Mill End Retail Fabric Store

Every time we go here, I remember what an awesome place this is! The people there are super friendly and they have sooo many choices of everything!
We went once in search of cotton organdy for jean repair. The other places we went looked at us like we were making up the word, but here the little lady said «Oh yes!» and went around feeling the different fabrics in her department. She said, «You can always find it by feeling the texture!»
Another time we stopped in to find fabrics for making little stuffed animals and happened to catch a demo by this guy that was obviously impressive. He made custom Victorian dresses and other home décor. Today though he was demoing a Norman Rockwell pillow with piping. He explained everything in so much detail! I felt like an expert by the time we finished watching him make this pillow in like 10 minutes.
They have all sorts of classes available too!
On a side note, leather is only available by the whole hide here.

This place is hard to get to. We came from further north on McLoughlin, and should have turned on Ochoco to get on the frontage road. We missed that, thinking we could turn at Milport, but there are no turns there. We had to get on the Milwaukie Expressway and loop around on Harrison.
In addition, the parking lot is in the back. You enter it from the west side of the building, and exit the lot from a drive on the east side of the building. If you don’t know the area, study a map, first.
My main interest is in quilting, and there’s a decent selection of quilting cottons. Don’t forget the Annex, in the northeast corner of the store; this is where some already-​cut items can be found, but you have to search. They aren’t categorized like the main display area of quilting bolts.
There’s a nice area of sewing notions, too, as well as a discount area where you might find all sorts of things.
We did a walk around, and there’s everything from flannel, to upholstery fabric, to satins and silks, and lace. If you are looking to make an evening gown or bridal gown, this is an excellent place.
For quilting purposes, while you can find a nice selection organized into categories, you might find Fabric Depot on Stark Street to have a larger selection.
I’d actually expected something more like S R Harris in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. That is a literal warehouse, with so much fabric that bolts are stacked like so much paper, you can only see the ends of the bolts; they also have huge amounts of things like nylon and leather and such. This wasn’t an S R Harris.
It is a decent fabric store, but you can find equally good stuff if you are closer to I-​84.

I went there for the first time to find home dec fabric to reupholster our couch. I received excellent advice from the staff in the home dec department, and saw another customer receiving equally great attention.
When I requested an additional two days extension on the «rental» of fabric swatches, so that I could return them when I would be making the return trip to Portland for another appointment, my request was accommodated in a very warm, gracious way: «whatever works for you» rather than making me feel as if I was being granted a huge favor or putting them out.
While the prices are not low, and can’t compete with Fabric Depot on a sale day, I found fabric I could not find there (and I had already looked). So I’m very pleased.

I spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get someone to cut fabric for me. Then I left without buying anything because I could find no one to help me. Not one employee talked to me, but one did give me a nasty look for no reason that I can think of. They do have a great selection, but I was unable to buy any of it, so it didn’t really matter.

Absolutely gigantic store, they have everything. Staff are very knowledgeable and helpful as well. My wife loved it and we will be back.

I found some truly beautiful solid color felts here. The place is huge and just feels really pleasant inside. The people are all friendly and showed real interest in the art I was working on. This place has a real history to it, too, having been in the area for many, many years. Aaaand It’s not a big gross chain like some fabric stores in the area.

This place must be 150,000 square feet. Huge selection of fabrics, excellent service and even when busy, they have lots of stations for cutting fabric. They don’t have anything really exotic or high end, but the inventory is plentiful to the max.
Lastly, the prices are not great. This isn’t a discount store, thigh they have large areas of deeply marked down items.

I was down at the DMV. I took a number and stood waiting. Oh, wait a minute. It was really Joann’s, only the selection was so skimpy I only thought it was the DMV. When you walk into the Mill End fabric store, you know immediately you are not at the DMV.
You don’t have to take a number to have your fabric cut, and the selection is nothing short of stunning and bountiful, along with many items that professional apparel designers need.
I was on a fabric arts mission this morning, and everybody was helpful, but Barbara Ann was the most helpful of all and she was also the most informed and immediately willing to help me search for the perfect fabric. This store is the real deal and is a serious sewer’s destination location. It is better than Fabric Depot. This is because each specialty section feels like a little world unto itself, which is the sign that is a feature of all seriously great fabric stores. I always find fabrics here that I simply cannot find anywhere else in Portland.

If you craft or pretend to, you should go here. Often. SUCH good deals. So you love a pendleton blanket but can’t spring for $ 250 to buy one? Great, go buy the flat-​folds that are typically 1 – 2 yards and discounted 25−30% regularly. Love a great deal? Watch for their semi-​annual sales. And bring your credit card.
Wooley worms, blanket headers… Learn the lingo and follow their Facebook page for updates on sales. They also provide great ideas on what to do with random bits you find there.
Staff is pretty helpful when you have questions. I love this place.

Unlike most fabric stores, they have a great selection for *all* sewists — apparel, quilting, and home dec. Many stores focus on quilting or home dec at the expense of apparel. I sew apparel and always find what I need at Mill End. They have a great selection of notions, tools, thread, etc. Most of the staff are friendly and happy to help you find what you need.
The main area of the store is quite expensive. If you can find what you need in the discount/​clearance area you’re in luck, but they don’t know the fiber content on those fabrics so you may end up with something that you can’t use. I call it «fiber roulette». Is it wool, wool blend, cotton, cotton-​poly, rayon, linen? Who knows? Of course, you can’t do a burn test in the middle of the store!

Wow! This place is vast.
I was shopping around for buttons to match a jacket that I recently bought at a consignment shop. It was missing one button. I tried a few other fabric stores and I did find some nice buttons, however, my favorite ones were priced at $ 6.50 for two and I needed four. That’s slightly more than I wanted to spend for buttons that were still not perfect.
I grabbed my jacket with the missing button and we journeyed out to Mill End. I searched the many racks and still didn’t find anything. I was directed to a stack of bins against the wall, all filled with buttons. After digging around for about a half hour I found the perfect buttons. I spent a grand total of .35 for four buttons.
I just made another trip out there searching for the perfectly matched velvet to add sleeves to a sleeveless top. Well, DZ Alterations will add the sleeves. I don’t sew.
I found that some ladies working there are more helpful than others. The first woman that I asked when I was looking for my velvet just waved me in the direction of where the velvet is kept — not helpful at all. When I found my velvet, I was sure to avoid her and approached someone else who turned out to be pleasant and very informative.
If you’re looking for something special or just want a good deal on something basic, chances are you’re going to find it here.

I went to the store to buy specific items and a nice lady named Tish helped me. She knew exactly what I was needing, found it, and gave me wonderful tips on using the items. I went back 4 times and got wonderful service every time, and the products were top quality.
The persons working there were friendly and knowledgeable, which I rarely find at the larger chain stores. I will return the next time I work on bridal, formal wear or other clothing.

This place is not fancy, but has a good selection. The employees are nice and honest if they don’t know the answer to your question. (Although ladies… if someone is asking for cashmere, you better know if you have it or not. Talk about a missed sale. Cha-​ching!!!) Need patterned velvets? Go here and be amazed. Prices don’t gouge your wallet either, unless you want them too.

Most of the time I go to Fabric Depot to fill my fabric needs, but when they failed to have what I needed, I found myself at Mill End. Where they also failed… on several levels.
First let’s talk about the good. There is A LOT of fabric here. Lots of different types too. From the classic to the bizarre (shiny fish scale stretch? Oh, yeah). They also have ostrich feathers (something that Fabric Depot lacks if you can believe it). They carry felt, (real felt, I think, as opposed to Fabric Depot who carries «Eco-​Felt»), in very wide bolts, which is great. If it weren’t for the ostrich feathers and felt, this place may get two stars. Sure, it’s better than Jo-Ann’s in terms of stock, but more plays into a good shop than its inventory.
The place is poorly laid out, difficult to move about, and is rather dark and gloomy. Their signage for the fabric may be eco-​friendly in the sense that they are re-​using large cardboard tubes for their sign posts, but it comes across sloppy, and unprofessional.
Then there is the staff. I I found the exact fabric I needed, but in magenta, instead of emerald green. I went up to the cutting counter asking if it was possible the fabric also existed in green. The first question I was then asked was «How much do you need?» I replied with my necessary amount, and she said «Yeah, no.» I then offered to take the bolt back to its proper place, with the alliterative motive of looking at the top to read the company of who produced the fabric, then to look them up on-​line. She said she would put the bolt back, and then I said «Oh, okay, well, could I at least look at the top to see the name of the company who produced it?» She looked at the top of the fabric, and said «There is no company here. The owner just buys fabric from across the country». I state that I was sure there was, and pulled the bolt toward me, and sure enough there was. She also told me «You could just make it out of magenta instead of green.» I replied that I was recreating something, so I could not and left. Sure, I can’t judge an entire store’s staff by one person, but still, it was irksome.
Despite my first impression and experience not being all that great, I’m sure I’ll find myself back… probably just for feathers and felt though.

I was here a few weeks back and I got some really beautiful fabrics. They have some really cheap solid fabrics, like 3 dollars or so a yard, so they’re very budget friendly. The other patterned fabrics are about the same price as anywhere else, but they have some I haven’t seen before, and a really wide selection.
The reason I’m writing this review is for the great service I received today. When I bought those great fabrics, I took them home, washed them and ironed them, but when I was getting ready to use one, I realized it had a huge flaw in it. So I drove all the way from Vancouver to there and was hesitant to return it because of the sign that said «All Sales Final on Cut Fabric under 5 yds.» I only had 1 ½ yds! But in I went anyway. After I pointed out the flaw to the lady she apologized and offered to cut me a new piece from the same color. This time she laid the bolt out and let me look it over and make sure it wasn’t flawed anywhere else. It wasn’t, so the nice lady cut me a new piece of fabric, wrote a little receipt that said I wasn’t stealing the fabric, and that was that.
This place is great. They have great fabrics, good prices, and great customer service. I’ll be making the drive out there again, I’m sure of it.

I’m gonna get right into WWF-​mode right and do some rightly trash talking! (And by WWF, I do mean the World Wrestling Federation because those pandas with the World Wildlife Federation can eat it! [See?! I’m trash talking already!])
Joanns is downright puny and Fabric Depot is all gloss and no guts compared to this place! Mill End is the best place to go for apparel fabric, not just your humdrum craft project. Put down the glue gun and break out the nice straight pins– this is Portland’s go-​to place for so many of your fabric needs.
Sure if you need a novelty quilt cotton, you can check out all the cutesy crap at the other places– but Mill End has got the cute too! And they got camo just to eff and toughen up your quilt!
They’ve got cotton, flannel, silks, linens, furry stuff, sparkly stuff, utility stuff, lace, upholstery, and fashion fabrics up the wazoo. There’s also a rug outlet in the back corner of the shop too! Mill End also takes up to the 25% off with competitor coupons.

For a store of this size, I was very impressed by the variety and quality of apparel fabrics they stock. The selection of silk was beautiful, the wool made me happy, and the rayon section had some head-​turners. Overall I felt the textile designs were a bit dated and mass-​market, but for the prices here it’s worth a look. They had a few displays for trim where I found something cute but felt this was lacking.
BTW, they have powernet fabric! Yay for bra-​making supplies. Also, if you’re just browsing for quality fabric to inspire you then walk back to the annex– I picked up a very nice yard of rayon challis there. My stash keeps growing…

The best fabric store in the Portland area.
The DIY movement has sadly skipped me. I’ve tried to learn to crochet, and I’m an okay cook, but for real, put me in a craft or fabric store and I’m just lost. The mister and I came here looking for pillow-​filling options for two squishy couch back pillows, and the staff was super helpful, giving us several options in different price ranges. We got out spending 30 bucks or so, and the perfect solution for our couch pillows.
Nobody will be interviewing me about home DIY projects anytime soon, but Mill End made it at least easy to fake a project fix for this girl-​of-​little-​attention-​span and even less crafty skills.

In my quest for fabric & ribbon for the custom corset I’m having made as a 40^th birthday gift to myself, my second stop was Mill End, based on word-​of-​mouth and Unilocal reviews. Let’s just say that I was seriously underwhelmed by this place, and left empty-​handed.
I’m not going to pretend to be a craftinista or seamstress, but I learned a decent amount about fabric from my mom & grandma growing up. I had pretty specific criteria, but I just felt lost in Mill End.
The staff don’t really seem to care all that much if you find what you need or not. I wandered around for 15 mins and found a few fabrics that might work, and when an older lady staffer asked me if she could help, I gave her the criteria for what I’m looking for. Rather than think about what they have and direct me to it, she just peppered me with a half-​dozen «did you look at X?» questions, and then mentioned stuff that was obviously not within my criteria.
The other thing I have to ding them on is their serious shortage of notions such as ribbon. They had a few sad racks of ribbon up front, all of which was cheap looking and very few choices in the type I’m looking for.
I ended up going back to Fabric Depot for my purchases. Mill End might have what you need, but you’re probably going to have to find it yourself.

I haven’t reviewed this place? What the hell? Wow… I am losing it. THE BEST FABRIC STORE I HAVE EVER BEEN TO. Am I the seamstress of the house? Noooo, but I know an awesome place when I see it. Only bad part? It is so big you fee like you need to bring a sack lunch. There is nothing they do not have. Just go. Also another large location conveniently located in Beaverton off Beaverton Hillsdale Highway near KFC.