Joanns grosgrain confusion

[Bumbler]

Somewhat confused/frustrated at the ribbon selection at Joanns.

There's a lot of ribbon-by-the-roll (Offray brand) that looks just like grosgrain, but isn't labeled as such (but is 100% polyester, distinct ribs, no wire, not satin, etc).

Then I find some rolls which include the word 'grosgrain' on the label.

The rolls otherwise look identical to my eyes.

According to Wikipedia "As of 2010, “grosgrain” is commonly used to refer to a heavy, stiff ribbon of silk or nylon woven via taffeta weave using a heavy weft which results in distinct transverse ribs."

Wondering if they're both grosgrain, and just labeled differently (maybe newer/older labels), or not. And if not, is there a significant performance difference between the "real" grosgrain and whatever the other stuff is?

[Tendertoe]

I've used true grosgrain as sold by cottage DIY suppliers and "the other stuff" from Joanne's in a few DIY projects. I haven't noticed any real difference between the two.

[MAD777]

I don't bother with JoAnn's "grosgrain." Horrible stuff IMO.
Buy it from the cottage venders that specialize in providing materials to hikers.

This applies to all your materials. You need to know whether materials are waterproof, breathable or downproof, etc. You need to know how much they weigh. And, you need a source that you can trust!!

[Jazilla]

I only use the grosgrain from Joann's or other shops locally. you will find they are hardly ever labeled grosgrain. If it looks like a duck and the duck is 100% polyester then its grosgrain.

[pgibson]

I don't bother with JoAnn's "grosgrain." Horrible stuff IMO.
Buy it from the cottage venders that specialize in providing materials to hikers.

This applies to all your materials. You need to know whether materials are waterproof, breathable or downproof, etc. You need to know how much they weigh. And, you need a source that you can trust!!

Working with 1000's of yards of it a year in various sizes I concur 100%. There are huge discrepancies in quality from one manufacture to the next. There are several of us cottage shops that source the good stuff and provide it as DIY gear for folks. In the early days of AHE I scrounged the "local" stores for various items when we would run out and be waiting on a restocking order to get here, I could not find anything near the quality at any of a dozen stores compared to what we would normally use. So a few folks had to wait a couple extra days...was not going to put the "local" stores offerings on our gear.

[Bumbler]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm pretty new to DIY sewing, and generally not very hard on my gear, so I don't know that I'd be able to tell the difference between good & bad stuff.

Interestingly, I stopped back by this afternoon and bought a couple rolls of the "looks like but isn't labeled as such" grosgrain, and the itemized receipt lists it as "1.5 olive grsgrn".

So maybe it's just a different label after all...

[Lost_Biker]

My local Wally world has a fabric dept. that has great grosgrain by the yard - it's 7/8" instead of 1", but seems the same as what I get online. It also comes in lots of bright colors. I still only use it when I run out of the online stuff and have no choice.