Fabricana Imports

I could spend my entire life in this place. Their selection of fabric is outstanding. So many wonderful licensed prints for children’s clothes and décor, fabric for dance and skating costumes, bridal fabric, polyester, flannel, tons of quilting cottons with food prints, animal prints, every colour of the rainbow, vinyl, faux fur, etc. etc. etc. Great selection of notions and Olfa needs. Pretty expensive but you get quality. They also sell the usual patterns (McCalls, etc.) as well as a few patterns from local Sewaholic and lots of Gutterman and Maidera thread. Sign up for the newsletter so you know about sales and special events. they also have a sewing lounge and classes.

We came in here last weekend to check-​out their upholstery fabrics. Good selection and well organized on the second floor of the store. The staff were easily accesible and happily provided us with swatches of the fabrics I wanted to sample. The fabric bolts were all well labeled with price and dimension. The first floor was packed perhaps due to Halloween so I decided not to venture too much. I did get a chance to look at their Halloween costume mannequins by the front door and they were impressively made/​draped.

Expensive compared to places like dresssew and there was a note taped to the check out counter from the CFIB [Canadian Federation of Independent Business] which is anti union, anti social services and benefits, so I won’t be going back to this location.
If you still aren’t convinced, service was non existent and the location is very hard to get to.

It is not often that I am impressed with a fabric store, and I am impressed.
I came here looking for stretch fabrics that breathe. I thought I would have to settle for an off color. Instead, I found more choice than I knew what to do with.
Kudos to any store that carries stretchy silver reflective PINK camouflage fabric.

I picked up an old sewing machine and have decided to learn to sew. I had talked with a few other fabric stores in the surrounding area and further, and out of all of them, this place was the winner by a mile.
HUGE store, but I have no comparison, first trip ever to a fabric store. The lovely young girl at the counter was not able to answer all my questions but was professional enough to refer me to someone who could. This was a huge plus. The ladies that helped me were awesome. I signed up for two classes and am excited to see they have a lounge to go work on your projects, and a lot of classes for all ranges of sewers. Their class prices were very reasonable and much cheaper for the beginners classes than other places I looked into.
I needed a basic sewing starter kit, and was shown what to look for, what I need, and even recommendations to wait until certain things go on sale. I was not sold anything I didn’t need and was not made to feel pressured into buying things I didn’t want. I was also relieved to know that they didn’t pressure me to forgo the tune up of my ancient machine and buy from them (they also don’t sell any machines that I saw) but was encouraged to see if mine could be tuned up at a reasonable price and learn it and could think about upgrading if/​when I was ready.
I was helped by another very knowledgeable lady to pick out fabric for my second class, (signed up for 2) and never once did I feel embarrassed or out of place in such a new environment. The whole experience from start to finish made me even more excited about learning to sew.
They also gave me a card for an amount off my machines tune up, and let me know that there were sewing machines I could use for class if mine was not ready to go.
All around this place was full of win from the get-​go. So thank you to the staff and friendly helpful service.

Good: free parking at the door, good (not great) selection of fabrics (including outdoor-​weatherproof-​, and window treatment), they also offer some sewing classes, but you need to bring your own sewing machine, open 7 days/​week, open late on Wed/​Thur/​Fri
Not so good: prices are not the best (they did do a boxing week sale of ½ price for anything below $ 15 this year, though), not so much of a selection of notions

I used to love coming to Fabricana because they had such an amazing selection of unique fabrics. Although they certainly don’t have the cheapest prices in the city, they’re close to home and have always had something that fits the bill for my sewing projects. Lately though, I’ve found their selection incredibly lacking. Recently I tried to find a pretty fabric for a party dress I wanted to sew and was at a complete loss for something unique and upscale in appearance and last weekend I attempted to find Christmas patterned fleece and was totally optionless.
The service here is very helpful & knowledgeable, but there are often more customers than the staff is able to deal with so enter with patience or you will be annoyed when your trip takes twice as long as you had hoped. Also, remember that they may not have the options you require for your projects. All in all not terrible, but there is vast room for improvement these days.

This place is huge! I’ve mostly purchased upholstery fabrics here, but I can certainly agree with all the comments about the staff in notions. Also I came out from Burnaby (where I live) based on the hours listed on their website, and they had closed early :(Not a holiday or anything, I was sooooo annoyed.

This place is overwhelming and. just BIG. I found a couple fabrics I liked, but it was too much to look through the patterns. I’m a total sewing newb and don’t understand those darn catalogs. That’s more me than them though. And the staff in fabric places always seem to be a bit. odd?

It’s huge. like costco huge. I’ve never ventured upstairs since I don’t use upholstery fabrics n notions, but it still looks pretty big from downstairs. They have all kinds of fabrics, from generic/​discount to designer high cost, including a fancy ass bridal/​dancer costume area. I’ve spent a fair amount of money here on silks and velvets (because they’re closer than Joannes) if you don’t mind hunting down the staff to cut fabric and paying extra to shop locally then stop on by and browse the store, you’ll find more variety here than at a Fabricland.

I was in the area a couple of weeks ago and since I was driving I decided the van and I would go there. The fiancé and the dogs had no choice.
I was super excited. I am loving fabric stores and I was on the look out for coloured braided elastic, which I am still on the look out for as they didn’t have it. This is not what made the experience shabby!
So the good is that it is huge and there is loads of selection albeit sometimes limited on colour and reasonable prices.
The bad is that the staff that I encountered were either talking with other staff about nothing or were rude to me when i asked about said braided elastic.
Needless to say I will continue to shop at the Fabricland in New West, close to home. If I am in the area of Fabricana and I can’t find it close to home then I will consider checking them out. They left a bad taste in my mouth so it’s not going to be my go to store.

I Unilocaled a Fabricland in the area and come to find out– they closed 3 years ago! ha! Lucky for me and my need to make a costume in 3 days– tada! Fabricana to the rescue!
This place is humongous! They have everything and it’s priced pretty reasonably…
Thankfully I found what I needed. Instead of paying $ 70 for a 3 year olds (Flynn Rider) costume (which actually isn’t even in stores yet– and there isn’t even pattern for it) Booyah! It was perfect!
Thanks Fabricana– see you around Halloween :)

This review focuses on upstairs décor area.
On to the good: helpful (most of the time, when the staff don’t start thinking that they know everything and insist that their way is the only way), OK selection of CERTAIN colors (and most of the time not the ones that you are looking for).
BAD: ridiculously expensive. Poor selection — every time I came in to look for a particular pattern/​color combo, they had little to offer and that considering that one time I came in to look for black and white damask print (very very common pattern and widely used and requested), no luck — this was a year ago.
This past weekend I needed aqua (or turquoise) fabric for the bedspread, the only one they had (yes, there was only ONE type of solid fabric in the color scheme I was looking for), cost 26bucks a yard (and I need close to 6 yards). So I begrudgingly buy it only to find out that it’s dry clean only (after I called them the next day). It would be nice to have more options and not just the one that costs almost the same as premium silk. I feel ripped off now that I also know that I have to spend money to dry clean it — I wish I were told before.
Will try Joanne’s in the states for my next sewing project.

I feel like I should write two reviews for this place — one good and one not so much. So will just note the good and the bad all in one:
Good: HUGE selection, the upstairs is all home décor/​upholstery/​window material. The main floor contains a beautiful selection of fabrics, from fashion to craft (Quilters will LOVE this place!), to a stunning selections of formal/​bridal fabrics, a decent variety of ribbons & trims, and notions galore. PLUS, this store is beautifully organized, very shopper-​friendly.
Not so good: some of the fashion fabrics are very expensive (24.99 for stretch crushed velvet (polyester). And the 2 women who «helped» me in the Notions department. When I tell you I need heavy interfacing, and I tell you it’s for a costume bra, and you tell me it’s not going to work and I have a pattern that tells me it does, don’t a) give each other a look that says «she’s a stripper» (i’m not)…b) continue to tell me it won’t work (it will), and c) talk to each other in a language I don’t understand the moment I turn my back, because I know enough to totally get that you’re talking about me. Rude, rude, rude.
I will continue to use this store for my craft projects — the women in that department are lovely to deal with, and if I need notions that don’t require assistance from that department for cutting from a bolt in the store I will still go there. But when I need interfacing etc. and fashion fabrics I will take my business to Rokko’s on Fraser St in Vancouver, where the prices and service are excellent.

Fabricland (my usual for fabric and sewing accessories) is closing, so I thought I would go check out Fabricana today to see what they have to offer. It is conveniently located across from Fabricland on United Blvd.
Upon entering the store I was in awe of the size of it — the word «Gigantic» comes to mind. In addition to having the lower floor, they also have an second floor! This could go well…
I had a really good gander of what they have to offer and really liked the shopability. They have great fabrics and I thought the prices were pretty reasonable. They have some silks in I have fallen in love with. I was also eccsatic to see «designer fabric» by none other than Betsey Johnson! Wandering around I established this place is definately workable and i will have no trouble finding whatever I need to bring my creations to reality.