Fabric Depot

Went in with a friend and was happy shopping in the store, then when we go to pay my friend was asked credit or debit, she said debit and they took her debit card and asked for her id. But my friend didn’t have it on her and said «I’m paying with a debit card, why do you need my id?» She was instantly treated like a thief, asked «how could she drive without her Id». Well she rode with me good grief. It was sad they wouldn’t sell her the fabric so I had to buy it for her. Ridiculous only a $ 45.00 purchase. Be prepared to be treated like scum if you want to use your debit card and forget the rest of your wallet at home. We also drove all the way from Tigard because we heard how wonderful this place was. It’s nice until you reach the register.

A ridiculously good selection of fabrics and helpful people. I actually went shopping here and took a bunch of fabric back to DC with me. Love this place.

such a good selection of fabrics and good prices. We had to come several times to pick out the fabric for our bridesmaid dresses and Barbara was super sweet and helpful!

I called the night before, and told the clerk who answered the phone (I was transferred to the department), if the products they sell online, are the SAME QUALITY, PRICE, COLOR they have in stock as those sold online She went & check, and told me, the colors I wanted, they only come in. .. but she didn’t answer my questions, about the price NOR the quality. Since Joan’s Fabric cost $ 31.99 (on sale), and Fabric Depot’s vinyl is $ 16.99, for the same brand/​color, there must be SOME ATTRACTION why theirs is cheaper. No matter, I went to the store & check it for myself.
The vinyl that I saw online last night was not $ 16.99 BUT $ 20.99. I once again, asked a different clerk, WHY THE PRICE different, while Joan’s Fabric is $ 31.99 for the same product? The clerk, who was with a customer, INTERRUPTED US, and said: «I talked to you last night. Were you the one who called me last night?» «Yes, that was me.» So, what do you have to say now? What’s the answer? Oh my clerk said: ‘to attract people to the online site.’ I just said: «Forget it. I’d like 4 yards.» And move on! She’s got no answer, why Joan’s charge 2x as much as theirs, for the same vinyl, brand & style.
By the time I got to the cashier, yes, I’ve been to the same cashier before, all of sudden, I felt treated like a criminal! I handed her my card, and she asked me: «Credit or Debit?» «Credit.» «Is this your card?» «Yes.» It’s got MY NAME ON THE CARD. Then I continued: «Would I be giving you a card, if it wasn’t mine?» «I don’t know, it could be your husband’s.» «My husband and I have the same card.» «Well, he just put the fabric down, I’m not sure if. . ««He’s my driver!» Any more questions, lady? I’m ready to burst right now, just finish my transaction, so I can LEAVE! You’re not being friendly, so I give you the same attitude!
Damm!
When I got to my car, I’ve just figured it out! It’s all about competition. They lower the price down ONLINE, and if you buy up to $ 75, you get FREE shipping. But, if I’m saving money & drive to the store myself, & bring it home today, I get charged FOR SHIPPING, by raising the price of MY MERCHANDISE. But, there are those people who are not so SMART, they think they’re buying BETTER QUALITY by shopping online, but they’re cheaper for a reason. Once they’re cut, you can’t refund or exchange fabric, so they’re STUCK with bad quality fabric, but the store’s better quality so they jack the price up INSTEAD! I GET IT! But they’re not going to tell you: «they’re cheaper because they’re warehouse quality & !»

Holy smokes! A huge selection! Seems like they have pretty much every quilting cotton that ever existed. They also carry apparel fabrics, a lot of them, but many are weird polyester fabrics that I wouldn’t want to use. I did find some gems in the apparel department though. They have a good shirting and wool selection and if your are making something fancy, their lace/​silk/​etc. selection is outstanding. Everything was 20% off as well!
Overall they have a ton of fabrics, but I didn’t find any apparel fabric I liked. If I lived in Portland, I would come here for my quilting supplies.

Great service, nice people and tons of what I need! My type of place! They gave automotive fabrics, batting, patters, yarn and much more to choose from. One of the largest. Its a great find!

WOW, what am amazing store! Wonderful salespeople, incredible selection… really no need to go anywhere else for your crafting needs. Dangerous for your bank account, for sure.

Recently inspired to undertake a simple sewing project (curtains) and knew I’d probably have a lot to choose from if I checked out the Fabric Depot.
This place is huuuuuuuge! Compared to Joann’s and other fabric stores I’ve been to this place had way more selection as well as unique prints — batiks, Japanese, etc. — that I hadn’t really seen before in such large quantities and variety. Lots of things were on discount and I totally agree with other Unilocalers who say that prices otherwise aren’t that great. Nevertheless, will definitely come back when I’ve caught the crafting bug again.
The lady who cut my fabric to size was really friendly.
About a ½ mile down from the 122^nd street MAX station.

I have not been back here since my awful awful experience and never have received any kind of apology or response from the store.
I have a friend who went to Fabric Depot with her daughter and some of her friends. All the girls were shopping and apparently one of them forgot to pay for a small item. The girl, about 11 years old, was treated as badly and as abusively as I was. She was with my friend because her mother was undergoing cancer treatment in the hospital. Fabric Depot actually would not let the girl go and insisted irrationally that her parent show up to get her. They detained her, frightened her and threatened to turn her over to the police. My friend was accused of lying about the child’s sick mother… so again-​AVOID THIS PLACE!
My experience is bad, but to do this to a child is even worse.

This is so overwhelming that they have a sitting section for the guys with the game on, and a greeter at the door who can give you a map of the layout. I agree with the woman who talked about the fake 20% off the listed price. Everything is jacked up. However, it being Oregon, there is no sales tax and if you buy more than $ 100 of merchandise, they will ship it for free.

Right off, let me give the reason this place is 3 stars, in my book, even though I still recommend this place. As Jennifer J. already said the pricing structure is grating. It’s EXTREMELY rare to find ANYTHING that isn’t 20% or more off. This renders those hotel and coupon-​book coupons for 20% off entirely unnecessary, and in fact, is slightly unethical since people take those coupons and go there, expecting a deal, with they’re not really saving anything. I ALWAYS judge a place’s pricing on the FULL sticker price, and judge the availability of coupons separately.
Now 20% sound like a great deal, right? That’s why they do it. A discount is only a deal IF the regular prices are in line with the regular prices elsewhere. The trims often are less, but I’ll get back to that.
Everything else? High full-​sticker prices. Off those full sticker prices, things are usually 20% off which you can get bumped up to 35% if you have their mailer. But this often still leaves fabrics near the full price anywhere else. It can be hard to justify paying those prices when I can sometimes find the same fabric elsewhere at full price for their 35%-off price, and then can use a 40%-off coupon from there.
Example: Their Gemtack, for instance, is $ 10.99. At 20% off, that’s $ 8.80. At the mailer coupon discount of 35% off, that’s $ 7.15. Compare that to $ 7.89 at Michael’s craft. See how the biggest discounted price at Fabric Depot is about the regular Michael’s price? At Michael’s, you can use a 40% off coupon, taking it down to $ 4.73.
Speaking of that 35%-off mailer coupon, they used to have a wholesale discount that you got by buying a full bolt of box of an item, and it used to be 40% or so. The wholesale is now 30% off. You’re better off using the mailer coupon.
Now there are some positives. This place is MASSIVE. You’ll find MOST things here. I do wish they carried more silks, though, to be honest, with their mark-​ups, I’m personally better off going to one of my wholesale sources (I’m a dress-​making professional). I usually only buy small yardages here, no more than three or so, and only as a treat. What I love at Fabric Depot is their trims pricing. At Joann’s today, I paid $ 1.99 per yard for plain black sequin trim, single strand. I used a 50% off, and it was $ 1 per yard. But at Fabric Depot, the full regular price is 69 cents. Using my mailer coupon would take that to 45 cents. I only needed six yards, and couldn’t justify the 45-​minute drive to Fabric Depot for to save a few dollars (which I’d use on gas anyway), but it’s still a great place to go for really nice trims that have really good full prices.
Each summer, their Outdoor Sale (which is in a covered area outdoors) seems to feature a different «big» thing. A couple summers ago, they had lots of silks for $ 5/​yd or less. I bought tons. Last summer, it was a lot of heirloom trims, like entredeux, and this year, more novelty trims with some great heirloom stuff. This is what I go for once or twice a week. I’ll scour the bigs of trims looking for the treasures that at 15 cents yard (sometimes marked down from as much as $ 10/​yd, which makes me squeal inside since it can be easy to miss those deals when you’re looking through stuff marked down to $ 2 from $ 4 regular), and then buy it all. My sewing room has shelves of trims all $ 1 and under, most I got for 35 cents a yard or less.
They also do have a great selection of faux fur. Good faux is hard to find, but they have it, and the prices, comparatively speaking, at on par with other stores that carry similar things.
They do have a large number of prints and every color of certain cottons, though, again, the regular prices are high compared to other places with similar or even the exact same brand, but they have the highest concentration of variety.
The employees are very nice and helpful, which is always good. At a couple Joann’s in the area (82^nd & Powell in Portland, the store in East Vancouver…) are staffed mostly by jerks.
Also the noms! Lots of foreign cookies and treats! And for great prices, considering they’re actually named in places like Holland, and are directly imported. I can’t complain about $ 4.79 a bag for cookies that are so foreign that the ingredients label doesn’t even have English translations. A lot of foreign products beat the daylights out of most American stuff. I admit to having made the drive just to get their spiced whole wheat cookies by the case… :D

awesome possum! this store is grrrrrreat. i have had friendly help every time i’ve been in. all the employees i’ve interacted with are happy to give tips and advice and answer my many questions. i am a beginner sewer but coming in inspires me to get better so i can sew more and more. they have great coupons and promotions all the time so you can score the higher end fabrics for a discount.
the selection is HUGE and lots of imported fabrics from japan, uk, etc. very cool! i have a scottie dog and literally stopped in my tracks and gasped with delight when i spotted a print with a scottie dog with a red collar (just like mine) with a girl holding an umbrella under rain drops — could i find a more perfect fabric for a girl in rainy portland with a scottie? no… just no. they have so much adorable stuff to choose from. lots of vintagey and 1930’s prints which i am such a sucker for! ohhh it’s so cute! oh and oil cloth! eeeek i love it all!
from the name i thought this was a big box fabric store. when i realized it was local and near my house i felt so lucky. i am happy to support this great local business. thank you everyone at fabric depot! you’ve got a new devotee here! :)

Largest selection in Portland, hands down. Make sure to sign-​up for their email/​mailer coupons as they often have 30−40% off deals, which are well worth it. I have reupholstered many of my pieces of furniture with their fabric and they have lots of options. Highly recommend.

This is the biggest fabric store you will ever find. It is almost so big that it can be overwhelming trying to choose which fabric to buy. They carry almost everything related to sewing. The fabric is very organized and the place is clean. They also have an outdoor sale once a year as well. Sometimes I wish prices were a little bit cheaper since they are such a big store. They have so much parking and customer service is pretty good.

I heard about Fabric Depot a few weeks ago, and as a certified fabric junkie I was excited that a return trip to Portland allowed me to visit there today. From the moment I walked in the door I knew I had discovered fabric mecca. Knits? They’ve got ‘em. Bridal and specialty? Yes, anything you could possibly imagine. Upholstery? Home decorating? Outdoor? Yes, yes, and yes. Fur? Minky? Vinyl? Most definitely. Heck, the tablecloth fabric section alone is bigger than many fabric stores (and I don’t even make tablecloths). Need some thread? Notions? Interfacing in every conceivable weight and style? Buttons you have never seen before and will never see again? Oui, oui, oui!
And if all that stuff isn’t enough to get your heart palpitating, if you’re a quilter don’t even step into this place until you have a Xanax (or two). While most specialty quilting shops carry a nice selection from the various designers of beautiful cottons, this place literally carries everything. Moda… Michael Miller… Riley Blake… Hoffman…Andover…(insert name of your favorite fabric house here). Words cannot describe how thorough their selection is. They literally have every print from every current collection. You know that jellyroll or charm pack you bought at a different store last year and you can’t find the fabric to finish the quilt? This place probably carries yardage from every single pattern in that jelly roll. No more scouring Etsy and Google for the fabric you need.
And speaking of jellyrolls and charm packs, I do not say this lightly: I’ve never seen a better selection of precuts in my life. They’ve got all of the charm packs layer cakes, bali pops, hexies, FQ bundles, honey buns and jelly rolls you usually have to order online, in every color of the rainbow. And if you like rainbows, don’t miss the solids section. They have every single color of Kona and Bella solids. Every. Single. Color. You need a medium and light teal to go with that dark teal you found at JoAnn’s? You’ll find it here. And when your eyes are almost glazed over from the solids, I kid you not they have an entire section of just whites. Oh and when you’re done with whites and neutrals feast your eyes on batiks… so, so many beautiful batiks.
Now for the reason I’m giving this place 4 stars instead of 5. They employ a pricing technique that, to use non-​technical jargon, bugs the snot out of me. They mark everything in the store high, and then have «20% off» signs on all the displays. That’s right, pretty much the entire store is 20% off. So the jellyroll most quilting sites sell for $ 39.99 is $ 54.99 here (but hey, it’s 20% off)! That Michael Miller fabric you can get anywhere else for $ 10/​yard? It’s $ 13.50/yard here (but hey, it’s 20% off)! Notions? 20% off. Buttons? 20% off. The cashier actually chortled when I went to use the «20% off regular priced items» coupon I’d found in the hotel’s brochure rack. NOTHING here is regular priced. I know this tactic of marking things up just to mark them down is a common retailing approach, but personally it feels like a bait and switch and I don’t need it at the fabric store of all places.
But did I mention their awesomely amazing selection of everything crafting– and sewing– related? That’s what makes this place worth the trip! Now to save up some cash so I can come back soon. And next time I’ll spend a whole day!

I underestimated the Portland-​ness of this place!
Last time I was here, a lady had her barking German Shepherd in the store.
My checker, when I asked, confirmed that they welcome all dogs.

Great selection of all kind of prints including small makers and Japanese manufacturers. I found every modern print line I was looking for! Good prices (quilting cottons have gotten expensive everywhere!) and absolutely charming and helpful staff. I suspect there is some kind of sale most days. Don’t miss the clearance sections all of the way in the back of the store. A good selection of other kinds of craft supplies also. A must-​visit for quilters.

This store hits all the key points for a great fabric store: 1. Quality Selection, 2. Customer Service, 3. Organization
SELECTION: Wow. There is every type of fabric imaginable here and of a wide variety of quality. Even the lowest priced fabric ($ 11ish/​yard) was so much better than anything you could find at JoAnns. Much better selection than Mills End even. I had to keep my eye on the prize so I didn’t come back home with 209 new projects!
SERVICE: Great, smiling service by people who know fabric. They are also constantly putting bolts back so there is little stock that you won’t get the chance to see.
ORGANIZATION: Everything is labeled by convenient signage that is easy to read from a distance. Novelty fabrics were clearly broken down by theme. Fashion fabrics by type, etc. Even the discount section was organized!
Note: There is a nice lounge area up front for those in your party who need a break. Check for sales/​specials. They happen frequently here.
Fabric, sewing, crafty lovers beware!

Fabric Depot is like a museum of fabric. Anything you can imagine is here.
And if you need tools and needles to handle your fabric with, all of the tools and specialty threads are within easy access. Think Hobby Lobby in the early 80s when it was just getting started. You’re not going to find a bunch of pre-​made crap here. This store is for people that build things!
I like making costumes, and this place gives me a lot of ideas. I have to treat it with respect like a museum so that my wallet doesn’t suffer.
Note that you don’t come here for the service, you come here for the supplies. Be patient and take your time. Staff here will do the same. At checkout you’re going to be presented with ancient POS systems and paper accounting. Treat it as part of the experience! It’s what you get when you have a place as epic and loaded as this.

Came here looking for some container parts. I know it may be worth it to buy new ones but why. I will end up in the same situation. User friendly… Ya right. Any who. This store is Cloud 9 for fabric junkies. Huge store. Organized. Friendly Staff. But alas. Not the parts I’m looking for.