There it is again — the sewing machine in the corner, the half-finished quilt, and a whole month officially licensed to buy more fabric. September is National Sewing Month, and it has been since 1982, when President Reagan proclaimed it to honor home sewing. I don’t mind an official excuse. What I do mind is buying the wrong things at the wrong time, which is why I mapped out the whole September sale calendar at Connecting Threads before touching my card.
Here’s my read in one sentence: this is a well-timed sale stack, and the best move is to match what you actually need to the week that discounts it — 20% off sitewide on supplies now, yardage mid-month, precuts and kits at the end.
The September sale calendar, week by week
August 27 – September 7: 20% off sitewide
Code 8SALE26 takes 20% off everything sitewide during the Labor Day Sale. No code gymnastics, no category roulette. This is the one I’d use for the boring-but-essential stuff: thread, rulers, cutting tools, batting, notions. The kind of supplies we all put off buying until the spool is empty or the rotary blade starts chewing instead of cutting. If your cart is mixed — a bit of fabric, a bit of thread, a bit of tools — this is the cleanest code on the list.
September 8–11: Buy two, get one free thread
Code 9THREAD26 gets you a third spool free when you buy two eligible threads. My take: skip the novelty colors and stock up on everyday piecing thread — cream, white, grey, beige. If you quilt with the same neutral thread every week, three matching spools makes far more sense than a drawer full of colors that each match exactly one fabric in your stash.
September 12–15: 50% off 50 items
Fifty selected products drop by 50%, no code required. The catch is that the selection is limited, so this is check-on-day-one material, not browse-when-you-feel-like-it. Patterns, fabric collections, notions, supplies for handmade Christmas gifts — whatever lands on the list at half price is worth a look, and it’s gone when it’s gone.
September 16–17: Free shipping days
Code 9FREESHIPPING26 covers standard shipping within the contiguous United States. Free shipping is the quiet hero of small orders. It’s the difference between grabbing a packet of needles on a whim and having delivery costs turn it into a small fortune. Two days only, so if you’ve got a little order queued up, this is its window.
September 18–23: 25% off fabric by the yard
Every yard of fabric drops 25%, including wide quilt backing, no code needed. If you need backing, wait for this one. Wide backing saves a serious amount of time — no piecing multiple lengths together before you baste the quilt. It’s also the week to grab borders, binding, or extra yardage from a favorite collection before individual prints sell out.
September 24–30: 30% off precuts and quilt kits
The final week of National Sewing Month takes 30% off precuts and quilt kits. I’ll be honest: this is the most tempting one on the calendar. Precuts do the color-matching for you, and kits bundle the pattern with coordinated fabric so there’s zero guesswork. If terms like charm packs, layer cakes and strip rolls still swim around in your head, it’s a good week to just pick one and learn by doing — the kit does the thinking.
What to actually buy (and what to skip)
The best bargain in this whole calendar isn’t the biggest discount. It’s the supply you were already planning to use. Before you open the store, do a quick sweep of your sewing room:
- Everyday piecing thread
- Rotary cutter blades
- Sewing machine needles
- Fabric you need to finish an existing quilt
- Batting and wide quilt backing
- Precuts for a quick beginner quilt
- A quilt kit you’ll genuinely start
- Supplies for Christmas sewing and handmade gifts
And look at your unfinished projects before ordering new fabric. Sometimes a spool of matching thread and a few yards of backing are all that stand between a quilt top and an actual finished quilt. That’s the whole trick: buy for the quilt that’s already there, not the one that’s only in your head.
Worth It?
Worth it — if you can match the item to the week that discounts it. The calendar is the real find here: 20% sitewide now, 25% off yardage mid-month, 30% off precuts to close the month. Shop the list, not the impulse.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a code for every sale?
No. The 50%-off-50-items sale, the 25% off yardage, and the 30% off precuts and kits run without a code. Codes 8SALE26, 9THREAD26 and 9FREESHIPPING26 apply to their specific windows.
When does the September sale end?
The last promotion — 30% off precuts and quilt kits — runs through September 30. After that, the calendar resets.
Is free shipping available?
Yes, September 16–17 with code 9FREESHIPPING26, for standard shipping in the contiguous United States. Connecting Threads also runs free shipping on larger orders as a standing policy — worth checking the store’s current terms before you checkout.
September is a good month to start something new, but honestly? It’s a better month to go back to the project you forgot about, clean the machine, swap that dull needle, and sew just because you can. The calendar’s live through the 30th — match your needs to the right week and you’ll come out ahead. I’m on the 20% sitewide window this morning. My rotary blades are about to chew through my patience.
More from the desk: check out today’s other deals, and if you’re building a holiday sewing list, this is the month to start it. You can also browse the latest product finds I’ve verified this week.