Lorraine Fabrics

I am a total textile whore.

That’s right, I said it.  In another life, I’d want to be a textile designer. In this life, I’m hoping to take block printing and screen printing classes in the near future.

When I went to Providence a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but stop by their local fabric warehouse, Lorraine Fabrics. I’m the most frugal fabric shopper ever, and had heard really good things about their prices.

Lorraine isn’t as overwhelming as some of the discount fabric stores I’ve been to. They actually have shelves and bolts as opposed to piles of remnants! Unlike Sew Low, I never got the sense I was going to fall straight through the flooring due to shady construction. So upon first glance, this place was totally a winner.

All of the specialty fabrics– sequins, upholstery, lace, etc. are on the main floor of their gigantic warehouse building. Everything on the bargain wall was $3.99-5.99/yard. Sweet!

Bargain Wall $3.99-5.99/yard

At this point, you start thinking that this place is pretty cool. The prices were reasonable, the store was spacious, and the selection was wide. In the hour that I was there, parents shuffled in with young children looking for random materials for a school project or costume and the workers were really helpful. But overall, I wasn’t blown away until I got to the back.

Standing at the back of the store, I faced a technicolor dreamcoat wall of fabric. Was this the doorway to heaven?

Close!! It was the entrance to the bargain loft. Everything upstairs is $1.99/yard. Everything.

This wall just keeps going and going…

Seriously. I’d say that the upstairs warehouse was at least 30 cubes long and 3 cubes high. And that’s just one wall. There’s a lot of fabric up there.

perfect for a sundress?	1/4 of the jersey section
black & white cotton print	black & white satin remnants

I was really proud of myself for walking out of there with only 7 yards of fabric. It took a lot of restraint not to buy more. I’ll admit that I didn’t see a ton of really modern fabrics upstairs, but there was a wide selection of kid’s fabrics, stripe and floral patterns, and calico prints. Did I mention that this was only $2/yard? If you’re in the Providence area, I highly recommend you stop by Lorraine!

Lorraine Fabrics/593 Mineral Spring Ave/Pawtucket, RI 02860

Tagged as: fabric