I sure didn’t!
Let me back up a minute. It all started when my husband mentioned last month that he’d ordered some comics from the UK that turned out to have MUCH cheaper shipping than buying from America. My ears perked up, because when I order from the States, shipping is often almost the same price as the fabric itself! So I did some poking around online.. and lo and behold, he was (at least partially) right!
From what I can tell, shipping from the UK to Canada is either comparable or cheaper than shipping from the US. For example, 5m of jersey and denim from Sew Over It in London gives me a shipping charge of £15.00/$19USD, while similar fabric from Cali Fabric in the the USA would cost $28USD to ship.
But here’s what’s exciting: Minerva Crafts has flat rate international shipping, which I’ve never seen before. NEVER! And it’s only £5.99! As far as I can tell, they’ll ship anywhere for that price! I know there are lots of places in the US and UK that will ship for free within national boundaries for a very low minimum order, but the rest of us have always had to pay big bucks for shipping, even when we shop “locally” online. (Or sometimes free shipping for a much larger order.)
Of course, I had to try it out! I’ve been vaguely aware of Minerva Crafts because of their blogger network, but never really paid attention to what they sell. From my one shopping experience, I’d say it’s discount-to-medium price, with discount-to-medium quality. I didn’t come across any high-end luxe fabrics, but there were plenty of deals and most of my fabric turned out to be good for the price.
Here’s what I bought:
- Black-and-white gingham jersey: rayon knit, on the thin side of medium weight, nice drape, medium scale print
- Red-and-black gingham jersey: rayon jersey, print is a little cakey so it cracks when overstretched… thinish medium weight with nice drape
- Bright floral ITY: standard ITY polyester knit, in a nice tropical print
- Plaid-and-floral scuba: The only dud. This scuba is stiff and scratchy, unline any scuba I’ve used before. Not sure if I’ll ever sew something from this.
The whole order came to £39+£5.99 shipping, which is $76CAD. For that price, I got 10M of jersey, so $7/m… not bad! That’s about the on-sale price of what I can get locally.
I would love to know a few things:
- Have you ordered from Minerva? What’s your experience been? (In case it’s not clear, this is not a sponsored post in any way, so be honest!)
- Are there any other places with cheap international shipping that I should be checking out?
Crafting A Rainbow 
I have checked them out a few times, but never ordered but your post reminded me that with the Brexit and all the exchange rate is a lot cheaper! Scuba is always a risk to order online I think because not everything that’s called scuba is the same thing. So you never know what you’re gonna get. I’m interested in the black and red plaid though, I’ve been wanting a shirt like that in like forever so maybe I’ll just make a Camas blouse instead of an actual woven shirt! #knitsforthewin
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That red plaid knit definitely made me think of you! It’s not the nicest fabric ever, but it’s pretty good and I love the print. Get some!!!!
(And my lesson is learned about scuba – I think you are right!)
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I live in the U.K. And use Minerva quite a lot, they do often have discount Liberty which is amazing. I ordered carline in poplin a couple of weeks ago for £9.99pm, they’ve also got a bluey/turquoise Liberty sweatshirt fleece for £14.99pm and hebe poplin for £9.99 pm too!
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Ooh, Liberty sweatshirt fleece sounds tempting! Thanks for the heads up!
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I didn’t know that! I’m in the states so generally stay away from any international sites just bc shipping! I follow Minerva on instagram but haven’t ever actually investigated their site…we do have a lot of options in the US but maybe worth looking at if I see something really extraordinary…
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It’s always nice to have a new store to poke through, whether you end up ordering anything or not! 😉
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I haven’t ordered from there, but that is definitely a good thing to know for future fabric shopping 🙂 (Or a bad thing depending on how you look at it lol)
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It’s definitely a goodbad thing! ;)A little of both.
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I actually live in the UK, so it’s not that big an issue for me 🙂 I’ve ordered from them online though, and I’ve also been to their store. I tend to get swatches first, and then order once I’ve felt the swatches, espcially when I’m looking for something specific and unsure whether the listed fabric matches what I have in mind. I love this shop: http://www.destoffenmadam.be/en/service/verzendkosten/ they’re not cheap, but the quality of the fabric is lovely. Not sure what they would charge for Canada, but you could always ask?
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Oh man, that DestoffenMadam store has some BEAUTIFUL fabrics! I’m going over there to drool right now! 😉 Thanks!
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You’re welcome 😉 If you ever really want something but the charges are atrocious I’m happy to help out cause I get them to send it to my parents who actually live in the right country to get free shipping, haha! And I totally plan on visiting them around Christmas time, to feel alllllll the fabrics. This is the latest one I got http://www.destoffenmadam.be/en/glitter-flamingo-knit.html – waiting for my parents to come over so I can make my Christmas Myrtle 😀
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I haven’t ordered from Minerva BUT I have purchased lots from the UK (I’m in Victoria BC) and always found their shipping charges MUCH less than the US and right now the pound is quite low so ordering from the UK is often quite a decent price/quality. I do like a lot of UK companies for patterns (Have you looked at Now and Then?) I just haven’t ordered fabric from them. I’m a lot more cautious about ordering fabric online after ordering from a couple of companies that sent me either much less than I bought or the quality was terrible. I buy from Caroline at Blackbird comfortably or Thread Theory here on the Island who carry quality I can count on and charge a shipping fee I can live with 🙂
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You know, I’ve never ordered from Blackbird or Thread Theory, because I find the shipping to be annoyingly expensive!I should get over that – if I don’t support my Canadian fabric stores, who will open more? 😉
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Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize that either! I’ll definitely have to give them more than the passing glance they’ve previously gotten based on my assumption that shipping would be horrendous. I have such a hang up about paying shipping over $25…
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I hate paying high shipping while knowing that sewists 3 hours south of me are getting shipping for free!!! I’m excited about Minerva – they also have tons of notions and elastics and stuff, so I hope I can save some $ there.
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Will take a look and would like to add Black Rabbit in BC for cotton/spandex jersey (OK, not the UK, but still good). Postage is $12 within Canada.
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I’ve never heard of them, but I’ll check it out! Thanks for the suggestion!
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I live in New Zealand and I’ve ordered from them exactly because of the flat rate shipping. Normally postage to NZ is around 25 – 50 USD or 20-30 GBP, so you have to really want the fabric. I ordered some coating on sale and was pleased with it.
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That’s great to hear!
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I live 1 hour away from Minerva so often visit, but I also buy on line. Their service has always been good. Definitely cheap to medium with few high quality fabrics, although they do do Robert Kaufman. I always look at USA prices with envy as the fabric is certainly cheaper than the UK!
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I’m in the UK and have ordered from Minerva a few times. The attraction for me is the huge range of fabric. If you want something pretty specific but not high end it’s the most likely place to find it. They do also have some very good sales. It’s always been a good experience. One time they couldn’t fulfill my order exactly, and were very good about communicating and fixing the problem.
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I”m glad to her you’ve had a positive experience! They seem like a company that is invested in getting bigger and being popular with bloggers, so I’m glad they’ve backed that up with good service!
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I’m a Minerva fan! I’ve been to their in-person shop (it’s near my folks) and it has a huge range. I’ve been confused by some fabrics I ordered being different in feel/colour to what I expected, so I always swatch now. I have some great stretch velvet on the way for a Christmas party dress… (ps SEW10 gets you 10% off)
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Ooh, good to know! (Dangerous to know? Oh well. FABRIC!) Stretch velvet sounds lovely – I’ve been tempted to use it for a holiday dress for a few years, butnever quite got up the nerve! I bet your dress will convince me… 🙂
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I have never ordered anything from Minerva Crafts but I did used to buy a lot of fabric from India, all of which had free shipping. I really like the new layout of your blog and that graphic for your title is just lovely. Xx
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This sounds awesome!! Did you end up having to pay customs? It seems like that always comes back to bite me too. I pay an exuberant amount to have the fabric shipped to me and then have to pay at the door too! It’s so frustrating. Thanks so much for the heads up!
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