
The rumors have been flying for some time, and yesterday on Reddit, the details started trickling out. By this morning there were full posts on the decision by Joann's corporate overlords to declare bankruptcy for a second time in a year.
First of all, I want to state my deep and heartfelt sympathy for the people who made their careers in this company, and whose retirement packages are tangled up in Joann's. I truly hope that whatever deal is made takes care of the people who made it possible for those C-suiters to make their millions.
For those of us who sew, this is a MAJOR upheaval, as most of us have been patronizing Joann's for years, if not decades. There are other major craft store chains (one of which I refuse to patronize), and Walmart seems to have a decent amount of fabric in their larger stores, but none of these can hold a candle to Joann when it comes to sewing, patterns, specialty fabric and the tools of the trade. If social media is any indication, hand-wringing is the activity of the day in households with sewing machines. All of this has me wondering if this might be an opportunity instead of a disaster.
Like many folks, I have way too many craft supplies, yarn and fabric as I have written about before, such as in this blog about cleaning out my yarn stash. As it relates to collecting/buying fabric, which is a separate activity from sewing, I am choosing to look at one possible bright side (for me) to all of this.
I am fortunate to live in an area that has a number of quilting shops and a couple fabric/sewing shops. In fact, within only a 20-minute drive of my home, there are 4 fabric/sewing shops that I can think of and very likely, one or two more that I have yet to discover. These shops have fabric aplenty - NICE fabric! The quality is head and shoulders above the quality of the typical Joann's fabric selection and the employees sew, quilt and are knowledgeable about the goods they sell.
The "elephant in the room" is that these fabrics are higher priced than the coupon-frenzied offerings at Joann's. From my perspective as someone who is trying to shop less, I'm not sure that's a negative. The concept of ONLY buying when I have a specific project in mind, and then taking the time to make something of quality is sounding better every day. Maybe this shift in the crafting retail market is a call to change for those of us who have committed to doing less "shopping as therapy" and decrease our collecting habits that result in reams of fabric, towers of yarn and buckets of generic craft supplies in our homes.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that I am writing through the lens of privilege, as not everyone will live in an area with 4+ local fabric shops, and many people will not have the wiggle room in their budget to regularly patronize those shops.
To be clear, I take NO pleasure in Joann's (possible) closing and the challenges that another bankruptcy will present. I am simply trying to find something positive in what has been the rollercoaster ride of the Joann's saga.
Sewing, crocheting and knitting are critical pieces of my overall health and well-being. These activities help me manage anxiety, times when I am feeling blue, and the stressors of life. I sometimes think about how awful it would be if I was unable to crochet, knit or sew. In my contemplation about the role that these activities play in my life, I discovered that the endless acquisition of supplies is counterproductive. I started feeling more GUILT than joy when I surveyed my stacks of fabric and containers of yarn, purchased years ago and never used. Getting a handle on my shopping "habit" has been an important component of reconnecting with my inner peace.
To that end, as I have done with my yarn habit, I am committed to sewing from my fabric stash and not adding more fabric to my collection until I have worked through a significant amount of what I already own. There will be days when this is hard, and like it is with any habit we are trying to change, I will "backslide" and buy yarn and fabric. I have learned, however, that beating myself up doesn't help. Getting back up, dusting myself off and recommitting to my original goals is the only way forward.
I will persist with this goal, and I will make the PRIMARY joy in my crafting the making of things for myself, and for others - and NOT the shopping and endless buying of fabric, yarn and other supplies.
In celebration of my 2025 (& beyond!) resolution, I share these photos of my newest bag. The pattern: McCall's 8705 (View E). Made in cotton fabric (from Joann's) and lined with off-white muslin. I even challenged myself to modify the pattern so that the lining was part muslin and part original (cat) fabric as I did not want the lighter muslin lining to be obvious from the outside (see bottom photo). It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, initially - but it worked and I'm thrilled with the results!


Whatever you do to warm your crafting heart, do it with love, with respect for your skills, in awe of your unique creativity, and with a commitment to maintain your relationship with crafting as a net "good" (positive) in your life. That's the ONLY way to crochet, knit, sew or otherwise craft!
(C) 2025 Stitch 'n Dish
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