Sewfisticated Fabrics

Love love love Sewfisticated. Since I’ve discovered they have a Framingham location, I’m down there at least once a month. Silks for $ 9.99, linen for under $ 5 a yard, Breton-​striped knits, guipure lace for $ 16.99 … just amazing fabrics for very good prices. I’ve also purchased home dec fabrics here ($ 5.99 yard), and they’re top-​quality/​brand name. The quality is excellent — I’ve never had trouble with fabrics being off grain, damaged, or that fall apart after washing, unlike some fabrics I’ve purchased at box (Joann’s — cough) stores. I’m not a quilter, but they seem to have a good selection of quilting cottons. I also like their wool fabrics — I’ve purchased wool tweed as well as wool boucle blends here for much less than I would have paid elsewhere.
It is definitely worth a trip. If you want to spend a day fondling fabrics, you can hit the trifecta of Sewfisticated, Fabric Place Basement (Natick) and the $ 2.99 Fabric Store in Auburn without too much trouble.

This is the best fabric shop in the world! The owner Joe knows everything about the fabric business, he special orders obscure items all the time for his customers and he keeps a ton of different fabrics in stock. Anything you need for sewing, quilting, or craft projects of any kind, you can find it here and they have the lowest prices of any fabric merchant anywhere.

This was my first outing to this store, with some girlfriends out for our friends Birthday. She had been telling us about this awesome place for a while, and we were all really hyped up to check it out. Thank goodness it lived up to the hype.
They had a great selection, at really low prices. They fall lower than JoAnn Fabrics prices even with the coupon, which is really important to someone like me that sews a lot of clothing, and cosplays. Everything was clean and seemed well cared for, We went on a holiday towards the end of the day, and the staff seemed tired, but didn’t seem annoyed with us, which is great.
As an avid sewer I didn’t really ask any questions so i can’t speak to their knowledge or helpfulness when looking for something specific — but we had a chat with the manager and she was wonderful, entertaining, and interested in chatting with us. Made us feel very welcome. There is no doubt that we will make the 1 hour and 20min trek to the area again. What we can’t find there, we can find over at Fabric Place Basement (which isn’t far from here) and we wont’ have to step foot in a JoAnns for fabric again!

Today was the first time I have ever been here! I was in the Mass area from CT on other business. I did some research and found this little gem! I was in love as soon as I walked through the door!
The prices in here can’t be beat! I saw fabric from $ 1.99 a yd to $ 5.99 a yd. I’m not 100% sure if it goes higher than that, but the fabric I was looking at was in this range.
There is a one yard minimum. If you want 2 yds and there is .75 or .50 left on the bolt you either have to take it all or leave it all. Which is completely understandable. This way they don’t have remnants all over that people don’t want and they can keep their prices down.
The staff was very friendly and were interested in holding a conversation with me.
Mind you… it wasn’t very busy at the time. They do multi-​task which doesn’t bother me b/​c I multi-​task as well.
I will definitely be coming back in a month or 2. It’s a pretty long drive for me so it has to be planned well.

Great selection of fabrics at excellent prices!

Best customer service, designer fabric and notions around hands down.
I’ve shopped at the fabric place basement, zimmans, joanns, etc. and always have the best luck at Sewfisticated in Framingham.
You cannot beat their price on designer fabrics such as Premier, sunbrella, duralee, etc. I have made complete curtains and upholstery for 3 vintage campers, made numerous designer curtains for my home, barn and pergola, many crafty items such as table runners, handbags, zipper pouches, etc. for a fraction of the cost of other stores.
I have always been greated by nothing but the friendliest, nicest people. Even the owner is fantastic as well. The staff is alway helpful and interested on my next task/​project. To me they are my favorite place to visit, and purchase designer décor fabric. But if you see something you like-​buy it because it may not be there tomorrow since the price is so great. I LOVE Sewfisticated!

I’ve been here a few times and have had excellent customer service. Granted, I don’t fit the typical demographic of fabric store customers in the MA MetroWest region, so I stick out like a sore thumb. But one of the nice ladies always check-​in with me… not pushy, never curt… even offered some sewing tips.
These guys have the best fabric and selection around. Joann Fabrics have nothing close to what you will find her. I’ve also checked out a highly rated store in Boston Chinatown. No comparison.
Be sure to go upstairs and check out the discounted fabrics. CHEAP!

I understand people’s comments about the service– it’s not Nordstrom quality. But when you’re practically stealing fabric from them because the prices are SO low, it seems a bit naïve to expect great service– even ‘good’ service — at this price — is a stretch.
They have to pay rent, pay employees, etc– on what’s basically nonprofit margin. I’m sure the staff is overworked — and has to (clearly) work with customers with unreasonably high expectations. Can you blame them for being grouchy?
As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. If you want decent customer service, go to JoAnn. If you want great customer service (albeit snotty– par for the course), go to Calico Corners-​in both cases you’ll pay more (and have a lot fewer choices).

As the others have said: horrible customer service. The blonde woman has a bad temper and screamed at my mother because she misunderstood her. The fabric was also marked down to $ 3.99 from $ 4.99, but she didn’t bother checking the bolt and charged us $ 4.99. Needless to say, I won’t be coming back. The Fabric Place is back and I will definitely be going there instead.

They have the fabric I want, but they are completely lacking in customer service. They will only cut super tiny 1/​8″ fabric samples and tell you to «take a picture with your cell phone.» I cannot get an idea of how draperies will look in my living room against the light with such a small fabric sample. I will pay more for my fabric if you would not be so stingy. Employees are not very nice to customers either…

This store is an awesome place to get fabrics. It is not a general craft store like most of the mainstream fabric stores are. This is not the place to get a present for your ‘crafty’ friend. Instead, it sells awesome materials (way better than their competitors) at low prices. They also have all of the extras (buttons, lace, thread) that you might want. The ambiance sucks (think warehouse), but the employees know what they are talking about.

As a seamstress, this is as good as it gets this side of Boston. Note: This applies to the Framingham location ONLY. The important thing is they don’t just sell woven cotton or upolstery fabrics, but also knits, wools, linen, silks, etc. which can be used in clothing construction. It is not unusual to have a minimum yardage like they do, and considering the very low prices, I have to just shrug and say well it is inexpensive and non-commercial.I can deal with a yard minimum. That said I am, for the most part, buying 2+ yards at a time. They also have the full line of Vogue, McCalls, Butterick, and Simplicity patterns at half retail price. I’ve been scourging the state for fabric stores and avoid big businesses as much as possible — they’re the ones that put places like the Fabric Store out of business — and if I want more than woven cotton (e.g. quilting fabric suppliers) I go here. The staff is not all-​knowing, so I wouldn’t always believe when they say «we don’t have knit interfacing» and I can find it in the back right wall along with the rest of the interfacings.
The final word on this is, I wish there were more places like this store, and it would be a very sad day if they went away and my only choices were the «Walmarts of the sewing world» store or going into Boston.

Inexpensive! Frugal!
I love this place! it has a large selection of fabrics for such an inexpensive price. I know that other reviewers lament the store policies about how much you fabric you have to leave behind and how you must buy at least 1 yard of fabric, but the prices are so low that you end up getting 2 yards of fabric for the price of ½ yard of fabric at JoAnn’s.
It’s a «do it yourself» kind of place and the people who work there just ring up your items and put stuff back. If you want someone to hold your hand as you walk around the store, you’ll have to go some place else.
They have great fabrics at crazy cheap prices.

I too was a long-​time patron of the Fabric Place and was desolate when they went out of business. I visited Sewfisticated for the first time today and was so frustrated by the time I left that I am not sure I will ever go back, even though they had a nice selection of inexpensive silk doupioni and very cute cottons.
The problems I had are essentially the same as those that Lauren mentions in her review. I sew for dolls and I don’t need large pieces of fabric, but because the prices were reasonable I made my peace with it and had a large stack of fabrics for cutting. On at least half of my stack they wouldn’t sell me a piece because it wouldn’t leave enough on the bolt. One piece of brocade that I HAD to have, there were 2 and ⁷⁄₈ yards on the bolt. I ended up having to buy the whole piece. The owner/​manager did agree to discount the per yard price because the fabric was dirty and damaged, so I appreciated that, but I was so annoyed that I had to pass up several fabrics I really wanted because of their irritating and nonsensical rules.
Bottom line, I would come here all the time (and I buy major fabric!) if they would loosen up a little and think about the needs of their customers rather than what is most convenient for them.

Best prices for fabric ANYWHERE in the metro area, and wonderful service!

Maybe the blond short haired, older lady who was working at the store was having an off day. A REALLY off day. I used to live at the former fabric store that was housed in that same location, so when I found out another fabric store was opening, I was, needless to say, elated. I love my arts and crafts, and just recently attended a workshop on needle felting. I was so excited so ask if they had any needles (the one I had was wearing out) and/​or wool that I had taken $ 80 out of the ATM seconds before.
I went in and I was all but ignored by a short haired, older blonde woman who was stocking things. I tried looking around the needle section, and she seemed annoyed that I was around her (I was starting to doubt if she worked there at all).
I asked her if she had any needles for needle felting, and the conversation went somewhat like this:
Her: «I’ve NEVER heard of that»
Me: «It’s a large needle with barbs, you stab wool with it»
Her: «Nah, not here. We are not a crafts store»
Me: «I’ve seen them at fabric places before»
Her:” Well, maybe here in the suburbs, because I’m from the city and we have a store in Somerville and I HAVE BEEN in this business for 30 years and I have never heard of that.“
Me: «…»
I just felt belittled and left. I bought my supplies at JoAnn’s once, but their selection was small. I guess I will be driving 40 minutes to New England Felting Supply in Easthampton if I need any felting supplies. As for fabric, I think JoAnn’s will continue to be my choice. Unpleasant experience– I felt like a hick just by living in the suburbs and I grew up in Cambridge. Not sure if I would go back or recommend it to anyone.