Vintage Fabric Stash

A friend of mine lost her mother about one year ago and the family is still trying to go through her belongings to get the family home ready to sell. Weeding through boxes and boxes of memorabilia, kitchen gadgets, old photos and craft supplies is somewhat painful, trying to decide what to keep and what to toss. Everything brings back a memory.

After a couple of estate sales and the piles are still huge, it gets to be too much and you're just ready to junk it all. My friend, knowing that I make little dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World No. CA asked if I wanted any of her Mom's fabric stash. We met yesterday afternoon and I went through each box, looking for cotton fabric for our upcoming Sew Fest. It was amazing to see the variety of fabrics in her stash, many of them from the 50's.

If you are a sewist and are my age, you may remember that many of the huge retailers "used to" sell fabric. The way they prepared remnants isn't that different from the way we see them now, but check out the prices!

Seeing these, I thought of FabricLadyand her Dad. I'll bet he has stories to tell about being an independent fabric store owner going up against the big guys.  I think that Walmart is the only national retailer that still sells fabric by the yard, though I am Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics girl all the way.

Amy's Mom had a whole box of 9" squares (quilting?) all cut out - they are perfect for trimming into pockets for the DAG dresses.  But as is common with stuff that has been stored in cardboard boxes for 20 years or longer, the fragrance of the fabric was a tad musty.  The squares filled up my entire front loading washer. And naturally, they all raveled and wrinkled coming out of the dryer, so I pressed every one of the squares so the volunteers could easily cut the pockets.

 
Other pieces of fabric weren't big enough to make a whole dress, but will become pockets or shorts for Dress a Dude, DAG's new "fashion line" for little boys. I'm joking about the fashion thing, but whenever a missionary takes our cute little dresses to the field, the little boys are heartbroken because they didn't get a new outfit...hence Dress a Dude.

Evidently Amy's Mom was a giver as well - I found ready made cotton bags for the Senior Gleaners that she made regularly for that group. There were a few pieces that weren't suitable for our purposes - a lot of older polyesters, knits, etc. But there were some real treasures in Mom's stash...vintage fabric big enough to make a big girl dress for yours truly.

I see a fifties style dress with a full skirt - I think they call them "midi skirts" these days. 

It's a soft cotton.

And this print is a shiny acetate, perfect for a sleeveless lined sheath dress.

 

And since I'm not a brown person, this cute print had enough yardage to make two DAG dresses!

 

I washed, cut and ironed everything I brought home, so needless to say I was exhausted by dinner.  And I remembered how much I hated to iron as a teenager and I have to say, it's even harder on your back as an old lady! Today I will serge up the dresses and get them ready to be put into a kit to be sewn by the women volunteers who lovingly give of their time and talents for Dress a Girl every month.

Thank you Amy for your generosity.  Your Mom would be happy.

Laurel. Ready for Saturday's Sew Fest with DAG