Where to Find Bargain Upholstery Fabrics, Curtain Fabrics, and More

Those gorgeous fabrics you see in decorating magazines and design showrooms can cost hundreds of dollars per yard. Fortunately, you can find some of those same fabrics (and some that are even more fun) cheap or free when you know where to look. Here’s where to find bargain upholstery fabrics, pillow fabrics, and more:

Fabric Samples

Custom upholstery manufacturers discontinue fabrics several times per year. Their samples range from just big enough for a pillow front to enough to reupholster a small wood-framed armchair.

Furniture stores have to pull discontinued samples from their displays -- and they usually end up in the dumpster. Stop by a local store or design gallery and ask if you can look through the discards.

Fabric Remnants

A remnant is the fabric remaining on a nearly empty bolt. Nearly empty might mean one yard or 12. Dye lots (fabric dyed together in the same vat) are hard to match, so most shops won’t use the end of one bolt with yardage from a new one.

Pricing is often just pennies on the dollar.

Look for remnants at:

• Upholstery shops
• Retail fabric stores that carry upholstery and drapery fabrics
• Upholstery manufacturers in your area
• Craigslist and eBay

Used Clothing

Even if you don’t want to wear it, scan the secondhand clothing at flea markets, yard sales, estate sales, and thrift stores. You won’t be able to reupholster a sofa with yardage from a gathered skirt or vintage caftan, but you might make a set of throw pillows or reupholster your dining chair seats.

Vintage Home Textiles

While you’re bargain hunting, remember that you don’t have to use anything for its original purpose. Sometimes it’s far more interesting when you don’t. Here are a few ideas for repurposing vintage textiles:

• Use a bedspread or quilt as a tablecloth
• Use a tablecloth as a bedspread or shower curtain
• Cover chair seats with the good sections of damaged rugs
• Make café curtains out of old embroidered pillow cases
• Make pillows out of nearly anything