How to shop online at Hometown
What can i buy?
In our bricks-and-mortar shop in Rochester, Kent, we stock 1900+ fabrics, 10 types of wadding, plus gazillions of threads, haberdashery, books and gift ideas. We opened in 2008 and encourage you to visit our lovely shop to enjoy browsing our quilting fabrics and to get advice from the Hometown team.
Our online shop opened in 2020 to complement our physical store. Online, we offer our best sellers, new collections, plus basic supplies. You can also book our workshops online.
How do I order FABRIC?
All our quilting fabrics are priced and sold in multiples of quarter metres (25cm). If you order a quarter, we’ll automatically cut this as a long quarter (that is 25cm by the width of fabric). However, if you’d prefer a fat quarter (50x56cm), no problem - just click the fat quarter box when adding the fabric to your basket. (Note: the FQ option is not available on some fabrics, eg linen or outdoor fabrics. In this case you will receive a long quarter).
If you’re ordering more than a quarter, this is obviously cut as a continuous length. So all you need to think about is your quantity in multiples of a quarter.
for a quarter metre, order 1
for a half metre, order 2
for 75cm, order 3
for 1 metre, order 4
for 1.5m, order 6
for 2m, order 8 and so on.
This is a standard way to order from many quilt shops.
FAT QUARTER BUNDLES
If you’re not so confident about putting fabrics together for a quilt, why not choose one of our lovely fat quarter bundles? These are all selected by the Hometown team wandering around the shop, choosing the patterns off the shelves. So you can be confident that all that fabrics work well together, even if they are from different collections and designers. As Marion often says to customers, “these are the fantasy quilts that I don’t have time to sew!”
Our 10-pack fat quarter bundles offer a gorgeous selection of collection fabrics along with coordinating textures and ditsy prints. They are cut in small batches, so you’re assured of a one-of-a-kind quilt. Occasionally, we may sell out of a particular fabric in the bundle, in which case, we’ll select another equally luscious print to coordinate. As we have a shop with 1800 fabrics, it’s never a problem to find another material!
What about some thread?
There are two options online. Our biggest selling neutral colours can be ordered by specific colour and size. These colours really do go with everything. Alternatively, if you’d like a thread to match fat quarter bundles or fabric you’re buying, simply choose your required size from Coordinating Thread and we’ll do the rest. For the most exact colour match, choose 100m threads as these have the biggest range of colours. If buying several fabrics, you can specify in the request box, which fabric or fat quarter bundle, you’d like us to coordinate.
... I’m local - can I COLLECT my order?
Of course! You can select this option at the check out and then collect your order from the shop. This is ideal if you want to order late at night for a speedy pick up. As soon as your order is ready, you’ll receive a confirmation email and can collect from us at the shop during shop opening hours (Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat, plus first Sundays).
DELIVERY CHARGES and other FAQs?
we offer free second class uk delivery to orders of £45 or more with the code free45.
All orders under £45 will incur a delivery charge of £3.75 per order for Royal Mail second class post. If you'd prefer first class post, please select this option when paying for postage.
The minimum value for online orders is £10 excluding delivery charges.
Save money on postage! If you wish to order a small amount of fabric, (say 1 metre) you’re welcome to phone us with your order. If the postage costs us less to post, we’ll charge you less!
We post each day we’re in the shop (Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat) and endeavour to get your order out the same day. All orders are despatched within 2 working days of your order. Please note that because of early postal collections (9am/7am) each day, orders will be posted immediately, but may not be collected by Royal Mail until the following morning.
Finally, before you place your order, just check that your address and postcode are correct; we’d hate your parcel to go astray.
Q Is your website secure for me to shop?
Yes it is. Feel free to browse our site and add things to your basket. Just look for the little padlock at the top of your screen. All card transactions are securely processed by payment processor, Stripe (Hometown doesn’t see or keep your card details).
Q CAN you post overseas?
Unfortunately, because of the continuing chaotic situation regarding new paperwork, tariff codes etc as a result of Brexit, we’re unable to ship orders to Europe/rest of the world. So sorry, not at the moment.
Q what about a special offer?
From time to time, we have special codes offering online discounts. As these can be quite spontaneous, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, where we’ll tip you off with a handy code word to use at the checkout! You can still have free shipping even when we have an offer, so don’t forget to use the free shipping code as well.
Plus look at our Offers and News page to see how you can nab a discount for your quilt group, whether you’re in Aberdeen, Abergavenny or Aylesford, or as a member of the Quilters’ Guild.
Q what about a Gift CARD?
These can be bought by phone on 01634 838880, instore and now online. We offer free UK delivery on gift card phone orders of £20 or more. Online orders are subject to the usual postal charges as detailed above.
Q How can I pay?
We can take payment by credit and debit cards, plus Paypal.
All online orders have payments processed by Stripe/Paypal. All transactions are secure and Hometown does not see any of your card details. We’re only informed that a transaction has taken place and have your contact details in order to fulfill your order. If you’d like to pay for an online order with a Hometown Gift Card, please call us first on 01634 838880 for a one-off access code. Gift Cards must be redeemed for their full value - no change/credit is possible.
Q - Help! the item i want shows zero stock?
It may be that we still have a small amount left in-store. Give us a quick call (that’s speedier for us than a message on social media) so we can double check and adjust the online inventory, or we can take your order by phone.
Q - I can’t see what I want on your website?
Our high street shop has ALL our products! So you can always call us on 01634 838880 and order ‘shop only’ products by phone for click and collect, or for posting.
All other terms and conditions can be read on our footer section.
Q - Do you HAVE a loyalty sCARD SCHEME?
Yes, we do! For every £15 spent instore or online on qualifying products (excluding sale items, gift cards, workshops or delivery charges), you’ll receive 1 loyalty stamp on a Loyalty Card as shown above. Take as long as you like to fill the card. A full Loyalty Card of 10 stamps is worth £15 and is valid for 2 months, until the date shown on the card.
If you’re not local and unable to redeem the card instore, you should post your cards or stamped invoices to us. We can then issue you with a unique online code, that can be used at checkout and is worth £15 off your order.* Your online code will be valid for 2 months. Any surplus stamps will be returned to you with your order. *Please note, that cards have to be returned to us before we can issue your online code.
Old-style Loyalty Cards from our previous scheme (2013-2023) continued to be valid until 3 September 2023. Old cards are no longer valid, so please pop them in your recycling bin and we’ll start you on a new card when you next shop with us.
Last updated: 7 March 2024