G Street Fabrics

Category:	Fabric Store
Address:	12220 Wilkins Ave, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
Phone:	+1 301-231-8998
Site:	gstreetfabrics.com
Rating:	3.8
Working:	10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 11AM–6PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Latasha Lewis

SEE FACEBOOK REVIEW! Its really "sad" that G Street Fabrics has to lie about me because I posted the truth about the shady practices of Antoinette and Brenda. Yes. I showed up "10 minutes" late to the 1st class, but no instruction had started. Antoinette had the other student shopping the store for class supplies. Upon meeting her, she had me do the same. Again, when the time came to get the PJ Pattern, instead of showing me where to purchase it "in the store" she escorted me to Brendas office and casually stated "Now youre gonna get your pattern from Brenda..." I wondered to myself why Antoinette deviated from the store, and had me purchase this one item separately. The act actually made me uncomfortable, but being the first day I wanted to feel things out before I made an issue of potentially nothing. Well as I stated below, it bothered me enough that I, on my last day of class, questioned Antoinette. Antoinette spoke against her place of employment, and stated "G Street Fabrics sells only two brands of patterns (I forget which two), and those brands are too much (money) for a simple Pajama Pattern". What would I, the student, have to gain by making-up this particular comment? "I" had no problem with the resolution of the student discount. Esther (One of the store managers - "Im told") came to the class to clarify, to me, how the student discount works. She (like Antoinette, and the Front Desk Rep) stated, the student discount could not be used in conjunction with any other discounts. I asked Ester for written verification of that policy. Initially Ester presented to me, only a flyer showing that days 25% discount, but upon my insistence, went out and came back with written documentation. I thanked her, and reiterated that, that had been all I wanted from the beginning. On the second class, I arrived "on time" and "asked" Antoinette "Do I have time to run to 7 Eleven for a quick bite". Antoinette advised me "Youre grown [thanks for that bit of info Antoinette ;)] you decide". I asked her if she rather I not (because perhaps there would have been something she wanted to address to all students at once). Antoinette then said "Go ahead... Ill show you when you come back, if you miss something". The class consisted of four students (that day) - each at different learning points, so the 7Eleven run neither interrupted other students, nor took time away from my own instruction. As I originally stated, the course description states you will learn how to read a pattern, but nothing was "explained" unless I asked. _________________________________________ This comment is for the Sewing Beginners I class. I dont think the class is worth $169.00. At the risk of losing all free instruction via Youtube, Ill say it anyway. With so much instructional video available I suggest investing in an excellent Data Plan so that you can go at your own pace - step-by-step pausing your way to a tote bag and pajama bottoms. The course description for the class states you will know how to read a pattern. While "what to do" was demonstrated, there was no explanation of the pattern without "my" initiating questions. And one thing I was particularly bothered by was a seemingly under-handed business practice. All materials to create the tote bag and pj bottoms (curiously - "except the pattern") were purchased from the store. I was directed to purchase the pattern from "Brenda" (I dont know what her position is. I got the impression it is administrative). Neither Brenda nor Antoinette (the instructor) presented me with a receipt. I let the matter go initially, but I questioned Antoinette on my last day. She advised me nothing was under-handed but that the store doesnt sell a reasonably priced PJ Pattern. So according to Antoinette, she and Brenda were actually doing me (and other students) a favor. Gee Thanks - but why do I still get the feeling that something about the transaction was shady? I wouldnt recommend this class to anyone.

A Private User

The staff are all inattentive, non-communicative, ancient, and most barely speak english. They assume everyone there is an expert and need no service. The fabrics are way overpriced (40 bucks for 3 yards of flannel). I took a class at the Rockville location. Very poor instruction. The teacher treated you like a Junior High student (she also teaches Junior High). She also is very impatient, expects you to know everything coming in. The 2 patterns you learn are hand drawn, about 20 years old, and the instructions in the class are to not "pay attention" to the patterns and to follow the manic teacher. The machines are very good Berninas, however, the "teaching" skills will only give you bad flash backs from terrible teachers from Junior High. About 2 minutes before class is over, its like a fire drill to pack up your things as we will be kicked out - like theres a bell ringing (only in the teachers head) The classes are very sparsely attended, which you would think is good, however, with so few other students and the teacher doing whatever she feels like, theres no one to help. The teacher does not actually show the entire class how to perform the next step in the beginning class. She shows on one machine, very quickly, then assumes everyone has magically memorized the steps. Avoid and take classes at the wonderful Bits of Thread in Columbia Heights...a world of difference and the relaxing way sewing should be!! They even have online registration, wow, so 2011!

Andrew Miller

The quick review: Shady business practices. Seek one of their many competitors. The longer story: I bought a few yards of what was supposed to be a cashmere wool blend and took the expensive fabric to an expert tailor with decades of experience. He immediately recognized that I was actually holding 95 percent or more viscose which is a substantially less costly synthetic material. I know its easy enough to make a labeling mistake so I brought the fabric back with the receipt to ask for an even exchange, expecting a quick and easy transaction. G Street Fabric would neither refund the purchase nor exchange the fabric for the real product. I can understand when a business experiences the kind of downsizing that G Street has experienced in the Maryland area it is easy to give in to the temptation to cut corners and squeeze out some extra cash, however it is experiences like mine that explain in part why G Street is doing so poorly in the first place and will likely continue to fail in the long term. I will not waste another moment dealing with such a deceitful business and I advise anyone who reads this review to skip G Street and try one of the many thriving fabric shops in Maryland. Edit: It seems my review is being censored. I hope this is published in time to prevent someone else from having a similar experience.

Laura Macklin

G Street Fabrics at its new location on Wilkins Avenue In Rockville is wonderful! Full of a wide variety of almost every kind of fabric you could want,including lots of matching and coordinating colors. The layout is much better organized and has space for much more fabric than the store they were in a couple of years ago. The staff members were also terrific at helping me find very specific kinds of fabrics and colors. The prices were more than fair, and I just came home and washed and dried all the pieces (I bought nine different cotton and cotton/poly fabrics for various projects). After washing and drying, each piece of fabric is as good as new. Definitely high quality fabrics, worth investing my sewing and design time in! I have bought fabrics at other stores in this area for less money, but after I washed them in some cases I was too disappointed in how they looked to spend time sewing with them.