Monday, October 12, 2009

Review: SAS Fabrics Phoenix, AZ

Review for:

SAS Fabrics

9840 N 19th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85021-1906
(602) 943-7777

(I am providing the 19th Ave location information because I'm not sure the Indian School location information on Google is correct, although I did go to another location.)

The other day a friend took me to SAS Fabrics in Phoenix, AZ. I went to the 12th St/Indian School Rd location, although they do have more locations in the Valley area (see contact info above). I had never been, but heard stories. You know, the kind you dismiss as nothing but rumor, like Bigfoot.

The outside is uninspiring, with a large sign advertising that they have air conditioning (I thought, what is this, the 50's?), which I suppose in Phoenix, where summer temps can climb to above 110ยบ F for weeks, isn't such a bad thing to advertise. Apparently before they revamped the place (and closed it for a time) there was no A/C, only an evap/swamp cooler, which for those that don't know, only works as long as the humidity is low.

Through the windows you can see piles of fabric in all colors. And then you walk in...

I've never seen the like. JoAnns doesn't even compare! From one wall to the next there was nothing but shelves with rolls of fabric, tables piled with cut pieces and bolts and boxes full of fabrics, trim, lace, ribbon and anything else you can imagine a sewist needing. They sell fabric both by the POUND and by yard. The prices are inbelievable. Beautiful silk for $6.99+ per yard, denim for $2.99 per yard, and suitings of all sorts for $2.99 per pound among other things. Their selection of faux fur was huge, they had a whole wall for upholstery fabrics (although I didn't browse those), fancies of all sorts from spangled to beaded. Cotton, silk, poly, wool and probably linen as well were there. They had boxes full of iron-ons in a great selection and while some were cheesy, there were others that were not. The only thing missing was a huge collection of buttons to browse through, which I was told by the friend that they do have at their 19th Ave location. They did have some buttons, but not a lot.

I was awestruck! It being a weekday and around 3pm as well, the place had a decent amount of people in there shopping, holding rolls of fabric. The cutters tables were very cramped, and they obviously didn't have enough room to roll out some of the large rolls. You took part in helping cut sometimes, as an extra hand to hold something, or to help unroll. After getting your fabric cut, your bag of fabric is placed behind the counter and they hand you a receipt that you then take to the cashier who finds your bag by your reciept number.

They accept most major credit cards and are open from 10am-6pm Monday through Saturday and closed on Sunday.

All in all, I will be back! I went there with a budget of $50 and only spent half on it, and came out very happy. I got 5 yards of a dark gray wool/polyester blend suiting for $2.99 per pound (about 3 pounds total) , 10 yards of some neat trim for $.25 per yard and 4 yards of denim for $2.99 per yard. And those are just "practical" things I bought. I think the next time I go back I'll get something a little more fun. A note though; there are no tags to tell you what the fabric is. You kind of need to know by feel what type of fabric is what and how blends feel as well, and treat later accordingly. It's a little like buying fabric at the thrift store, in that you don't know for sure exactly what you're getting since there are no tags, or labels stating the fabric content.

SAS Fabric gets 5 stars in my opinion. It could be better in indentification and sorting, but why fix something if it isn't broken? My friend called it "our Mood" (but cheaper!). perhaps I was just awestruck, but the place was amazing to me.

3 comments:

  1. I live right around the corner from this place and I LOVE it!!! You are very right, Joanns and ever HOBBY LOBBY could never compare to the amazement of this place!!!

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  2. Dear,

    Have a nice day! Our facebook has a good news. If some one like our facebook, she can get a pair of tights only for $1.99 this week. The price will rise $1 a week, until it is $9.99. This is for facebook fans only, one person, one pair! It is really inspiring, right?

    If you like it, pls. share it with your friends, thanks!

    www.facebook.com/Romwe.Fashion?sk=app_4949752878

    ReplyDelete
  3. so nice,thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete