Esty has a reputation for being “your grandma’s basement,” or a crafty, clever, cross between eBay and Amazon.
Whatever vision you have of Esty, or whatever way you want to describe this online site, one thing is certain.
You’ll find some of the best fabric stores on the planet on this popular thirteen-year-old site, as well as vintage fabrics you may not find anywhere else.
Quilters and sewers didn’t have the luxury of buying their fabrics online twenty years ago. Some vintage quilters still shop for fabrics in brick and mortar stores that have rows and rows of stacked fabrics.
The main reason they take the time to get in the car, brave the 21st-century traffic, and endure the crowds, is quilters like to feel, caress, and smell fabrics before they buy them.
Some of these stores may not have the fabric you need, or they don’t have enough to complete your creative project. So that means jumping back into the car and finding another giant fabric store with an endless supply of fabrics.
It takes time and money to make the fabric store rounds, and some quilters say that practice is a bit archaic.