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FAQs

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What is The Fabric Shop?

We’re a fabric shop for makers.

Choose from thousands of original prints by artists you can name, or upload your own artwork, and we’ll print it on the base fabric your project needs, by the metre, from 1m.

The Yard holds stocked fabrics and notions, ready to ship.

If you’d like to see and feel a fabric first, a swatch is the easiest place to start.

Where are you based?

We’re Australian-owned, with our head office in Melbourne. Every order is printed, checked by our team and dispatched from our production base in Shanghai, China, by tracked courier.

Delivered duty paid* to Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, the United States and Canada.

Free shipping on orders over:

  • Australia: A$300
  • New Zealand: NZ$300
  • United Kingdom: £100
  • European Union: €175
  • United States: US$300
  • Canada: C$250

Timing: printed fabric is dispatched within 7 to 10 business days, and stocked items within 3. Then allow 10 to 18 days in transit.

*Duty and import tax are included in the total you pay at checkout, so there’s nothing more to pay when your parcel arrives.

Why buy from us?

Three reasons makers choose us:

  • Only quality fabric. Twenty years supplying brands across Europe and Asia taught us what quality looks like, and it’s the only kind we sell. Same fabric, same mills, every metre checked before it ships, now by the metre, to you.
  • Three ways to buy. One shop. Designer prints, stocked fabrics and notions, and custom uploads, all by the metre, all on the same quality bases. One shop, whatever you’re creating.
  • You make. We look after the rest. Every print is an original by an artist you can name, and the copyright stays with them. We choose fabric that lifts your work, deliver duty paid to our key markets, and we’re here whenever you need us. The making is yours; the rest is ours.

Is there a minimum order?

Just 1m. From there:

There’s no minimum order value and no setup fee. If you’d like to try a fabric or check a print first, a swatch is there for exactly that.

How do I choose the right fabric?

Every fabric product page carries what you need to choose: composition, width, hand-feel, stretch, care, what it's best for, and weight in GSM (grams per square metre, the metric weight of the fabric). As a rough guide:

  • Lightweight (roughly under 150 GSM): drapey and fine. Scarves, linings, soft blouses, sheer layers.
  • Midweight (roughly 150 to 250 GSM): the everyday range. Dresses, shirting, quilting, soft furnishings.
  • Heavyweight (roughly 250 GSM and up): structured and hard-wearing. Upholstery, bags, jackets, cushions.

Weight is a guide, not the whole story: weave and fibre shape how a fabric drapes and how a print sits on it. No single fabric suits every design. To compare the bases side by side for what you are making, use our base fabric guide. The surest way to choose is to hold them: order the Base Fabric Pack and read the weight, drape, hand, and print of the whole range before you commit to metres.

Some of our stocked range is stock-only: solid colours, certain knits, and notions. The fabrics you can print on are marked on their product page as Print-ready, and come pre-selected when you start a design from PrintLab or Custom Upload.

Widths vary by base and are shown on each fabric’s page, so it’s worth checking before you work out your metres. Our Fabric Guides walk through the best bases for popular makes.

How much fabric do I need?

Our Fabric Guides set out how much to order for popular makes, from dresses and pyjamas to cushions, tote bags and quilts.

Widths vary by base and are shown on each fabric’s page.

If you’re deciding between two lengths, the longer one gives you a little room for pattern matching and pre-washing.

What's the difference between PrintLab, The Yard, and Custom Upload?

Three buying paths, one shop:

  • PrintLab. Our catalogue of original surface prints by the designers in our Design Partner Programme. Pick a design, pick a base fabric, we print to your length.
  • The Yard. Stocked fabric: base fabrics, knits, and notions, sold by the metre or by the piece, ready to cut. No printing involved.
  • Custom Upload. Your own artwork printed on the base fabric of your choice. Live preview before you commit.

Can I combine designs and stocked fabrics in one order?

Yes. A combined order (Yard items plus PrintLab or Custom Upload) ships as one parcel once the printed items are ready. The dispatch window for the whole order is the PrintLab window: 7 to 10 business days.

If you need the Yard items sooner, place them as a separate order. Stocked goods are dispatched within 3 business days.

Do you sell gift cards?

Yes. Gift cards are delivered by email, usually within minutes.

You can send one straight to someone else on a date you choose, with a message.

They spend across the whole shop: PrintLab, Custom Upload and The Yard.

What currency will I pay in?

Prices and checkout are shown in your local currency, so you always know what you’re paying.

Do you have a physical shop?

No, we're an online platform. The closest thing to a physical shop is our Base Fabric Pack: a boxed library of every base fabric we print on, each as a printed swatch: the weight, drape, hand, and print of the whole range, delivered to your worktable.

How do I get in touch?

Four inboxes. Choose whichever fits your question best. We read every one.

Shipping & duties

Where do you ship to?

Our key markets: Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, the United States and Canada.

We also ship to 8 more countries, including Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Every country we deliver to is listed at checkout.

A few areas sit outside our carriers’ network for now:

  • the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
  • the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla
  • US territories and Armed Forces addresses
  • the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon

If your country isn’t listed, please email hello@thefabricshop.com and we’ll let you know whether we can reach you.

Will I have to pay duties or import tax?

That depends on where your order is going. Checkout shows which applies before you pay.

Delivered duty paid (DDP)
Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Duty and import tax are included in your checkout total, so your parcel comes to your door with nothing more to pay.

Delivered duty unpaid (DDU)
All other destinations. Your checkout total covers your fabric and shipping. Any duty, import tax or handling fee is set by your local customs authority and paid by you to the courier company when your parcel arrives.

We can’t quote these charges in advance, but we’re happy to help with any questions before you order.

How much does shipping cost?

Shipping is worked out at checkout from your order’s weight and your address. You’ll see every option and its cost before you pay.

Free standard shipping on orders over:

  • Australia: A$300
  • New Zealand: NZ$300
  • United Kingdom: £100
  • European Union: €175
  • United States: US$300
  • Canada: C$250

Base Fabric Pack: ships free to Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

Once your order is on its way, you’ll receive a Shipping Confirmation Email with your tracking link.

How long does production take?

Three production windows, depending on what you've ordered:

  • The Yard only (stocked items): dispatched within 3 business days. Cutting, packing, dispatch.
  • PrintLab or Custom Upload: 7 to 10 business days. Printing, steaming, washing, finishing, dispatch.
  • Combined order (Yard + PrintLab): 7 to 10 business days. Shipped as one parcel once the printed items are ready.

Times are estimates from your Order Confirmation Email. During high-volume periods (sale events, end-of-year), dispatch may take longer. We'll email you if there's a material delay.

How long does shipping take?

Please allow 10 to 18 days in transit from dispatch. Checkout shows the estimate for your address.

To plan ahead, add the production time for your order:

  • Printed fabric: 7 to 10 business days
  • Stocked items: 3 business days

Making something for a special date?

We’d love your fabric to arrive in good time. Work back from your date:

  • Printing: 7 to 10 business days (3 for stocked items)
  • Transit: 10 to 18 days

Dispatch can take a little longer at busy times of year, so ordering early gives you the most breathing room.

If you have a firm date in mind, email hello@thefabricshop.com before you order and we’ll help where we can.

Where do you ship from?

Every order is printed, checked and dispatched from our production base in Shanghai, China, and sent by tracked courier.

Can I track my order?

Yes. Once your order is dispatched you'll get a Shipping Confirmation Email with a tracking number and link. Allow up to 48 hours for tracking to update after dispatch: events in the carrier network (handover, customs clearance, out for delivery) scan at different times across the international lane.

If you don't receive the email within the dispatch window, check your junk folder, confirm the email on your account is correct, then contact hello@thefabricshop.com with your order number if you still can't find it.

Can I get my parcel left at the door (Authority to Leave)?

Yes, in most cases. By default, parcels may require a signature on delivery. To request Authority to Leave, add a note to your order at checkout asking for the parcel to be left at your nominated address without a signature. We'll pass this on to the carrier. Please note that carriers can't always honour the request, as some deliveries still require a signature depending on the service and destination.

PLEASE NOTE

If you request Authority to Leave and the carrier records successful delivery to your nominated address, we're not responsible for parcels that are subsequently lost, stolen, or damaged.

What if my parcel is delayed, or lost?

If your parcel is more than 5 business days past the upper end of the transit estimate shown at checkout and tracking hasn't moved, email hello@thefabricshop.com with your order number. We'll raise an enquiry with the carrier on your behalf.

What if I refuse delivery or can't pay the duties?

DDP destinations: duty and import tax are settled at checkout, so there’s usually nothing to pay when your parcel arrives.

DDU destinations: a duty or tax charge on arrival is expected.

If a parcel is refused, or a charge on arrival isn’t paid, customs may hold it or return it to us, or the carrier may dispose of it. In that case:

  • charges we’ve already paid on your behalf (duties, import taxes and handling fees) can’t be refunded
  • any return, storage or disposal costs are your responsibility
  • if the parcel makes it back to us, we’ll refund the price of your goods, less outbound and return shipping and any duty, tax, handling or restocking charges

If a charge seems unexpectedly high, please contact us before refusing the parcel. We’ll do our best to help.

Samples & swatches

Can I see a sample before ordering a full metre?

Yes, and we recommend it. Two paths:

  • Base Fabric Pack. A printed swatch of every base fabric we print on, boxed as one reference, for choosing your base by weight, drape, hand-feel, and how print sits on it.
  • Sample Swatch. A printed sample of any design (or your custom upload) on the base of your choice, for checking how colour, scale, and detail land on that specific fabric.

What's the difference between the Base Fabric Pack and a printed swatch?

Two different jobs:

  • Base Fabric Pack. The complete range of our base fabrics, printed and boxed: every base we print on, each carrying a printed swatch, so you can read weight, drape, hand-feel, and how print sits on every one of them, side by side. Order it once and it earns a place on your shelf: the reference you'll reach for at the start of every project.
  • Sample Swatch. A printed sample of one specific design (PrintLab or Custom Upload) on a base of your choice. For confirming colour, scale, and detail on that fabric before you commit to metres.

How much does a swatch cost?

  • Sample Swatch (25 × 25cm): A$11. A printed sample of any design, on the base of your choice.
  • Base Fabric Pack: A$15. A printed swatch of every base we print on.

Both are shown in your local currency at checkout.

Once your Base Fabric Pack swatches are with you, we send you A$15 back as credit for your next order of A$50 or more.

How long does a swatch take to arrive?

Production runs on the same windows as full orders:

  • Base Fabric Pack. Dispatched within 3 business days (stocked goods).
  • Sample Swatch. 7 to 10 business days (cuts and prints alongside any full-metre PrintLab orders).

Can I return a swatch?

Swatches are final sale: they're there to let you check the fabric and the print before you commit, so a change-of-mind return on one isn't something we offer.

Your statutory rights in case of a fault still apply: if a swatch arrives faulty, email claims@thefabricshop.com within 14 days of confirmed delivery.

PrintLab: designer prints

Who are the designers behind PrintLab?

A curated group of surface pattern designers from around the world. We work with each one directly. We choose them and they choose us.

You can explore their work three ways: visit their studios (each Design Partner has a studio of their own), browse their curated collections, or see all designs across PrintLab.

If you design surface prints and would like to sell through PrintLab, the Design Partner page has the detail and the form to register your interest.

What's a Design Partner?

A surface pattern designer who has joined our programme to sell their original prints through PrintLab. We choose our Design Partners carefully, and they choose us.

Every print on PrintLab comes from a Design Partner, and every metre printed pays them a royalty.

Does the designer get paid when I buy their print?

Yes. Every metre printed pays the Design Partner a royalty. The platform exists to open the trade to makers worldwide, and to make sure the Design Partners who power it get paid on every metre that prints.

Can I change the scale or colour of a designer's print?

Scale: yes. Adjust it on the product page with the scale tool, and the live preview updates as you go.

Colour: most designs come in several colourways, shown on the product page, so you can choose the one you love before you order.

If you have a different colour in mind, email hello@thefabricshop.com and we’ll take your request to the Design Partner.

Can the same design be printed on different fabrics?

Yes. Every design can be printed on any of our Print-ready base fabrics. The same range is offered across all designs. You choose the base on the product page, based on what you're making, and the live preview updates to show how the design lands on it.

Each fabric's details (composition, care, and what it's best for) are on its product page to help you choose.

Can I use a printed design commercially?

Yes. When you buy fabric printed with a Design Partner's print, the fabric is yours. Use it in finished pieces you sell: garments, cushions, lampshades, accessories. There is no limit on what you make and sell from fabric you have bought.

What you cannot do is reproduce the artwork itself: digital copies, scanning, screen-printing the design elsewhere, or licensing it on. The fabric is yours to use. The artwork rights stay with the Design Partner.

Your own custom uploads are different. The artwork is yours, so what you make and sell with it is entirely up to you.

If you are producing at volume, open a trade account and we will look after pricing and consistency across the run.

Custom upload: your own artwork

What file types do you accept?

JPG, PNG, or TIFF, in RGB. We convert to the print profile on our side. Choose PNG if your design uses transparency, since transparent areas read as the base fabric showing through.

Maximum file size on the configurator: 30MB. If your file is larger, you can email it. See further down this category.

What resolution should I use?

Upload your file at 300 DPI, sized to how you'd like it printed. In the configurator you can then adjust the scale, sizing the repeat up or down, and the effective resolution shifts with it.

We print anywhere from 150 DPI (the most you can scale a 300 DPI file up before fine detail begins to soften) to 500 DPI (scaled down, for very fine detail). If your project needs something outside that range, send us a note at hello@thefabricshop.com and we'll help.

How does the repeat work?

Four repeat options on the configurator:

  • Simple repeat. Your tile placed edge-to-edge in rows and columns. The most common option for surface prints.
  • Half-drop. Each row offset by half the tile width, useful for breaking up regular grids.
  • Mirror. Each tile flipped against the next so its edges always meet: a way to turn artwork that wasn't built to repeat into a continuous run across the metre.
  • Centred (no repeat). A single placement, sized to your chosen length. Useful for panel prints, banners, or designs intended not to tile.

Upload a single tile and the product-page scale tool sets the repeat size from it: drag to resize, or enter the exact repeat width you want. The live preview shows the result on your chosen base before you commit to a metre.

Will you fix or adjust my file before printing?

What you see in the configurator preview is what goes to the printer. We don't retouch, recompose, or quietly clean up artwork behind the scenes: the file you approve is the file we print, at the scale you set. So it's worth a last look at full size before you upload: check it's sharp, check the edges, and check there's nothing in it you didn't mean to print: a shadow from a phone photo, a stray mark from a scan. If something looks clearly wrong we'll flag it before we print, but the final check is yours to make.

Why might a repeat show a faint seam?

A visible seam almost always comes back to the artwork's own edges: the right side has to flow into the left, and the top into the bottom, with nothing in between. The usual cause is a faint outline left around the tile, which is easy to miss and most common on art exported from vector tools; it prints as a thin line wherever the tile meets itself. The fix is to view your tile's edges at full zoom before uploading and confirm the pattern runs straight through them. If an outline has crept in, it can usually be trimmed at the very edge without affecting the repeat, or send it over and we'll check it with you.

Will my design look exactly like what's on screen?

It will look close, not identical. Screens emit light, fabric absorbs it, and that translation always shifts the result a little. Monitor calibration, room lighting, and the absorbency of the base all play a part, and the same design reads more vividly on polyester than on natural fibres.

The most saturated colours are where this shows most. Intense neons and electric brights reach beyond what any fabric ink can produce, so they settle to the nearest tone the ink can hold. Most palettes are unaffected. It is only the extremes that shift, and the shift is subtle: a red will not come back orange.

For colour-critical work, order a Sample Swatch of your design on your chosen fabric before committing to metres. See it. Feel it. Then order metres.

Can I match an exact colour?

Closely, and there’s a route for when it has to be exact.

A screen gives off light and fabric reflects it, and every base takes ink a little differently, so the two never line up perfectly. For most work, a swatch of your design on your chosen base shows you how the colours sit.

When a colour has to be exact, such as a brand colour or a specific Pantone, send your references to customdesigns@thefabricshop.com. We’ll match them on your chosen base when we set up your file, at no extra cost.

Will my brightest colours print as vividly as on screen?

The most saturated colours on a screen (intense neons and electric brights especially) reach beyond what any fabric ink can produce. A screen builds those colours with light; printing builds them with ink, which has a narrower range at the very top end. So the brightest tones settle to the nearest colour the ink can hold, and can read a little softer or deeper than they do lit up on a monitor.

Most palettes aren't affected: it's only the extremes that shift. If vivid colour is central to your design, a swatch on your chosen base is the clearest way to see how those tones land before you order metres.

How do large areas of solid colour print?

Our inks bond into the surface of the fabric rather than soaking all the way through the way a dye bath would. So a large block of flat colour behaves a little differently from a piece-dyed fabric: the face carries the full colour, the reverse reads lighter, and across a big unbroken area you may see gentle, natural variation rather than a perfectly uniform fill.

That's the character of printing onto a woven base, not a flaw. If your design rests on one critical flat colour, a swatch shows you how the block holds before you commit to a length.

How small can text and fine lines go?

A woven surface has a texture that paper doesn't, and the finer the detail, the more that texture comes into play. Small type and hairline strokes are where it shows most: very thin or script lettering can thicken or break up, particularly on textured bases. As a rough guide, type holds best above about 12pt, and the flattest, tightest weaves carry fine work most cleanly. If lettering or fine detail is the heart of your design, a swatch confirms how it reads at its real size.

What if my design has white in it?

White in a design is the base fabric showing through: we don't print white ink. On a white or natural base, this is exactly what you want: the unprinted fabric reads as white.

On a coloured base, anything you've drawn as white will read as that base colour, not white. If you need true white on a coloured ground, that's a fabric/colour pairing that won't translate: choose a white base or rework the design.

Does the print show through to the back?

Partly. How much depends on the fabric. The print sits on the face of the fabric; some of it penetrates to the reverse, more on lighter, looser weaves and less on heavier, tighter ones. The reverse usually reads as a paler version of the front, not a clean mirror.

If your project needs a true two-sided result (the design crisp on both faces), or anything else out of the ordinary, reach out at hello@thefabricshop.com and we'll see what we can do. For anything where the back matters, a swatch is the quickest way to see how far the print carries on the base you're considering.

I have a complex file. Can I email it instead?

Yes. Email your file (or a link to it) to customdesigns@thefabricshop.com, with a few lines on what you’re making, if:

  • your file is over the 30MB limit
  • you’d like help with Pantone matching
  • your project needs anything out of the ordinary

We’ll check it and come back to you on setup within two business days, then set up your order with you, on the same base fabrics and at the same prices. There’s no extra charge for this help.

Production times start from your order confirmation, once setup is agreed.

Can I upload anything I want?

Anything you own, or have the full rights to reproduce on fabric. The short list of what's not allowed:

  • Characters from films, TV, books, games, or other media, even heavily modified
  • Brand names, logos, trademarks, or branded patterns, even your favourite brand's
  • Sports teams, leagues, or official tournament marks
  • Another artist's work without their permission: tracing, redrawing, or substantial reference all count
  • Photographs of real, identifiable people without their consent

What matters is that the design is yours to print, whatever tools you used to make it.

If in doubt, leave it out. The full position is in our PrintLab Design Submission Agreement.

What do you do with my design files?

We use your file for one thing: printing your order. It is shared only with the partner who prints it, and removed from their systems once your order is complete.

On our side, we hold your file only as long as your order needs it, through production and any remake or fault claim, and delete it within 30 days of fulfilment, or earlier if you ask. We do not keep a reorder library, so keep your master file. To reorder, you will upload it again.

We never sell, license, or reuse your artwork. It never appears in our marketing without your written consent, it never becomes part of the PrintLab catalogue, and it is never used to train AI models.

The Yard: stocked fabrics

What's the difference between cut-to-length and packaged goods?

The Yard sells two kinds of things:

  • Cut-to-Length. Fabric: sold by the metre, cut from the roll to the length you order. Once we cut it, it's specific to you.
  • Packaged / whole-unit. Notions and haberdashery: zippers, buttons, reels of elastic, and similar pre-packaged items. Sold as a whole unit, not cut to size.

The distinction matters because different return rights apply: cut-to-length goods are made to your specification, packaged goods aren't.

Can I order less than a metre?

For Cut-to-Length fabric, one metre is the minimum. Below that, your best option is a swatch (around 25cm × 25cm) ordered through the product page, useful for testing weight, hand, or print colour.

For Packaged goods, you order whole units: one zipper, one reel, one card of buttons.

Are your fabrics certified (OEKO-TEX, GOTS)?

OEKO-TEX and GOTS certifications are in progress on select bases. We don't show certification badges until they're earned: only the fabrics that hold the certification will be marked, and only when the paperwork is in our hands.

If you need certified bases for a specific brief, contact us. We can tell you what's certified, what's in process, and the expected timeline.

Orders & returns

What does "inspect before you cut" mean?

When your fabric arrives, check it before you do anything else. Open it, look at the print, the colour, the weight, the hand-feel, and the length. This is our golden rule, and it comes before pre-washing.

Once fabric has been cut, sewn, or altered, we are no longer able to take it back, so it is worth a careful look first.

If a fault only becomes apparent later, on wash or in use, that is a latent defect and it is covered. See the fault claims answer below.

What if my fabric arrives faulty?

Email claims@thefabricshop.com within 14 days of confirmed delivery (as recorded by the carrier’s tracking) with:

  • Your order number
  • Photos of the fault: a full view of the fabric, a close-up of the fault with a ruler or coin for scale, and a shot of the shipping label if the packaging is also damaged
  • A description of the fault
  • Your preferred resolution (reprint, replacement, or refund)

We'll assess your claim within 5 business days and respond with the outcome. For verified faults, we may authorise you to dispose of the faulty item on photographic evidence (avoiding the cost of international return shipping), or we may ask you to return it to an address we provide, with a prepaid label where available, or your reasonable return-shipping cost reimbursed. A refund for a verified fault includes the proportionate share of shipping, duties, and taxes we collected at checkout.

I changed my mind. Can I return my order?

For fabric (printed, custom, or stocked): no, wherever you are. Printed and custom fabric is made only for your order; stocked fabric is cut from the roll to the length you chose. Neither can return to resaleable stock once it's shipped. For fabric, a swatch beforehand is the surest way to choose.

Packaged / whole-unit goods: yes, wherever you are. Zippers, buttons, reels of elastic, packaged notions: one policy, every market. Email hello@thefabricshop.com within 14 days of delivery, then send the goods back within 14 days of your notice, in their original packaging and labels where possible. You cover the return shipping, or use a return label we supply and we deduct its cost from your refund.

Your refund covers the price of the goods plus standard outbound delivery (up to our least expensive standard option), paid within 14 days of the goods reaching us, less a deduction only where handling has gone beyond what you'd do in a store and diminished the goods' value.

For consumers in the EU and UK, this is also your statutory 14-day right of withdrawal: the same mechanics, guaranteed by law. Swatches and samples are final sale: they're there to help you decide before you commit. Anything faulty is a separate matter and always covered (see above). None of this limits your statutory rights.

The colour doesn't match what I saw on my screen. Is that a fault?

Slight colour shift from screen to fabric is part of how textile printing works. Monitors emit light; fabric absorbs it. Monitor calibration, room lighting, ink, fibre composition, and the fabric's own absorbency all play a part. Colour variation within the range of normal screen-to-fabric translation isn't a fault.

This is why we recommend a Sample Swatch first. By placing a full-size order without first ordering a swatch, you acknowledge the risk of colour and scale variation, though this doesn't limit any rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) or equivalent consumer protection legislation in your jurisdiction.

There's a small print variation. Is that a fault?

Slight batch-to-batch variation in colour, print sharpness, and fabric hand-feel can occur between production runs, even on reprints of the same design. Different fabric bases also absorb ink differently. Variation arising from these factors is inherent to textile printing and not considered a manufacturing fault.

For commercial production runs where consistency is critical, order all your yardage in a single production run and purchase a sample swatch first. If you're seeing variation that strikes you as outside the normal range, send us photos and we'll review: some variations are faults, some aren't, and we'd rather look than guess.

Will a reorder match my first order exactly?

Closely, though rarely to the exact pixel. Small shifts between print runs and between fabric batches are normal for any textile, a little more on natural fibres than synthetics, as noted just above. If two pieces have to match (a garment cut from more than one length, a matched set), order the full quantity in one run, or run a swatch alongside your reorder and check it before cutting.

For custom uploads, keep your master file safe: we delete files within 30 days of fulfilment and don't keep a reorder library, so you'll upload the same file again to reorder.

Can I change my order after placing it?

Let us know as soon as you can. There's a short window after an order arrives (before your file goes to print and the fabric is cut) when we can usually still change the base, the length, or the delivery address. Email hello@thefabricshop.com with your order number and we'll see what's possible. Once it's on the print line your order is being made to your file, so a change from that point may not be possible.

Can I cancel my order?

It depends on what you've ordered and how far we've got:

  • PrintLab and Custom Upload. Once production has started, we can't cancel: printing is already underway. PrintLab orders enter the production queue shortly after the Order Confirmation Email.
  • The Yard · Cut-to-Length. We can cancel if your request reaches us before the fabric has been cut. Once cutting has commenced, cancellation isn't possible.
  • The Yard · Packaged Goods. We can cancel any time before the order has been packed and dispatched.

Email hello@thefabricshop.com with your order number as soon as you know: the sooner we hear, the more we can do.

Care & aftercare

How do I wash printed fabric?

General guidance (specific instructions on each fabric's product page override these):

  • Wash separately the first time
  • Cool water (30°C or below)
  • Gentle cycle, mild detergent
  • Avoid bleach and optical brighteners
  • Tumble dry low, or line dry
  • Iron on the reverse where you can; medium heat for natural fibres, low for synthetics

Will the fabric shrink? Should I pre-wash?

Natural-fibre fabrics (cotton, linen, rayon) can shrink on their first wash: allow for 5 to 10%. Shrinkage within that range is normal for natural fibres, not a fault. Synthetics like polyester are far more stable. The expected shrinkage for each fabric is noted on its product page.

If your project is size-critical (a fitted garment, a panel cut to measure), pre-wash and dry the fabric the way you'll care for the finished piece before you cut, so any shrinkage happens before your pattern goes down. And when you're ordering a shrink-prone base for something measured, add a little length to allow for it.

Will the print fade?

Each fabric is printed with the method that suits its fibre:

  • Cotton, linen, viscose and lyocell: reactive dyes. The colour bonds with the fibre, then each print is steamed and washed, so the fabric stays soft.
  • Polyester: dye sublimation. Heat sets the colour into the fibre, so it won’t crack or peel.

Follow the care guide on each fabric’s page and your print will look its best for longer. A gradual softening of colour over many washes is normal for any printed fabric.

Can I iron the printed side?

Yes, on the recommended heat setting for that fabric. If you'd prefer to be cautious, iron on the reverse, or press with a pressing cloth between the iron and the print. For polyester (sublimation) at high heat, always use a cloth.

Trade accounts

Do you offer bulk pricing?

Yes, and it’s applied automatically at checkout:

  • 5% off orders over A$300
  • 10% off orders over A$750
  • 15% off orders over A$1,500

Amounts convert to the equivalent in your currency. If you buy regularly or are planning a production run, a trade account may suit you better.

Can I get a trade account?

Yes. Trade accounts are open to every customer, wherever you are.

Tell us what you make and roughly how much you buy on our Trade accounts page.

Once your account is approved, trade prices apply automatically whenever you’re signed in. Most enquiries are answered within one business day.

Do you do cut and sew, hemming, or finishing?

For standard orders, no: we print, cut to length, and ship by the metre. For trade and production orders, yes: cutting, sewing, hemming, and finishing can be arranged. Send us your brief through our trade accounts page and we'll scope it with you.

Still have a question?

We read every email.

The FAQ covers the questions we hear most. If yours isn't here, the right inbox will get a quick, honest answer from someone who knows the work.

General & orders

hello@thefabricshop.com

Orders, shipping, account, samples, anything not on this list.

Email us →

Faulty or damaged goods

claims@thefabricshop.com

Order number + photos. Inspect before you cut.

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Sending a Custom Upload file

customdesigns@thefabricshop.com

For files too large for the configurator, or ready-made motifs.

Email us →

Trade accounts

Buying for your business

What you make, expected volume, timeline.

Open a trade account →