Fabric Stores and Patch Material Variety

[Maven]

I've read on various ML forums that fabric stores , namely JoAnn, haven't had the widest selection of fabrics (100% cotton, tight weave), specifically, pillow ticking* that they once did.  Yesterday I discovered that is the case, at least locally, if you're looking for .018" (compressed) ticking, as they only had a partial bolt in stock and none of the thicker outdoor type.  Worse, the thinner, i.e., .014" - .015" blue striped ticking looks and feels exactly like the [slightly] thicker stuff I was looking for:  It's a good thing I brought my micrometer with me else I'd have been out of luck!  Don't get me wrong, JoAnn still has a nice selection of denim, which is a tad thicker/heavier than what I need; plenty of muslin, which is thinner than I want (.015"), and cotton duck, which is exactly what I was looking for.  If you're thinking about purchasing fabric locally, do yourself a favor and bring a micrometer or dial indicating caliper with you as it will help you quickly determine which fabric are suitable for your needs + it will help avoid unnecessary purchases too.


*Gone were the pale green and brown striped ticking, which typically is .014" - .015" by my measurement.

[Maven]

Please ignore the line through some of the text (above).  I didn't put it there and can't remove it + it doesn't show on my preview.

[L. Akers]

I've gotten some strange looks while miking material at JoAnn's.

[Jim/WA]

I was in our local JoAnn's today with similar results. They did have a partial bolt of very stiff "ACA ticking" in the outdoor section that I almost brought home. It was much denser than the other pillow ticking on hand. I didn't have a mic so I gave it the "light test". Held at arms length, I could see the fluorescent light behind it though much fainter than the regular pillow ticking. The 10 oz bull denim I did buy blocked the light completely.

[Robin Henderson]

That reminds me...I'm about out of ticking and need to make a trip to the fabric store. Thanks for the post.

[Natureboy]

I used Joanne's pillow ticking for one session, and when I couldn't find the patches downrange, I realized that they were being totally disintegrated.  But the 10oz bull denim from Joanne's has been great.  I could re-use the patches, if I didn't use spit lube.

[Don Steele]

I've been using a fabric from JoAnn's labelled: "Joann BRND 40 Drill".
The 10 oz denim also works well but takes a steel range rod to load smoothly. The "Drill" loads easily with my regular wooden rod.
Both hold up just fine with up to 70 gns of Goex 3f in my 40 cal. 
(That's not a load I use on a regular basis. I was testing for a 100 yd load)

[moleeyes36]

I was looking for 10oz denim in Joann Fabrics a few months ago and they were out of it.  They did have a nice tight weave 12oz denim though, so I bought some.  Everybody seems to get a slightly different reading when they mic fabric,  but the when I mic the 10oz denim I get .022 to .024.  When I mic the 12oz denim I get .025 to .027.  Not much difference but with a .495 ball and the 12oz denim it takes a good whack on the short starter to get it started.  Shoots about the same size group as when I used the 10oz denim, but slightly higher.  Possibly because of a little more pressure resulting in a little more velocity?

Mole Eyes