Yesterday, when I shared this glamorous bedroom makeover by Randi, it reminded me that I had asked her once about the fabric she used on the chair in the room and the pillow on the bed. As you can see, it’s a cheetah print with a very specific, authentic look. Because not all cheetah print fabrics are created equal. Some are really cheesy and fake, but this one looks like the real deal. You aren’t going to find this print just anywhere. Except I did! I found it on Amazon!

I was excited about that little discovery, so I thought I’d share, along with a few other fabric selections that I’ve rounded up from the blogosphere. I don’t know about you, but it’s always so much easier to make a decision on fabric when you can see it how it looks ‘in use’ vs. a teeny sample square on a screen.

However, if you’ve never considered buying fabric online, don’t be scared! There are some great advantages to doing it this way. For one, the selection is unmatched. There is no way your local fabric store can possibly stock a fraction of the variety you can find online.

Another advantage is that the prices you’ll find are much lower. Since online retailers don’t have the overhead of a maintaining a regular storefront, they pass significant savings on to you.

Plus, I’ve found that most online fabric companies have great return policies. Regular craft and fabric stores on the other hand? Not so much. Once they’ve cut it for you, there’s no going back, cupcake.

Randi’s fabric is called Jamil, and you can see where she used it in the photo above. It’s dreeeeamy.

Here’s a graphic print that I love from the HGTV fabric line, called Jigsaw Malachite.

Check out how Becky at Infarrantly Creative used it in her son’s ridiculously awesome bedroom makeover.

We all know that black and white striped anything is a winner in my book.  Ikea has a couple of striped fabrics that I’ve used several times, and they’re great quality at a great price. I believe they still cost $7.99 a yard, but bummer alert: you can’t order their fabric online.

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But luckily there are plenty of online options if a trip to Ikea isn’t in your near future. I like this vertical stripe by Fabric.com. It’s 100% cotton, and the stripes are nice and chunky at nearly 3 inches wide.

This next one illustrates why it’s so helpful to see a ‘real life’ example of the fabric you’re considering.  Here’s how this Tommy Bahama fabric shows up in the sample image:

And here’s that same fabric on a reupholstered chair.

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Whoa, big difference right?? But again, don’t let that scare you off. Just google the name of the fabric you’re interested in, and you’re very likely to find photos of projects other people have done, which will help you get a more realistic idea of what it looks like.

This fabric is called Srilanka Indigo, and it’s gorgeous.

And here it is as a ‘no sew’ curtain panel from Artsy Chicks Rule.

Much easier to get a sense of the scale of the pattern when you’re looking at something other than a 2×2″ square, knowwhatImean?

I really, really love the fabric that Sita Montgomery used on her curtains as well. Neutral and elegant but still playful and graphic. It’s a winner.

It’s called Loop De Loop Smoke, from Duralee.

Chris at Driven by Decor is another gal who has a great knack for choosing fabric. Basically anything she buys, sign me up too. I love what she did with this Nate Berkus fabric, called San Lucia.

She simply draped it over the back of a chair and added tassels to dress it up. That’s it! What an easy way to make a statement.

This next fabric has been around for a while, but I see it popping up all over the internetz all the time, so people clearly still dig it.

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What’s not to love? It’s called Bella Porte, and it comes in charcoal and yellow, and I know I’ve used it myself on some pillows in my lifetime, but I’ll be darned if I can find the pictures to prove it.

Love this one from Carosel called Navy and Gray Geometric. (What they lack in creative fabric names, they make up for in design, haha!)

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Ahhh, am I the only one who could look at fabric all day? I could seriously go on, but I’ll stop.

Right after I show you some more of my favorite fabrics. Then I’ll stop.

Arrows || Flamingos || Gold Dot and Stripe

Aztec || Cacti Field || Aztec Stripe

Pineapples || Heni Bay Green || Swiss Cross

Hey, wouldn’t it be fun if we each sent a favorite piece of fabric from our stash (because we all have a stash) to someone else and they had to make something with it? We should do that sometime.

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