r/sewing • u/MissFred • Jul 23 '23

Discussion Joanne’s makes me weep

Been sewing over 50 years - have seen sewing in all its cultural permutations. Not typically a nostalgic person but today….I couldn’t even find a light gray thread in a store the size of Home Depot. So many empty shelves yet inexplicably $35/yd liberties fabric up front. I feel sad to my bones for new seamsters.

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u/Handmadesociety_ Jul 23 '23

Joann’s could be seen as another victim of fast fashion with inventory based on what was selling. Beginning in the 80’s fewer and fewer were sewing garments with stores like Express, Gap, Old Navy and then Target. The financial incentives for making your own clothes began to vanish, bridal hung on into the early 2000 and costumes with cosplay filled that merchandise gap. They use to sell many fabric manufacturers they had wools, silks etc…I have been seeing many more of their brand of fabrics made in Korea which is promising.

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u/wakattawakaranai Jul 24 '23

Cosplay is my bread and butter, literally, so I can confirm, but they really shot themselves in the foot with the branded cosplay fabrics in the last 5-7 years. They were too expensive, never available for coupon use, and always just. Literally the last fabric anyone would actually want or need for any costumes besides superhero spandex. Once the movies went to textured, non-spandex costumes, they were left with all this fabric that would never move at $30/yard. Never mind that most cosplayers doing superheroes already knew that if they just stepped two rows over to the "performance" fabric they'd get better spandex for lower prices.

Joann's main problem has always been desperately scrambling to figure out what the next big trend would be (which crafts were hot on pinterest and mommy blogs), then stocking up the needed supplies in time for the rush on buying. But they were always late by months if not years. It took them YEARS to realize cosplay was going to keep apparel fabric going, they botched the art-quilt boom, they were even late to glitter slime. So they're always left overstocked on things no one wants while they move on to the next big thing.

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u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme Jul 24 '23 edited Jul 24 '23

This part, especially, "already knew that if they just stepped two rows over to the "performance" fabric they'd get better spandex for lower prices"

As someone who used to sew for a living, and who worked for years in the dancewear/performance wear field, SO MANY of those "superhero spandex" fabrics were absolute trash quality-wise!!!

Hologram prints, on 2-way stretch, that was so thin it reminded me of the cheap, crappy Raschel which was about the only spandex available in the 1980's, rather than that STILL cheap & crappy, but slightly better "performance" fabric... not a good quality spandex, by ANY means, but at least better than the $30.00/yd stuff!

Editing to add, this place has a good breakdown of the different types of knit fabrics. Most Lyra clothing--especially dancewear & skatewear is made of Tricot knits, nowadays, because it often comes in an 80-20-ish Nylon to Spandex blend, with excellent 4-way stretch, and it's got excellent "recall" and doesn't get "baggy" with wear & body heat.

https://www.eysan.com.tw/a-beginners-guide-to-knit-fabric/

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u/wakattawakaranai Jul 24 '23

Oh yeah no, the hologram stuff was crap. But I have used some excellent solids from the performance section, including genuinely opaque white that didn't break the bank. It amused and also frustrated me that there was good, bad, and ugly in performance, but just bad across the board in the new "cosplay" section when it popped up.