Online Shopping Review: Haul Video from Fabric.com and Girl Charlee!

Remember a few months back when I was debating shifting from fabric shopping in person to shopping online? Well, I’ve put in a couple of orders online, and I thought I’d do a review! I’ve done two orders from Fabric.com, and one order from Girl Charlee. Both have low prices, and a wide choice of knits. **Spoiler: I’m much happier with one shop than the other!**

The challenge of ordering knits online is trying to decode the written descriptions to guess what the fabric will really be like in person. To help share my own experience, I thought I’d try “haul videos” so that you can really see the stretch and drape of each fabric, and the overall quality of each store!

(Yes, this concept might just be self-indulgent and weird. If you don’t watch I won’t hold it against you! ;) 

First up: Girl Charlee

And here are links to the fabrics I ordered:

• Striped slub knit (They call it medium weight, I think it’s a tissue knit!) 


• Feather print  and navy with triangles (They say soft and drapey, I say crusty and stiff.)


• Royal blue striped ponte (They say it’s 45% cotton, which is a surprise! Feels like pure poly…)


• The other fabrics are out of stock now, it seems…

Next: Fabric.com

More links to what I ordered:

• Yarn Dyed Tissue Jersey Knit Stripes Jade/Royal


• Stretch Yarn Dyed Slub Jersey Knit Stripes Mint/Navy


• Stretch Bamboo Rayon Jersey Knit Polka Dot Navy/White


• (The two-wided knits and ITY are sold out…)

Overall Thoughts:

In the end, I found fabric.com to have much more accurate and reliable descriptions of their fabric. In all three orders I’ve ever done at Girl Charlee, a lot of their fabrics turn out to be thinner and more stable than the descriptions indicated. I just can’t get over the caked on ink in their custom prints, either. I’ve had good and bad fabric from both places, but I’m disappointed enough that I won’t shop at Girl Charlee again. 

What has your experience been of shopping online? Do you have any suggestions for what I could make with my thin, stable, and not-drapey knits from Girl Charlee? Help!