For a minute, it sounded like the death knell had rung for Nashville fabric stores, particularly for people who make clothes. Textile Fabrics, a beloved independent fabric store, closed in 2025. When JoAnn Fabrics went bankrupt that same year, the selection shrank even further. We already lost Craft South — R.I.P. — in 2022. Then, Brentwood’s Stitchers Garden closed early this year.
But the local fashion design scene is growing, as I highlighted a few weeks ago (here and here). And with the resurgence of so-called “Grandma hobbies,” sewing is having a revival. Need evidence? This week, we got not one but two brand-new independent fabric stores.
As loyal readers know, I have a stash of deadstock and second-hand fabric from Turnip Green Creative Reuse and Smart Art + Craft Supplies. I don’t need more fabric. But I have had this week circled on the calendar.
Bolt & Loom is opening on Harding Pike. It's near the terrific Bucca Reflexology and Foot Spa (if you’ve not been, get there ASAP). Sylvia and Battle Kenney founded a 1,800-square-foot shop focusing on fabrics that are hard to find in person in Nashville, mainly adult apparel fabrics such as denim, Oxford cloth, seersucker, and other shirting-weight cottons, silks, wool, and more.
“One of my philosophies is, if you could buy it online and you would be just as happy with it, then we don’t need to prioritize carrying it,” Sylvia says. “But if you would want to match colors or if you would want to feel the texture? Then we want to have it in-store.” That means zippers, thread, and buttons, as well as fabric.
Just 1.9 miles away on White Bridge Pike, across from Haus of Yarn (which I mentioned last week), is The Sewist, opening today (there’s even a 10% discount if you can make it over this afternoon). Don Moore has worked as a software engineer and owned a cannabis dispensary in Franklin. When he knew the Tennessee ban on THCA was coming, Moore pivoted again. He loves to sew menswear, and thought about opening a fabric shop; when Vickie Long, who managed Textile Fabrics for years, agreed to partner with him, he jumped in. They rented the old Lumen Lights building and started converting 4,578-square-foot into a fabric store with ample classroom space.
In addition to high-end apparel fabrics, notions, and other things that are hard to find locally, The Sewist will have a large-format plotter, which will be a complete game-changer for those of us (okay, me!) who buy digital sewing patterns and want to print them out in one piece.
