The Whole 9 Yards

Love this store! Super helpful and an amazing selection. Their scrap bin is my favorite stop — it’s full of fun pieces to craft and decorate with. Highly recommend for fabric and inspiration in general!

They lost me as a customer when they refused to allow my service dog in the store. (Which by the way is also a violation of the law). I was forced to leave her tied up outside and while I otherwise might have bought fabric there, I decided to look elsewhere for friendlier service.

I recently had my first experience with The Whole 9 Yards. I was looking for upholstery fabric to replace the fabric on my kitchen chairs. The last time I did this project 10 years ago, I lived in Atlanta where there were a ton of upholstery/​fabric stores to choose from. I found The Whole 9 Yards to be the best Portland option for upholstery (not regular fabric) for this project. Their display selection was the largest I could find and they have samples available for check out. The staff was very helpful — they calculated my fabric needs based on the existing chair covers that I brought in and gave me tips on how best to cover the chairs based on the pattern. The only reason I am not rating a 5 is that I have seen much larger selections in other cities so I have a little difficulty using the «as good as it gets» option. I think this is as good as it gets in Portland.

The Whole Nine Yards recommended Duc Nguyen of the Upholstery Shop to reupholster a chair and couch with fabric we bought from them. Even though we had several reasonable bids from other shops, we assumed that The Whole Nine Yards would recommend a competent and professional upholsterer. It was a terrible mistake to trust their recommendation. He damaged the beautiful curved wood on our couch and chair so badly the the chair will have to be refinished, if that’s possible. Some of the dents are quite deep. The curved arms and back are one continuous line and there are dents and cut-​like marks on most of the surfaces There are also discolorations that look like they were made by a solvent of some kind. The couch is similarly damaged but not as badly. The fact that there is so much damage indicates that he knew what he was doing while he was doing it but didn’t care and continued to damage it as he was working in order to finish the job and try to get paid. The fact that he marked the invoice «as is» is another indication that he knew what he had done. Why would a respected local merchant recommend and upholsterer so inept, unprofessional and dishonest?

Today I went to Whole 9 Yards to check out upholstery fabric for living room furniture. I had been to other fabric stores in Portland and had heard that Whole 9 Yards was expensive. It is not! They have a ton of very high end fabric there but also have a great selection that wasn’t more expensive than other stores. Thee people who work there were helpful and knowledgeable and I will buy my fabric there for sure. Check it out! It’s a beautiful store!

The staff was fabulous. I had three different people ask to help me when I was looking around. They offered to take things up to the counter to hold for me until I was finished looking and were very helpful in helping me find what I was looking for. I’ll be back for sure!

I LOVE the fabrics in this store. Yes, it seems expensive but like anything else, good home dec fabric is. You won’t find fabric for a dress here but I can always find multiple choices for making curtains, pillows, shades, etc. The staff is just delightful and always helpful as well.

What most people don’t understand about The Whole 9 Yards is that they specialize in upholstery & home décor fabrics. So if you are looking for the perfect quilt backing this may not be the place (although I do love using home dec cottons for my quilts!), however, if you need just the thing to refresh that hand-​me-​down sofa this is the perfect store!
In our society of big-​box megastores, it’s absolutely refreshing to have an independently owned store like the Whole 9 Yards where their staff is oh so knowledgeable! Having done a small amount of upholstery, and a large amount of sewing, I have found no greater bliss than browsing the fabrics, and talking with the staff. Everyone has a different background (they have artists, designers, and moms on staff) so I always get great perspective on my projects!
And while yes, some of their fabrics may *seem* expensive, they are actually coming from the same mills that make the «designer fabrics» only available to the trade and usually at even higher prices! (You gotta know your product if you are going to judge the price!). I have also found many great «close-​out» deals where the owner has sourced colors and patterns that the mills are no longer making, and then offering them at killer prices! (hand embroidered crewel work for less than $ 30 — yes please!)
The Whole 9 Yards is a gem of a place and Portland is lucky to have them!

If you have no taste and need to pick a fabric, this is the place to go. Quite literally it is impossible to go wrong, every single one of there fabrics is beautiful. Seriously, fool proof!

Adorable store! I drooled over the fabric selections and adorable handmade felted woodland creatures last time I was in! The staff was delightful and excited to help me shop!

WOW. I walked into the whole 9 yards with the budget to buy any fabric I wanted.
It’s a small store. I like their fabric.
When you come in, you pass their large design/​check-​out desk where the clerks congregate. I wasn’t greeted. 2 ladies ignored me and the other one was very busy with a friend who had come in to buy drape fabric.
I was wearing Levi’s, a nice blouse and ballet flats, but my hair is shaved on the sides.
Later, I passed the «drapes ladies» in a fabric aisle. I said «Hello» and smiled, and the cleark gave me stink eye for getting in their way. She said, «Hello» in an annoyed way.
The aisles are narrow, but I was polite. I didn’t barge through. I couldn’t go around.
It felt like everyone was looking down their nose at me. What do they do with someone who doesn’t carry a nice handbag?
I almost walked out. But I thought that I’d give these ladies the benefit of the doubt.
I found a fabric I liked. It was $ 42 a yard. I asked a lady to cut it for me. She did. She was polite.
I gave her my credit card, and she ran it and naturally, it was approved and then she said, «Just in case, can I have your phone number?»
I thought it was a strange request. I said, «oh okay.» and gave her my phone number.
Then, as I walked out to my car, I realized that the only reason she’d need my number is if I was using someone else’s card. (??) It’s not like my card was going to later be unapproved.
If I was an identity thief, would I be stupid enough to use my own phone number?
I have my $ 84 worth of fabric for my project, and it’s going to be beautiful, but I will never go back.
And I have all sorts of fabric needs that are going to be met by another store.

Can I just tell you how fantastic Amy was as soon as my daughter and I walked into this store! Well we had a wedding decoration emergency at the eleventh hour of everything; the store being open, and just prior to the reception.
Amy was so willing and adorably suggestive and accommodating, even though the shop was technically closed.
This store had the exact fabric that I had envisioned, with color options. My persuit of fabric fabulousness is over.
Wow. Thanks again Amy at Whole 9.

Amazing customer service.
I recently ran out of a certain fabric I purchased from the Whole 9 Yards about a year back, and needed more to finish a project for my business.
Seeing as the purchase date was so long ago, searching for the receipt in my files was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
I’m up in Seattle, so I called the Whole 9 Yards, and they were amazingly helpful. They went above and beyond my expectations — they searched their records for 15 different days to find when I purchased the fabric, and identified what kind of fabric it was from an emailed pictured.
Unfortunately, that kind of fabric is discontinued — BUT the owner of the Whole 9 Yards recognized the fabric AND is mailing me her personal sample of that fabric so I can finish upholstering this chair.
Seriously — super great customer service, they followed up multiple times with patience to help me figure this out.
Thanks guys!

I frequented the location in the Pearl with my Mom when I still lived at home 10+ years ago, this was my first time visiting the Eastside location.
I came in needing some blackout lining for a pair of drapes. I brought in one of the panels, and the gal who helped me measured the curtain for me, which was really nice.
I did not poke around much since I was on a mission, but the fabric displayed in the store was beautiful I will be sure to return when I have a specialty fabric in mind.

This store has a lot of beautiful fabrics but I do not appreciate the attitude the sales people have. I have often felt as if I have walked into a store that has a special password that I don’t have, therefore I might or might not get help. The times I have been helped… have not been fun. I keep going back thinking if I could just stay open maybe I will have a different experience. No Luck. I’m done.

I love this store! Has incredible fabrics that are so unique you won’t be able to find them anywhere else. Also has a great owner and staff and really makes you want to take on a million different projects just so you can use all the fabrics. In a creative slump? Need a pick me up? Just walk in and you will feel all your creative juices start to flow again… I do agree with that the fabrics tend to lend themselves more towards decorating, but in the small room in the back, they have some amazing silks/​sheer fabrics that would make lovely dresses. And the trim… don’t even get me started…

My eyes are in heaven!
Go see the yards of tasty colors and textures. The store is well organized with clean, inviting displays.
I was picking out a yard to make a laptop sleeve. It was hard to decide between all the great choices available. They said in stock material has a quarter yard minimum, so it’s a great place to shop for small projects like mine.
They let me photograph the swatches I liked on my phone.
I overheard an employee giving sage advice to a customer who was feeling indecisive on multiple projects. I got the impression they want you to love your purchase (which helps since there are NO returns).
They are patient, smart, and creative.

Definitely geared towards furniture and heavier gauge fabric needs. The saleslady was very helpful, and the selection seemed high quality.

This fabric store has two locations – one on East Burnside, and another in the Pearl district. Despite the large size of their stores, their fabrics lean heavy on the upholstery side, and I wouldn’t recommend heading to this place to find the perfect fabric for a new dress or quilt.
But if you’ve been watching HGTV and feel inspired to reupholster, they have an amazing selection of fabrics for that function. They also have probably the best selection of oilcloth fabric I’ve seen in the city.

Whole 9 yards has a sizeable collection of interior fabrics but it drives me crazy that they order different color stories of coordinating prints and patterns. If they did order a line of fabrics in similiar or coordinating colors, then someone could, say, buy multiple prints/​patterns that had a common color theme… I’m not the final word on interior design by any means, but it makes sense to me. Otherwise you have a bunch of random fabrics that have nothing in common but the ugly living room they are decorating.
They do have swatches you can check out so you can bring it home and match to your paint, couch, etc.
They do special orders, but depending on the material their is usally a pretty big minimum.