| 1.     | I have      reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April      29, 2006 of Hancock Fabrics, Inc.;                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
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| 2.                    | Based on my      knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material      fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements      made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made,      not misleading with respect to the period covered by this  report;                     |
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| 3.          | Based on my      knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information      included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the      financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the      registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this  report;                                        |
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| 4.                    | Our other certifying      officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure      controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and      15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in      Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and we      have: |

|   | a)     | designed such      disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and      procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material      information relating to us, including our consolidated subsidiaries, is      made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the      period in which this report is being prepared;                |
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|   | b)     | designed such      internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control      over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide      reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and      the preparation of financial statements for external reporting purposes in      accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; |
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|   | c)          | evaluated      the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and presented      in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure      controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this      report based on such evaluation; and                                                                                                                 |
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|   | d)          | disclosed in      this report any change in the our internal control over financial      reporting that occurred during our most recent fiscal quarter that has      materially affected, or is reasonably likely to affect, our internal      control over financial reporting;and                                                                                                                        |

|  5.     | Our other certifying      officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of      internal control over financial reporting, to our auditors and the audit      committee of our board of directors: |
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|                             | a)                                                                                                                                                                                                           | all significant      deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of      internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to      adversely affect our ability to record, process, summarize and report      financial information; and |
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|                             | b)                                                                                                                                                                                                           | any fraud, whether      or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a      significant role in our internal control over financial    reporting. |
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|   |  /s/      Jane F. Aggers                    |
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|   |  Jane F.      Aggers                        |
|   |  President and      Chief Executive Officer |