I didn’t want Cartwright’s to worry or wonder if something had happened to me so I placed an order for sequins this week.  My “reason” of course was that I am all our of holly leaf sequins and I thought I might “need” them.  Of course, they have a $10 minimum for orders and at $2 or less a bag, it takes awhile to figure out what to buy.  It’s so fun.

My only complaint is that their web site looks like it was either built in the 70’s or by someone’s 11-year old.  Not great looking and a little wonky to navigate but it works every single time, you can use PayPal and the order ships immediately (3 days to arrive).

I decided to do a little survey of other online sequin suppliers and found that Cartwright’s has a comparable selection to others such as MJ Trim, Sequins Direct and BJ’s Craft Supply.  But there are differences.

MJ Trim has a great website, easy to navigate and TONS of things beyond sequins to shop for.  I could get myself into even more trouble.   They sell loose sequins by the thousand (rather than by the 325 pieces at Cartwrights) and the price is the same.  However, it is rare that I find myself using even all 325 pieces so buying more isn’t worth it to me.  They also don’t have as many unique shapes that Cartwright’s does.  If I needed to buy in bulk, or was looking for other notions and trims at the same time, I’d try this site.

Sequins Direct seems specifically geared to the Dancing with the Stars crowd, people who are making dresses and outfits drenched in sequins.  I have no problem with this.  But I also don’t need to buy 6800 sequins of anyone color at a time.  They do have lots of fun trim and fabric though, so it just depends on what you are looking for.

BJ’s Craft Supply is cheap!  Super cheap.  Next time I “need” sequins I’m going to try ordering from them.  Their website is so-so, they seem to have “limited supply” or are out of stock on quite a few items and the selection is only okay.  But they have the “spoke” sequins that I like to use, in lots of colors and different leaves than I have seen before.

This is not to say that I don’t pick up sequins at Michael’s, Joann Fabrics or my favorite fabric store, Pacific Fabrics now and then. I do and they are inexpensive. Pacific Fabrics has these big mixed bags of sequins that are fun as they come in color schemes and it is fun to sort through the bag to see what is in there.

If you have any pressing sequin questions, I’ll be happy to answer them.