Hmm... fabric for a 1930s dress?

[Sunny]

I was in our Hancock's today, since they've just announced they'll be closing and I wanted to scope out the beginning sales. There were a few colorful cotton prints that caught my eye. Most of them had a 60s-ish feel, although not terribly so, but one instantly made me think of a 1930s dress:

Kitchy Kitchen "Blueberry," by Robert Kaufman

The blue isn't nearly as navy as it looks on my screen; it's a dark, intense royal blue. From the ruler, you can see that it's a little larger than the swatch on the screen. I like it, because it's simple and colorful (and WHITE, not cream) and more spray-like than flower heads geometrically spaced across the fabric. It made me think of a late 1930s dress, with a fuller, shorter skirt and maybe flutter sleeves. The fabric itself is similar to a lawn, quite lightweight and drapey.

Were all 1930s prints small little dingbats like the feed sack prints? If you saw this as a dress, would you immediately think of the 1960s? I'm not sure how authentic I'd like to be, but at the very least I want to avoid those "negative" connotations. lol

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I love that print. My mom said any gal in the 30s would have been over the moon to use a print like that if they could have found it. So cute. The dress sounds lovely. Sorry to see that Hancock's is closing, I liked them.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

the print doesn't scream out "30s" to me, but i still think it'll be cute!

i haven't been in a hancock fabrics in forever, but my first job ever was there! i made minimum wage, which then was $4.75, and i think i worked like 13 hours a week. this was in 1995, when i turned 16

 

[Elaina]

Got to ask, what Hancock's is closing? So many of them are, and want to make sure it's not my local one.

That said, doesn't scream 30's to me either. But if you like it, then by all means use it. It would b awesome.

 

[RaasAlHayya]

It's the Hancock at Forest and Marsh.

Where was that fabric? I didn't see it and I was in there on Thursday. It's beautiful, and I think the right cut will have a much more 30s look than 60s.

--Leslie

 

[Elaina]

Well...whew. I think the ladies at my Hancock's are a little set in their ways, but at least some of the customers know what I want.

Thanks for telling me. Now I got to head that way before they close for the sales.

 

[Marq]

Go to either www.fashionfabricsclub.com or www.reprodepot.com the first one has some real nice Faille,Challise and crepe...........Paul

 

[Sunny]

Hancock's has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means they'll be around for quite some time yet. But in the meantime they're closing a LOT of stores all around the nation. A lot of them in the Metroplex, but not all; I think there's one in Hurst, at least, that's staying open. My local one is in south Arlington right by the Parks Mall. I'm NOT happy. You can bet I'll be going to Hobby Lobby and not the new "Super Joann's" they put in down the freeway. I hate those stores! I've never been in a place that, for its size, could manage to be so incredibly confusing and crowded. Besides, it's in a terrible location. [/rant]

I think I'm going to go for it. It's just too cute! And the hand is really amazing.

Leslie, at my store it was on the stands in the quilting fabric section - where they have the nicest quilting prints. I hope you can find some! It was originally marked $7.99/yd. Not cheap, but the fabric itself is so fine I can understand just for that. Besides, at the closing stores all cottons are at least 20% off.

 

[Cheesecakecutie]

Hi there sunny i certainly thought thats a lovely fabric but i did think it looked quite 60's...but then if made up into a 30's dress it may well look the part. I personally would go for a floral pattern which is a little less bold.

 

[Elaina]

Hurst is the closest one for me, but I meet a friend at the Arlington one. Too bad. Not the first time they've filed bankruptcy either. I quit going to JoAnn's years and years ago for poor service and poor fabric. About that time I started buying fabric online.

I know they claim sewing is having a bit of a resurgance in popularity, and I suppose in places I can see it. But what I think the businesses fail to see is that sewing was always done to save money, not to spend 10 times what they could buy it in a store, and I think they're pricing themselves out of business. Even JoAnn's is having financial trouble.

In 1980 the average price of quality cotton fabric was $2.00 a yard. Today, 27 years later, the average is $9.00 a yard. When I was a kid, my mom's special occasion fabric (and I'm talking really expensive stuff here) was $5-7/yd. Today that same stuff goes for $40-50. I wore a lot of dotted swiss, have some my mom gave me that she never used and the tags read between 1.50-2.50/yd. Now (because I needed some to match what I have because I was half a yard short) it's $17/yd. And I'll even allow it may have been higher in other places then the Tulsa, Oklahoma and rural Texas I grew up in, but I can see why so many of these places are closing.

 

[Cheesecakecutie]

I know they claim sewing is having a bit of a resurgance in popularity, and I suppose in places I can see it. But what I think the businesses fail to see is that sewing was always done to save money, not to spend 10 times what they could buy it in a store

That is so completely true...it is so expensive to by "new" fabric to make stuff with. I am on a constant hunt for vintage or secondhand fabric...and on ebay...the mad fabric sellers seem to cut it up into completely unusable sizes...apart if you want to make a cusion cover! how annoying

 

[Elaina]

I noticed that with the bay too. Granted, I spend almost as much time laying a pattern as I do sewing because I have half a yard or more less then what I needed on some of my thrift store purchases, but it's enough I can play with it.

I've often wondered if they have old fabric that was meant for kids or an apron since that's about all you'll get.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

I noticed that with the bay too. Granted, I spend almost as much time laying a pattern as I do sewing because I have half a yard or more less then what I needed on some of my thrift store purchases, but it's enough I can play with it.

I've often wondered if they have old fabric that was meant for kids or an apron since that's about all you'll get.

perhaps they were as thrifty and good at laying out patterns with you and that's the fabric they saved!

 

[Elaina]

You know, I'm not that good. It's something I leanred from my mom and Aunt growing up because they were cheap and refused to buy the right amount of material. (I don't have that problem, when I buy fabric to be cut out, I get half a yard to a yard more. If I don't use it for a purse or something, I pass it along to a friend with all the other scraps). I only do it when I have to, like this 1930's print I have that I need 3 yards to make a shirt and have 2 1/8. I refuse to let the lack of fabric deter me from making said blouse. lol

 

[RaasAlHayya]

And if you don't have enough of one fabric for the whole garment, you can make facings, collars, cuffs, pockets, yokes, etc. in a different fabric, and it looks even better!

I just got several different knits at Golden D'or for 99 cents a yard to make into vintage-inspired dresses. Then I found a turquoise linen-look on sale at the local JoAnn that *isn't* closing (Abrams and Mockingbird location). I was planning to make the collar and trim for one of the dresses out of the linen-look, but then I decided to make a suit out of it too.

Next, I went to the local JoAnn that *is* closing (Northwest Hwy and Plano Road location) and got some lovely periwinkle-and-white suiting for 80% off, a bunch of buttons for 25 cents a card, and a few other things. I think that location might be closed already, but if they're not, everything they have left is at least 80% off.

I had a migraine today, so I didn't get to start sewing.

--Leslie

 

[ITG]

I'm NOT happy. You can bet I'll be going to Hobby Lobby and not the new "Super Joann's" they put in down the freeway. I hate those stores! I've never been in a place that, for its size, could manage to be so incredibly confusing and crowded. Besides, it's in a terrible location. [/rant]

Well, if you do make it over to that new shopping center with the new Joanne's, be sure to go try the pizza at BJ's Brewhouse (Next to PF Chang's). It's the BEST pizza ever...a little pricey but well worth it. That's sad to hear Hancock's isn't doing too well. They been around for years. My first car wreck in high school was outside of Hancock's when it was across the street from the Parks Mall.

 

[Shimmy Sally]

I usually use crepe for 30s patterns, or maybe a very sheer wispy printed fabric. If you are desperate, most fabric stores have some cotton broadcloth prints for quilting that could work fairly well, just a little stiff to be accurate. You'll have to choose wisely, so you don't end up with an 1800s calico. http://www.appalachianneedleworks.com/30sfabricpackages.htm

I hope I don't sound "preachy"

 

[Sunny]

Well, if you do make it over to that new shopping center with the new Joanne's, be sure to go try the pizza at BJ's Brewhouse (Next to PF Chang's). It's the BEST pizza ever...a little pricey but well worth it. That's sad to hear Hancock's isn't doing too well. They been around for years. My first car wreck in high school was outside of Hancock's when it was across the street from the Parks Mall.

Oh, I know I will be. It's just incredibly hard from where I am, either going Matlock, 20, or Cooper, and fighting mall traffic all the way. Plus there's only one way into the entire center that I've seen - very poor planning. Thanks for the tip, though! Some of the best pizza I ever had was in Ukraine, of all things, and since then I've never had it at a real restaurant. I'll have to just make a real trip of it next time, instead of hoping for a quick stop.

The ladies at Hancock's were saying that that location simply didn't get enough business to stay open. I know Joann's didn't take all of their business. And Joann's is so full of crafty and decorating stuff... Gee, I remember the days when our local was Cloth World! Alas, there's no Cloth World any more.

I usually use crepe for 30s patterns, or maybe a very sheer wispy printed fabric. If you are desperate, most fabric stores have some cotton broadcloth prints for quilting that could work fairly well, just a little stiff to be accurate. You'll have to choose wisely, so you don't end up with an 1800s calico. http://www.appalachianneedleworks.co...icpackages.htm

I hope I don't sound "preachy"

Not at all! I really appreciate down-to-earth sewing tips for this. I'm a great coward when it comes to crepe, and I actually want a dress that'll stand up to washing - one step above a house dress, I think. I really understand about print weight, though. I do 1860s reenacting and fabric weight is a big issue! The stiff quilting prints really aren't best for that stuff, either. That's part of why this one caught my eye so much, since it was so light and drapey. Not sheer and not batiste, but really like lawn. I do have one late 1930s dress, and it's in a very small simple sprigged print - but it's on dimity, a sheer-ish material with fine woven stripes. Lovely! And impossible to find - dimity's good for certain 1860s things, too, and I've spent a lot of time looking.

Good thing, I'm not desperate. This fabric happened to catch my eye. At this point I'm thinking I won't get it, unless it sticks around for a couple weeks and the price goes from 20% off to 50% off. Then I might as well. It's not as if I'll have time to get to it in the next couple months, unfortunately.

And if you don't have enough of one fabric for the whole garment, you can make facings, collars, cuffs, pockets, yokes, etc. in a different fabric, and it looks even better!

I love that! It's a great technique for 1860s stuff. A lot of times their deep hem facings and garment linings are made from worn-out garments, and have absolutely NO coordination with the main garment material. I myself just made a wrapper (like a dressing gown) out of a brownish plum wool, and I used wide facings of a flashy turkey red stripe calico. It was fantastic! I've been browsing patterns and really enjoying the color combinations the envelopes show, too. I can just imagine using a solid and a print - so pretty!

 

[Shimmy Sally]

We'll have to go fabric shopping together sometime!

 

[Elaina]

I would drive all of you absolutely nuts in a fabric store, so I wouldn't go. I already drive the sales people crazy lol