping the color and material works was a blessing and I am lost without them
>>10972341the fashion district
Don't like all walmarts have fabric sections?
Does America really have no other fabric stores?
Michael's and WalMart have pitiful fabric selections. Thrift at local Goodwills and stores for bedsheets or pre-existing garments that you can alter. For trims and bits I'll search on Etsy (high quality but expensive), or I've heard Temu has everything you may need. I try to buy fewer, higher quality materials to continuously enhance the few cosplays I keep in my wardrobe.
I get my notions off AliExpress. Buttons, lace, ribbon, pins, pin cushions, bodkin threaders, sewing feet, bobbins, all that shit comes from China anyways. I don't buy fabric there though, because it's all polyester and sometimes they're fucking insane people that don't cut it in one continuous length and give you individually cut yards.Find an online fabric store that you like with good prices and shop from there. If you're in the US, Sarah Spaceman has a video "These Fabrics Will Change Your Cosplay Game" where to source fabrics online.
>>10972341Usually online though I'd be careful with using online stores as they're usually a flip of a coin between legit items and downright scams.
>>10972341I used to work at Michaels when joann's shut some of the customers immediately went to our store thinking their shit was there or we where going to take over their locations. many still complain that their gone.
>>10972341Reminder: You do not hate private equity enough.
>>10972347They have a tiny ass isle of "the basics", that also happens to be located in a Wal-Mart.
>>10972349CRE rent hikes post Covid basically crushed these kinds of businesses
>>10972341The closing of Joanns is a tragedy that will be remembered for decades
I'm at a real loss on this. JoAnn was the only dedicated fabric store in my city and nowhere else has anywhere close to the selection. I've been out of cosplay for a long time but want to get back into it and I guess I'm gonna have to drive 3 hours to the nearest big city to find anything. The costumes I want to do are gonna rely really heavily on fabric choices so using the bullshit I can get at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Walmart isn't an option, and I don't really trust buying online without being able to see and feel the materials either. (I guess maybe if I can get swatch books from the dealers? Dunno if they'll do that for a random though.)>>10972349Big cities do, small towns don't. It's probably the same everywhere, it's just that America is really fucking big so you're a lot further from places that DO have good fabric stores if you're somewhere that doesn't.
