Nancy’s Notions

These gals are hilarious – I always have fun in the store. The fabrics are a higher quality than the ones you find at Joann’s. I didn’t think there’d be such a difference, but there’s a HUGE difference in the flannels, especially.
It’s not an incredibly large, big box kind of store. You come here for the character and the employees’ experience. There’s always someone there to answer a question. Someday I’m gonna buy one of those embroidery machines… and I’m gonna buy it from them, because they are so darn helpful and patient when I have a question. Plus, I’m looking forward to learning that new machine (ah, someday!) in one of their fun-​looking workshops.
I’m writing this review based on the retail store – not the website (which I have no experience with yet). There’s something to be said for a store that’s kept the same employees for years, don’t you think?

Not sure what issues other reviewers had, but I’ve had consistently good experiences with ordering online from Nancy’s Notions. They have one of the nicest selection of rayon batiks I can find, both online and from my local stores in Portland, OR (which includes Mill End Fabrics!). Their prices are about the same as
, and their online store is straightforward and easy to use.
All of my rayon fabric orders have come with a sample needle of the right size for the fabric, which I think is lovely thing for them to do.
I’ve had the correct amount of email confirmations, both order confirmation and shipping confirmations, every time I have ordered. One has to pay shipping, but they aren’t a giant chain, so I’d rather pay the actual cost of shipping and have the fabric prices stay the same, instead of them having to raise fabric prices to cover shipping costs.
Nancy’s Notions is one of my first picks for online fabric shopping!

I puchased an adjustable home hobby table from Nancy’s. It took over 3 months to get it. But none the less, I was really excited when I got it. I’ve never had a really good, sturdy cutting table before and I thought I was finally going to get one.
Once it was put together, the top did not lie flat. When you’re measuring and cutting fabric, it’s important to have a flat surface to work on. On top of that, the table itself was so shaky that when I used it to cut fabric, it moved. It was not even as stable as my old one that it replaced. I tried steadying it by putting it against a wall, but that didn’t work either. Lesson learned: Just because something is heavy, doesn’t mean it is sturdy.
So, I called Nancy’s, thinking that they would make it right. This is what I was told: «We have one those in our store, and the left side of it hangs a little lower. And as far as the sturdiness goes, that’s just the way it is. It’s not meant to be that sturdy. You’re welcome to send it back, but you will have to pay for the shipping.»
It is apparent to me that I am not important to them. I can’t recall being treated so badly by a business.
I have probably placed over 50 orders from this company, but I will not be buying anything else from them.

I was very disappointed at there fabric selections. Seems they are more into selling sewing machines than fabric. The fabric they do carry is over priced. I won’t be back, a big waste of my time

The last review on this site must have been written by the owner, or an employee because it was certainly not my experience with Nancy’s Notions. I placed an order and received no email confirmation, no tracking number was listed in my PayPal account and emails to their Customer Service Department were left unanswered. When I finally reached someone in Customer Service by phone, she told me that I must have emailed to the wrong place because all their emails were answered. I double-​checked and the email address I typed in matched what was in the PayPal transaction record exactly. When I told the rep that I received no email confirmation, with the shipping information, she told me that I probably mistyped my own email address. When I told her that I accessed my account by typing in my email address to find the order number, so this wouldn’t be possible if I had mistyped my email address, her reply was to say, that maybe I did mistype it when I placed my order. However, when she read the email address back to me, it was correct-​still no apology. Time after time, I was accused of doing something incorrectly, I was never offered on apology, or the benefit of the doubt — most customer service reps at least apologize for the customer’s frustration — i.e.,” I’m sorry you’re having trouble”. In the end, she told me that their emails were probably in my spam folder, don’t you think that was one of the first places I checked? The rep never acknowledged that the problem could have been caused by the company either through negligence or a glitch in the system. If you ask me that’s simply bad form, and not something you do if you want return customers.
Besides all of this, I was informed that they use Smart Poste, which is one of the slowest and cheapest shipping methods available. They estimate 7 – 14 working days, it’s usually more like 3 weeks. If you look at their website, most of the fabrics they advertise are out of stock. One wonders what they actually have on their shelves if all the fabrics are gone? When I ordered one yard of fabric they did have left (that’s all they had — one yard, what a joke), I was hard pressed to find another item to make the shipping charge worth my while.
With so many options for sewing supplies out there, why add to your frustration?