A beginner-friendly guide to understanding fabric, finding suppliers, comparing options, and sourcing fabric for product development and production.
Updated 10/11/26
Fabric sourcing can feel overwhelming when you don’t know much about fabric yet. Supplier websites are full of unfamiliar terminology, there are thousands of materials to choose from, and it can be difficult to know what you’re looking for when you can’t see or feel the fabric in person.
The good news is that you don’t need to become a textile expert before you start. You just need enough information to narrow your search, identify reasonable options, and start getting actual fabric into your hands. From there, swatches, sample yardage, and product development can help you determine what really works.
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What Is Fabric Sourcing?
Fabric sourcing is the process of finding and obtaining the materials needed to develop and eventually produce your product. It can look different depending on where you are in the product development process. Early on, the goal is to find suitable possibilities. You may order a number of swatches, compare them in person, and purchase small quantities of the most promising options for pattern development and sampling.
Production sourcing comes later. Once the product has been developed and you understand its material requirements, sourcing becomes less about exploring possibilities and more about securing fabric in the quantities you need at a much lower price. Availability, minimum order quantities, lead times, consistency, and the ability to reorder the same material all become more important.
Some of those production questions are difficult to answer until your product has been developed. You may not know exactly how much fabric each style or design requires until there is a finished pattern, and development itself may change what you need from the material. You can still keep future production in mind. If you eventually plan to manufacture hundreds of each style, for example, it’s worth knowing whether a fabric is regularly stocked or a limited deadstock that may disappear.
Understanding Fabric Basics
One of the easiest mistakes to make when you’re new to fabric sourcing is focusing too heavily on a single characteristic. You might have a garment you love that is labeled 95% Tencel and 5% spandex and assume that finding the same fiber blend will give you the same fabric. It won’t. Fiber content is only one part of what makes a fabric look, feel, and behave the way it does. Understanding a few basic fabric characteristics can help you recognize what may work for your design and make better sense of the options you find.
Knit vs. Woven Fabric
How a fabric is constructed has a major effect on how it behaves. Woven fabrics are made by interlacing yarns, while knit fabrics are made from interconnected loops of yarn. This difference affects characteristics such as stretch, stability, drape, and how the fabric responds to movement. A basic distinction between knits and wovens can quickly narrow your search, but there is still enormous variation within both categories. For a deeper understanding of fibers, fabric construction, blends, stretch, and other textile fundamentals, check out our Fabrics 101 blog post.
Structure and Characteristics of a Woven Fabric
Woven fabrics are made by interlacing two sets of yarns at right angles to each other, like the weave of a basket.
Strong and durable due to the interlacing pattern.
Typically less stretchable compared to knits unless elastane or other stretch fibers are used.
Can be produced in various weights and textures.
Common types include denim, chiffon, twill, and satin.
Structure and Characteristics of a Knit Fabric
Knit fabrics are made by inter-looping yarns, creating a series of connected loops. This can be done using a knitting machine or by hand.
Naturally stretchy due to the looping structure, which makes them comfortable and form-fitting.
Generally softer and more flexible than woven fabrics.
Tend to wrinkle less than woven fabrics.
Common types include jersey, rib knit, interlock, and sweater knits.
Fabric Weight
Fabric weight describes how light or heavy a material is and is typically listed in grams per square meter (GSM) or ounces per square yard (oz/sq yd). The numbers may sound technical, but what's most useful is learning to connect them to how a fabric actually feels and behaves. Swatches make that much easier. Once you know what a particular weight feels like in your hand, you have a point of reference for comparing other fabrics and making sense of the specifications you see online. For help comparing the two measurement systems, use this textile and fabric weight conversion tool.
Fabric Width
Fabric width tells you how wide the material is from one side to the other. It affects how pattern pieces can be arranged on the fabric and ultimately how much yardage your design requires. Width becomes particularly important when determining production consumption and cost, but it is worth noticing while sourcing so you understand what you are comparing.
Fabric Length
Fabric length is measured in yards, which is why the amount of fabric you purchase is commonly referred to as yardage. How efficiently that yardage can be used depends partly on the width of the fabric and how the pattern pieces must be positioned on it.
Anatomy of a Fabric Roll
Stretch and Recovery
Stretch describes how much a fabric can extend. Recovery describes how well it returns to its original shape afterward. These are not the same thing. A fabric can stretch significantly but recover poorly, which may cause a garment or design to grow, sag, or lose its intended shape during use. If your design relies on stretch, both characteristics may matter.
Drape, Structure, and Hand
Drape describes how a fabric hangs or falls. Structure describes its ability to hold shape. Hand refers more broadly to how the fabric feels when you touch and handle it. Words such as fluid, crisp, soft, stiff, brushed, or silky can give you clues about these characteristics when shopping online, but the best way to understand them is to compare actual fabrics. Order swatches of promising options and use the supplier descriptions alongside the fabric in your hand. Over time, those terms become much more useful because you can connect them to how different fabrics actually look, feel, and behave.
These characteristics give you a vocabulary for understanding and comparing the fabrics you find. The more fabrics you see and handle, the easier it becomes to connect the terminology you encounter online with how different materials actually look, feel, and behave. As you source, keep some flexibility in what you're looking for. Color, price, fiber content, certifications, and other requirements can quickly narrow your options. Decide what truly matters to your product and where you're willing to compromise so the search for a perfect material doesn't bring development to a stop.
Understanding Fabric Suppliers
Fabric is sold through different types of suppliers, and understanding the differences can help you know where to look depending on how much fabric you need and whether you're sourcing for development or production. Knowing what kind of supplier you're dealing with can also help you understand what to expect.
Fabric Retailers
Fabric retailers sell directly to consumers and are often one of the easiest places to buy swatches or small quantities for development. You can typically purchase a few yards without opening a wholesale account or meeting a large minimum order. Online retailers such as Fabric Mart and Online Fabric Store are examples.
The thing to watch for is availability. Retailers commonly sell closeouts, designer leftovers, clearance fabrics, and other limited inventory often referred to as deadstock. Even if a fabric isn't on clearance when you purchase it, it may be discontinued or gone a few months later. What is readily available today shouldn't necessarily be treated as a dependable source for future production.
Wholesale Fabric Suppliers and Distributors
Wholesale fabric suppliers and distributors sell primarily to businesses, so they're more likely to carry established fabric lines that can be reordered and have sales representatives who can help with sourcing questions. This makes them a good resource for both development and production.
However, wholesale suppliers aren't always as easy to purchase from as retailers. Many require proof that you're operating as a business, and some fabrics may only be available in larger quantities. For places to start looking, see MADE's Materials and Supplies Providers list.
Converters
Converters purchase base fabrics and have them dyed, printed, coated, or otherwise finished to create fabrics with specific colors, prints, finishes, or performance characteristics. They can provide more customized options, but you generally need to know what you're looking for and be prepared for larger quantities, so they're not usually a practical place for beginners to start sourcing.
Mills
Fabric mills actually manufacture fabric by knitting or weaving yarns into fabric. If you are trying to incorporate your logo into the weave of the fabric, this is the place to start; however, mills typically operate at very large commercial quantities and aren't a realistic place for a new or small business to begin sourcing. Even if you can find contact information, they will likely not return your call if you aren’t a well-known, established brand.
Reps and Sourcing Agents
Fabric reps and sourcing agents can help connect you with fabrics and suppliers that may be difficult to find on your own. They can be valuable once you have established production needs and quantities, but generally aren't the best starting point if you're still developing your first product or preparing for your first production run.
Your Manufacturer May Be a Fabric Resource, Too
Keep some flexibility in your fabric search. The fabric you find during development doesn't necessarily have to be the exact fabric you eventually use for production. Your manufacturer may have access to suppliers and fabrics that aren't readily available to you and may be able to find a comparable option at a better price or in quantities that make more sense for production. Using a fabric available through the manufacturer's existing supply chain may simply be the more practical choice.
How to Source Fabric Online
Now that you understand some basic fabric characteristics and the types of suppliers that sell them, you have enough information to start sourcing. Use what you've learned to narrow thousands of possibilities into a reasonable group of fabrics worth getting your hands on.
The information provided online can get you into the right general range, but it can't tell you exactly how an unfamiliar fabric will look, feel, or behave. Even someone with extensive textile knowledge will want to see and feel a fabric before committing to yardage.
Order Swatches, and Order Plenty of Them
Fabric swatches let you move from reading about fabric to actually seeing and feeling your options. Order a variety. Most may not be what you're looking for, and sometimes an entire round of swatches may tell you more about what isn't right than what is. When you find a fabric that feels close, it can become a source of truth for your search. Its construction, weight, fiber content, stretch, and other characteristics now have meaning because you can connect them to a fabric you have in your hands. You can use that information to refine your search and get closer to what you're looking for. If you're working from a reference garment or design, your swatches also give you something tangible to compare with it.
Once you have a selection of promising swatches in hand, you have what you need to bring fabric into the development conversation. From there, we can look at the options together, combining what you like about the fabrics with what your design needs from the material. You don't have to solve every material question before you start developing your product. The purpose of sourcing at this stage is to find good possibilities, get them into your hands, and give the development process something real to work with.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Start with fabric retailers and wholesale suppliers that allow you to order swatches or small quantities. At this stage, the goal is to find fabrics that seem appropriate for your product and get them into your hands. As your production needs become clearer, you may move toward wholesale suppliers, distributors, or other sources that can support larger quantities and repeat orders.
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Online fabric retailers and wholesale suppliers are often the easiest places for a small business to start. Look for suppliers that sell swatches or sample yardage and pay attention to whether their fabrics are regularly stocked or limited inventory. As your quantities grow, additional wholesale and production sourcing options may become available to you.
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Yes. Supplier descriptions and specifications can help narrow your search, but they can't tell you exactly how an unfamiliar fabric will look, feel, or behave. Ordering swatches lets you compare your options in person before spending money on larger quantities and can help you refine your search if the first fabrics you find aren't quite right.