Stash Walking

So Much Fabric, So Little Time!

When one has been in the fabric business as long as I have (44 years), one is really over-exposed to all the wonderful types of fabric available to the home-sewing market. Like every other fabri-holic, I have done my share of fabric collecting (no, not hoarding) over the years. This week I'll walk through my stash and show you some of my favorite fabrics, in no particular order.

The "New" Oldest Fabric

Since the tan seersucker stripe fabric is now hanging in the closet made into a suit (see earlier blog posts for the step-by-step suit-making progression on this former oldest fabric on the stash), I believe this navy poly/cotton chino may be the "new" oldest fabric on my stash, circa 1977. In those days there was a shop-in-a-shop concept in my store called the Burlington-Klopman Dressmaker Shop.

This was a collection of co-ordinated fabrics of all types that were color-matched by the manufacturer. This "Chino Vino" fabric came from my Daytex Fabric Outlet store in Grand Rapids, MI and is intended for a suit.

Chino is a hard-finish fabric that is not very forgiving to work with, and this navy shade has a decided greenish cast, making it challenging to match with other navy fabrics. FInd out more about chino here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_cloth

Stretch Denim

As a rule I'm not a fan of sewing with stretch wovens (they tend to creep and stretch as I sew, and I need to research options to fix that), but I liked the weight of this denim/lycra fabric for a suit. The fabric came from the big JO-ANN flagship store in Hudson, OH in the late 1990s. My intention was to replicate a navy brushed-denim double-breasted suit I made back in the late 1970s.

This denim fabric seems to be getting nearer to the top of the pile, and possibly could be worked up next summer.

Silk Suiting Stripe

This great piece of woven silk came from the JO-ANN store in Canton, OH, which I managed back in 1998. There was another piece, as well, from this collection, which I have already made into a jacket, and that's the intent with this piece.

Rant: Many times fabric like this is erroneously called "raw silk." "Raw silk" is technically unprocessed fiber, so don't let DTFM catch you using that term to describe a piece of silk suiting fabric!

Tip: I prewash silk suitings in cold water with pure soap, understanding that there may be a combination of these changes to the fabric: color (potential fading), size (shrinkage) and texture (softer hand). This allows me to wash the garment after sewing, knowing that the changes have already occurred. Always prewash a sample of the fabric first, and if you can live with the changes, prewash the entire piece.

Striped Linen

This suit-weight stripe came from Field's Fabrics in Kentwood (Grand Rapids), MI, most likely in the early1990s. The original intent is a jacket, and if that holds up, I might run the stripes cross-wise, just to be different. Could also make a interesting pair of pants.

Field's Fabrics is a small chain of fabric stores in West Michigan which sells a wide range of apparel and craft fabrics, and they also have a significant assortment of special occasion/bridal and home decor fabrics in their flagship location. Field's is well-known for their online Ultrasuede business, too, stocking lots of colors and weights. http://fieldsfabrics.com/

Irish Handkerchief Linen

This is the real deal from Moygashel: "Kent" Irish handkerchief linen. The source and acquisition date are lost to time, but I intend to make a shirt from this fabric...probably not a dress shirt, but more of a camp shirt style. here's more about Moygashel: http://costumesociety.org.uk/blog/post/fine-fabrics-fabulous-fashions-the-story-of-moygashel-linen-mills

Being exposed to high-end quality fabrics during my years spent managing several of JO-ANN's Showcase of Fine Fabrics and House of Fine Fabrics stores left a mark on me, and I discovered that it doesn't take any longer to make something out of a really great piece of fabric, but it's a LOT more fun.

Tip: I wouldn't recommend a high-end fabric for every purpose, but if you're making a basic wardrobe component, buy the best fabric you can afford, because it will last longer. If you're chasing a trend, using a less-expensive fabric is much more appropriate.

Rant: That's "less-expensive," not "cheaper." "Less-expensive" refers to price; "cheaper" refers to quality, and that's an important distinction.

Madras Co-ordinates

Regular readers of this blog will recognize these fabrics as one of the choices for the summer sewing project this past year (didn't make the cut, pun intended). My plan is to make a summer shirt/pants/jacket combo using three pieces, one for each garment. These fabrics came from my JO-ANN store in Dayton, OH, in the early 1990s.

Linen Co-ordinates

More linen from the stash...I love sewing on it AND wearing it, and I don't care if it wrinkles: it feels great! These two (a stripe and matching solid) came from JO-ANN in Hudson, OH and will be made into a pants/jacket suit-like combo. This one will be a little non-traditional...still thinking about it, but I have a couple of ideas brewing.

Plaid Woolen Suiting

One of my long-time stash favorites, this piece was featured a few weeks ago in the blog about possibilities for winter sewing, and I'd really like to get it made into a suit.

This fabric came from a little fabric outlet in Webster, MA in 1999. Mrs. DTFM and I took a New England trip that year, and stopped in Webster to tour the now-closed VIP/Cranston fabric factory. Down the street was the old Anglo Fabrics factory which had recently closed. Anglo made spectacular woolen fabrics which were used by several high-end ready-to-wear brands, but fell victim to the movement of the textile industry overseas. Read a little about Anglo Fabrics here: http://www.telegram.com/article/20150625/NEWS/150629347

Fortunately, this little fabric outlet had bought up a lot of remnant pieces of Anglo goods when the factory closed, so I was able to pick up several pieces for the stash. I'll need to be careful, or this fabric could be one that I liked better on the stash than when it was made up...it happens sometimes.

Alaska Cotton Print

When Mrs. DTFM and I were in Juneau, AK in 2012, we stopped at a little quilt shop and saw this Alaska print fabric (not made in Alaska). (Fabric makes a great vacation souvenir.) Unfortunately they only had two fat quarters in this print (an 18" x 22" piece of fabric, half the usual width and twice the usual length), but no running yardage. Not sure how I'll incorporate these two pieces into a shirt, but I'll figure it out one of these days, and create something fun to remember our trip.

Sidebar: Mrs. DTFM and I are probably the only people who ever got off the cruise ship at Juneau and took the public bus and rode out to the "mall" to visit the local JO-ANN store.

Domino Batik

The source and acquisition date of this unusual batik fabric have been lost to time as well, but it will make a very interesting shirt one of these days!

What is batik? http://www.batikguild.org.uk/batik/what-is-batik

Baseball Stitching Stripe

This cotton fabric is actually the striped co-ordinate to a baseball-themed nursery collection I had created for JO-ANN back in the mid-2000s. I always tried to make sure the striped designs tied back to the main print, rather than being just a plain stripe.

This one feels like it should become a western-style shirt, I think; they're often made from striped fabric.

Wool Suitings

OK, I admit I'm addicted to nice wool flannel suiting, and I have the stash to prove it. Pinstripes, glen plaid, even a 36" wide Harris Tweed. These are all for suits (except for the Harris tweed stripe...that's for a jacket), and were added to the stash between the early 1980s and 2000. Wool suitings are generally forgiving to work with and I have figured out how to use fusible interfacing layers to simulate hand tailoring techniques. Tailoring is fun, and I can't wait to get around to working on some of these, but I really don't need that many new suits all at once...there's no place to wear them but to church. (If I wear a suit to work, that only generates interview questions and rumors!)

So there you have it; some of my favorite fabrics from my stash. When they rise to the top of the pile, I'll share the projects with you here.

Until next time, keep those sewing machines humming!

DTFM

danthefabricman@yahoo.com