The Best Places to Buy Fabric Online for your Reupholstery Projects

In this article, we’re going to explore the best places to buy fabric online for your reupholstery projects based on your home decor needs, budget and project timelines.

Why should you buy fabric at an online fabric store?

Years ago, there were many beautiful brick and mortar stores that sold all kinds of fabric. Shoppers could browse through endless aisles of inventory, hold the fabrics up to the light to see their true colors and weave, make selections, and bring samples home before purchasing them. As an added bonus, these purchases would support small businesses in local communities.

Today, most of these stores are closed, and the ones that remain in business tend to be hard to locate. When you do find them, you may come across the specific fabric you’re looking for, but you’ll often discover that the local store has limited stock in low supply, odd hours and high prices. Furthermore, while it can be helpful to have a live fabric specialist on hand, sometimes salespeople can be overly solicitous and even pushy while you select fabrics.

It may take a bit longer to buy fabric online because you have to wait for your item to arrive in the mail. In fact, you wait twice – once after you select your samples and again after you select the final fabric. This can take weeks or months. However, there is no question that you have many more options when you use the internet as your own personal fabric store from the comfort and convenience of your own home.

Why should you reupholster your furniture?

Good quality antique furniture is made to last for decades, if not centuries. When a piece becomes worn-out, instead of discarding it and buying something from a box store, it can be easily restored with some furniture wax and new upholstery.

Ultimately, reupholstering your furniture is better for the environment because your old furniture doesn’t end up in a landfill. It’s also better for your wallet because reupholstering old furniture is almost always less expensive than buying a new piece of furniture.

That said, you should only invest in reupholstering your furniture if the piece is high quality, in good working order (or can be repaired), and you want to continue using it for years to come.

How do I reupholster my antique furniture?

There are a few different ways to approach your reupholstery project based on the complexity of the piece, your budget, your skills or ability to learn new ones, and your timelines.

Professional Upholstery

You will find talented furniture upholsterers available in your area if you search online businesses or ask your friends, family or colleagues for referrals.

I cannot overestimate the incredible craftmanship that goes into this time-consuming and detail-oriented work. As a result, it is not cheap to do. The price will depend on the size of the piece and the complexity of the work. A small chair may be as expensive as a sofa if it requires tufting, pleating, or nail head trim. On the other hand, if you’re just replacing a single dining room chair seat, you’re likely to pay much less.

It’s also important to understand that reupholstery takes a lot of time. A good upholsterer will have several clients who are waiting for their pieces before yours goes into the shop. Some upholsterers won’t even collect your piece until they’re ready or almost ready to begin working on it.

Upholstery is done by hand, usually by only 1 or 2 upholsterers, so you may wait months before your piece is completed. Trust me, it will be well worth the wait.

Some upholstery businesses will provide you with fabric choices and custom order it for you. In my opinion, you will almost always save time and money if you purchase the fabric on your own. This article will give you sound advice about where you should shop online.

DIY Reupholstery

In some cases, I will reupholster a piece of furniture myself. I took a basic reupholstery class many years ago, and it gave me the confidence, if not the skills, to manage projects that aren’t too complex.

I have reupholstered benches and pews, dining room chairs, and more recently, a pair of settees. My work is not perfect, but it’s good enough for my own purposes. I also enjoy the challenge of taking on a new reupholstery project.

The best part is that I can work on my own timeframe, often finishing a project much faster than if I paid someone to do it for me.

Tutorials

If you don’t have the time or inclination to take an upholstery class, there are some excellent videos on YouTube that will teach you the skills you need to get started.

Sailrite is a particularly good resource for upholstery tutorials. (More on that later)….

How do you find the right fabric for your needs?

It’s important to bear in mind that you need to shop specifically for upholstery fabrics for furniture projects. Lighter fabrics, fabrics for general sewing projects, and fabric for apparel may not hold up to the hard-use that furniture pieces require.

Upholstery fabrics come in many options and they all have their benefits and drawbacks.

• Polyester and polyester blends are stain and fade resistant as well as affordable for most budgets which is why they tend to be popular for upholstery.
• Cotton and cotton-blends are beautiful and breathable, but they’re also highly absorbent and prone to fading and breaking down in the sunlight over time. They can make great slipcovers provided that they are removable and machine-washable.
• Linen is lightweight and breathable, but prone to wrinkling with use. Linen is not stain-resistant and can be particularly challenging to use in houses with small children and pets. Like cotton, it makes an excellent slipcover material if it is removable and machine washable.
• Leather is beautiful, durable and stain resistant. It is also timeless. However, leather tends to be a very expensive material. In addition, it may not appeal to individuals who dislike using material sourced from animals.
• Velvet is luxurious and can withstand daily use. It requires some additional care, specifically periodic brushing to keep the fibers from going flat.
• It is possible to buy some fabrics that have been pre-treated to resist stains and fading. It will often involve an extra charge. Some fabrics are also available in Green Guard Gold Certification, meaning it contains lower emissions for volatile organic compounds that may be hazardous to your health and the environment.
• 

Ready to find your new favorite fabric store online?

I’ve been reupholstering my antique furniture for many years now, and I’ve had good success buying beautiful fabrics online at all different price points. I’m going to share some of my favorite online sources with you so you can find the best ones for your own projects.

Providing common ground in my research

I felt it was important to provide some common ground in my research. To do that, I decided to search for a very traditional fabric pattern at each online store reviewed in this article, which is damask. Damask is often used for antique upholstery as well as wallpaper in old homes.

Perigold Luxury Upholstery Fabric

By far, my favorite online fabric store is Perigold. Perigold takes great pride in providing luxury fabrics that designers use, and for good reason. They have a wide array of high quality upholstery fabric in beautiful colors and patterns. It is a joy to scroll through their pages of products.

The Perigold website is user-friendly and easy to navigate. You just click on “upholstery fabric” and the results give you thousands of fabrics to choose from. Then, you can refine your search by pattern, price, fabric content, fabric weight and overall dimensions.

I usually start my search by selecting several pattern options such as chevron, damask, floral, geometric, etc. Then I narrow down the fabric content (e.g. cotton fabric, velvet, linen, etc.) so I don’t view fabrics that would be ill-suited to a particular project. For instance, I’m unlikely to use a performance fabric on an antique piece. Finally, I select a price category so I’m not tempted by fabrics that would break my budget.

During a quick search for “damask” upholstery fabric, I found almost 200 fabrics to choose from. Prices varied from $37 per yard for Robert Allen @Home Grand Motif Fabric to $647 for The House of Scalamandre Velluto Palatine cotton blend fabric.

Before buying fabric online from Perigold, I always purchase several samples first to make sure the fabric looks the same in my home as it does online. I also like to view the fabric in different lighting (e.g. morning light versus lamplight in the evening). This takes a bit more time, but it’s worth it to reduce the risk of disappointing purchases.

I have occasionally splurged on fabric that I’ve absolutely loved at the Perigold online store. It’s possible that I may have found something less expensive if I continued my search, but sometimes it’s worth it to spend more for the perfect result, budget-permitting.

Wayfair Fabric by the Yard

I’m a big fan of Wayfair for all things related to home decor. Fortunately, that includes online fabric shopping.

Similar to Perigold, the Wayfair website is user-friend and searches can be narrowed down by pattern, fabric content and price per item.

When I searched for upholstery fabrics, I was presented with over 11,000 results. This is almost twice the inventory that Perigold provides. Wayfair also has a wider selection of fabric on sale for affordable prices.

A quick search for “damask” upholstery fabric brought up almost 200 results ranging from $34.65 (on sale) per yard for Sheree Chenille Fabric by NewPoint to $448 per yard for Jardin Silk Fabric by The House of Scalamandre. I found many lovely fabrics available within the $45-$75 range.

Wayfair has solid customer service, so I always feel confident when I place an order with their online store. While I haven’t purchased their online fabric myself, I wouldn’t hesitate to try it for future projects.

Joann Fabric and Craft Stores

Joann Fabric offers the best of both worlds. They offer a chain of local stores as well as online shopping. As of December 18, 2023, there were 829 Joann Fabric stores across 49 states in the U.S., so there’s no shortage of stores to visit. In addition, when you buy fabric online, you can choose to have it delivered or to pick it up curbside, which is a nice option.

The Joann Fabric website is easy to use and provides 20 different filter categories, including color, fabric project type, pattern, brand, and more. However, when I searched for upholstery fabric, I was only given approximately 350 results.

I suspect that upholstery fabric isn’t Joann Fabric’s specialty. It seems that Joann Fabric provides more variety for apparel fabrics, quilting fabric, and other fabrics for a typical sewing project. After all, it is primarily known as a crafting store, so this makes sense.

When I searched for “damask,” I was given 3 options. Prices ranged from $33.74 (on sale) per yard for Waverly Upholstery Fabric in Donnington Cornflower to $56.24 for Waverly Upholstery Fabric in Izmir Rug Cloud. Although there were only 3 options, all 3 were beautiful. (As an aside, I have found that Waverly fabrics hold up well over time).

In the past, when I’ve purchased fabric at Joann Fabric, it’s usually because I want to stick to a fairly tight budget. I have almost always gone to the brick and mortar store first, viewed the fabric in-person, and then ordered it online when I returned home. There is almost never a sufficient quantity of the fabric or trim (a.k.a. gimp) that I need for my project in the store, which is a bit frustrating.

On the other hand, by going to the store first, I don’t have to request fabric samples before purchasing the actual roll of fabric for my project, and this saves me some time. If you want to skip the physical store, you can purchase samples on the online store instead.

Amazon Fabric (formerly Fabric.com)

I must begin with a disclaimer – I am angry with Amazon Fabric. They used to own fabric.com which was hands-down my favorite online fabric store of all time. They had a huge selection of great fabrics for reasonable prices. Sadly, Amazon disbanded the store in the fall of 2022 and in my opinion, it leaves a huge gap in the online fabric industry.

With that said, if you search for fabric.com today, you will be immediately redirected to Amazon Fabric. Yes, they sell fabrics online, but their website is not very easy to use and their inventory is limited.

I first searched “upholstery fabric” which turned up 10,000 results. I then checked a box that said “home decor,” which narrowed it down to 5,000 items. I then refined my search to “fabric cut by the yard,” and it reduced to 3,000 items. When I looked for “damask,” I had 100 results.

A quick search showed fabrics ranging from $8.99 for Magnolia Home Fashion’s Hamilton Denim fabric to $87.46 for Lunarable Vintage Style Pattern Classical Victorian Interior Design Elements Floral Print. There were many choices in the $20-$35 range, as well as options under $20 like Magnolia Home.

However, my search turned up fabrics that I would consider suitable for draperies but not upholstery, so the buyer should beware. Amazon Fabric doesn’t provide the option to purchase samples, which is a drawback in my opinion.

I have not bought upholstery fabric on Amazon. However, I purchased French ticking fabric to use for a kitchen tablecloth and runner. I was very happy with the fabric and it’s held up well to hard use and repeated laundering.

Sailrite Sewing and Products

Sailrite is an online store that sells fabrics for a wide variety of uses including (but not limited to) maritime, outdoor, RV and automotive as well as indoor and crafts. They focus on sewing and sewing related products and are a go-to store for hobbyists.

For my search, I selected fabric for “Indoor Uses” and then clicked on “Decor and Upholstery.” That brought up over 1700 results. When I refined my search to “damask” there were 35 results. I viewed several Magnolia Home fabrics priced at $9.95. The most expensive option was P/Kaufmann Trousseau Sable at $39.93. Notably, many of their fabrics were in limited supply or no longer available.

Similar to Amazon, Sailrite didn’t differentiate between fabric that could be used for “decor” versus “upholstery,” which left me with more questions than answers. However, it is possible to order samples, so that would help a buyer make sure that the selected fabric is suitable for furniture.

I haven’t purchased fabric from Sailrite, although I’ve bought various materials related to reupholstery projects and I’ve been happy with my purchases.

As an aside, Sailrite has lots of helpful tutorials available on YouTube and I highly recommend them if you’d like to try a new fabric project. You can also access the videos on the Sailrite website under the “Learn” tab. I personally viewed one of their tutorials to create a box cushion and it was very easy to follow.

West Elm Modern Furniture and Home Decor

I want to give honorable mention to West Elm as a viable online fabric store. I haven’t ordered from West Elm myself, but their website looks promising. They provide 8 different fabrics, including velvet, linen, twill, canvas and others. They also have free swatches available which is a nice bonus.

West Elm provides fabrics in an array of solid colors and very nice textures, but no patterns. As a result, I couldn’t use my “damask” search test. I did find other nice options, however, including a performance basket slub fabric in the color midnight (navy blue) that was $31 per yard.

If you’re on the hunt for upholstery fabric in nice textures and solid colors or mood fabrics, you should check out West Elm. As an extra benefit, you can order all of their fabrics with Green Guard certification.

Shopping the Best of Decorators Best

Decorators Best was created in 2004 with the goal of providing everyday people with the opportunity to buy trade-only fabrics and wallpaper online, instead of having to rely on an interior decorator. The online store provides a very wide selection of fabrics including designer brands.

In fact, when I searched for “damask upholstery fabric” I received almost 2000 results. The least expensive damask fabric was made by Kravet for $19.99. The most expensive damask fabric was made by Old World Weavers Cuir Breughel in Natural Fabric for $4,307.99. That’s quite a price range!

In general, most high quality fabric options seemed to land between $150 and $300. They provided sample fabrics for $7 so you could try them out at home, as well. As I’ve said before, samples are key to good decision-making.

I haven’t ordered fabric from Decorators Best, but I can appreciate the appeal of their online store. I also applaud their mission to grant a shopper’s access to excellent home decor products.

Other Online Fabric Stores

I’ve purchased fabric samples from Decorative Fabrics Direct and House Fabric with good results, although I didn’t end up selecting their products. That said, I would recommend both as a possible resource for your reupholstery projects.

Personally, I have not had success buying fabric samples from Etsy sellers. I found that the shipping time took too long and once I finally received the sample, I simply didn’t want to invest more time waiting for fabric to come in. However, shipping times and costs will most certainly vary from seller to seller, so it would be unwise to rule-out Esty altogether.

I have found beautiful and affordable fabric on Spoonflower, but the website repeatedly “lost items” that I had put into my online shopping cart. It became so frustrating that I eventually gave up. I hope that it was just a temporary glitch with their website, and I will probably give them one last try in the future.

What to Consider When Choosing the Best Online Fabric Store for You

In my opinion, price should be the primary factor when considering the best online fabric store for your upholstery project.

If you have a bit more money to spend and you want very special fabric, I would strongly suggest Perigold for their wide range of beautiful designer fabrics. You are bound to find something perfect for your project. Along the same line, my second choice would be Decorators Best, followed by Wayfair.

On the other hand, if you have a tight budget, then I suggest Joann Fabric online fabric stores. Although Joann Fabric offers a much smaller selection, the available fabric is reasonably priced, attractive, good quality, and provides you with both online and in-person options for browsing, purchasing and picking-up.

Again, as an honorable mention, West Elm may be a good option if you are reupholstering a more modern piece of furniture or if you want a reasonably priced textured fabric in a solid color. They also provide fabrics with Green Guard certification if you want to take extra care with your health and the environment.

Regardless of which online store you choose, please remember my advice to only select an upholstery fabric in a fabric type that’s appropriate to your needs and lifestyle (as described above). Always, always order a swatch before committing to your fabric. If you want to broaden your skills or invest in some quality upholstery products, visit Sailrite.

Beyond that, I hope you have fun with your upholstery project. I’m sure it will be a wonderful success!