Hi First name / friend! Happy October! Kim here! We had a particularly brutal summer here in Austin, TX so I’m welcoming fall weather and spooky season with even more enthusiasm this year … how about you? |
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Vintage fabrics were my first love as a sewer and what drove me to pursue fabric design. When I say “vintage” I’m referring mainly to fabrics from the mid-20th century, specifically the 1930s-60s. People who deal in pre-loved items consider “vintage” to be 20-99 years old and “antique” to be 100+ years old. Which means that things from the early 2000s are vintage now! That is my scary October fright for you. |
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I love the expressiveness of vintage prints, which were all hand-rendered, including motifs, colorways, and repeats. I imagine that the professional studio artists churned out a high volume of prints. (I’ve been told that most of these artists were men!) They are creative and expressive, and range from mind-blowingly intricate to a charmingly sloppy and weird. Printing, too, was sometimes not of the highest quality, so you see prints that are charmingly off-register (the technical term is “grinning”). |
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This is a particularly flawed piece of fabric -- the base cloth clearly went through the machines with a crease in it, and the print is way off register, but I love it. And by the way, it’s really hard to purposefully reproduce grinning with modern equipment -- it’s just not the same. |
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Here are places to look for vintage fabric: - Vintage quilt and textile specialty dealers at quilt shows. These dealers are very knowledgeable and have the most and best stuff. You’ll pay accordingly, but it’s well worth it.
- eBay, Etsy, other online marketplaces. In addition to using “vintage fabric” as your search term, try “material” and “cloth,” as sometimes people selling online aren’t fabric people and might not have all the terminology.
- Estate sales. Estate sales are much more online these days. If you see a sewing machine in the online preview, chances are there will be fabric, too!
- Thrift stores and garage sales. I find thrift stores less fun these days due to savvy online sellers getting the good stuff early. But if you love vintage, you probably still can’t resist the hunt.
- Vintage fabric enthusiasts/sellers on Instagram. Some sellers prefer the irregular, limited-time nature of Instagram sales. You have to be quick and you have to compete with other fans/followers, but they often have the best stuff.
- Sales / free table at your local traditional quilt guild. Most people don’t have as much nostalgia for the designs of the era in which they came of age, so tend to offload those fabrics at bargain prices.
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And one final tip: - Don’t just look for yardage: Look at doll clothes, aprons, vintage quilts, quilt tops, quilt squares, and clothing. Just like today, people used their favorite fabrics in the items they sewed. Some of the most beautiful and charming fabrics can be found in handmade items of old.
Do you love vintage fabric too? I’d love to hear your stories, questions, and comments -- just reply to this email! In a future newsletter, I’ll share tips on storing, caring for, and using vintage fabric in your sewing. |
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We want to share with you some of the things that we've been loving lately. Click the links below to check them out! Melody can’t get over the insane wedding imagery by Scottish photographer Sean Bell. |
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