‎9 yards! Vintage seersucker fabric is getting difficult to find

When I unfolded all 9 yards of this vintage seersucker fabric, I wanted to wrap myself up in all of it's cozy softness. Some seersucker fabrics can be a bit stiff feeling, but not this one.

Spring is right around the corner. With this much yardage, you could make a sleeveless dress, lightweight jacket cover up, skirt, and blouse.

It's on Revival Fabrics right now.

Deal of the Day!

Be sure to check the NEW Deal of the Day! on RevivalFabrics.com

Check out today's Deal of the Day!

I'm offering a great daily deal on vintage fabrics and retro fabrics that could be:

* a great price for the day on a fabric
* buy a yard get a yard free
* who knows what other kind of steal or deal it could be! You have to check the Deal of the Day to find out.

Don't forget to check back on RevivalFabrics.com often, the Deal of the Day will change often.

Full Bolt of Retro Fabric - Buy the Bolt get 1 yard free!

I sure get stoked when I find a full bolt of retro fabric and vintage fabric ! It's much more common to find fabric remnants in 3 - 5 yard pieces.

On Revival Fabrics right now is 11 uncut yards of retro fabric on the original Everfast cardboard bolt. I'm offering the 11th yard free if you buy 10 yards. In this economy, I want my designing and sewing friends to have all the help they can get. (The discount will automatically apply upon checkout. The fabric is also sold by the yard, if you don't need 11 yards)

This vintage fabric is quality, reflected in the original $4.00 per yard price sticker on the end of the bolt --- quite high for it's time in the 1960s - 1970s. And also cool to find original sticker prices.

Printed on the selvage of the fabric is Everfast Fabrics, Inc.

Everfast was known in it's time as a manufacturer of deeply dyed fabrics with colors not prone to fade in the sun or in the wash.

If you are an independent designer, and have a large order from one of your buyers, you certainly could make many handbags, purses, jackets, pillows, or tablecloths from this authentic retro fabric.

Fun Vintage Fabrics - Just In

Just added today to RevivalFabrics.com are a grouping of vintage acetate fabrics.

These are fun vintage novelty fabric prints from the 1950s in motifs of butterflies, musicians, big-eyed light bulbs (you have to see this one!), camping lanterns, birds, and floral. All are dress, blouse, and lightweight pillow weight vintage fabrics.

I just love working with acetate, it has the lustrous shine similar to silk fabric, the swooshy rustle and body of a taffeta fabric, is soft, looks luxurious, doesn't shrink much, and dries quickly.

Sale Reminder through November 30th

Just a reminder of our RevivalFabrics.com sale going on!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all

Today through November 30th, Revival Fabrics has two super offers on vintage fabric just for you.

Orders $49 and greater will receive FREE shipping. No discount coupon code needed upon checkout.

Orders $125 and greater will receive a 15% discount AND free shipping. Please use coupon code MY15 upon checkout.

Free shipping to United States addresses only. Overnight shipping not included in this offer.

Is that Fabric 100% Cotton or a Cotton Blend? Scrunch It!

Today in the wild world of vintage fabric, let's be mad scientists.

Here's a simple experiment to see if a fabric is 100% cotton, or if it is a cotton blend:

Take a single layer of fabric in your hand and scrunch it. Hold that scrunch for a few seconds and then let go. Do you see wrinkles, or a few slight creases? The more wrinkles you have, the more likely the fabric is 100% cotton. Cotton-polyester blends were originally manufactured to give fabric less wrinkles.

If you want to take this experiment further, and really show the world how much of a mad scientist you are, strap on a pair of goggles and whip out a lighter:

Take a strand of fiber thread from the fabric; from the end of the fabric is easiest. Burn the thread with the flame of the lighter (safely please, with a glass of water handy). The ashes of 100% cotton will burn clean. The ashes of polyester or a polyester cotton blend will be more tacky or form into a small hard ball.

The top photo is a circa 1990's cotton-polyester blend floral fabric. As you can see, after I administered the scrunch test, the fabric had very little wrinkles.

The bottom photo is a 1940s blue and white floral 100% cotton. For maximum results I applied a heavy tightly held scrunch, and as you can see, the fabric has wrinkles. With less scrunch applied, there would be less wrinkles.

Do you have any vintage fabric mad scientist experiments of your own? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear about it and try it out.

Look for this vintage fabric on cable television

One of RevivalFabrics.com vintage fabrics will be in the upcoming cable television show Caprica, a spin-off of Battlestar Galactica. The series is being filmed in Vancouver, B.C. and will premier in early 2010, on the Sci-Fi Channel. There should be some pretty cool looking 1940s - 1950s clothing on the show. It's a 1940s rayon fabric featuring poodles.

Let's Go Shopping! Handbags from Vintage Fabric

One thing that I especially enjoy about vintage fabric is it's uniqueness.

Vintage fabrics make fashion and accessories like handbags exciting, new and fashion forward: you won't see, over and overs, the same popular fabric pattern designs used for pillows, purses, clothing in stores and online shops. A design can lose it's appeal if you look at it and think, "wait a second, I just saw this fabric pattern on a purse at the store I was just at."

Handbag designers that use vintage fabric for their designs have it going on. Check out the handbag designs by Liz Shaw of Liz Shaw Design. She uses vintage fabrics, vintage buttons, and other materials from the past to create artistic arm eye-candy. For you musicians, you'll love the guitar theme "Rock" messenger bag line.

9 Great Things about Alfred Shaheen ~ In Memory

I was saddened to read the recent news of the passing of great Hawaiian textile and garment maverick Alfred Shaheen. You can't get a closer glimpse into the history of Shaheen's lasting greatness than on his daughter Camille Shaheen-Tunberg's website

9 Great Things about Alfred Shaheen ~ In Memory
1) In July of 2001 won the Hawaii’s Lifetime Achievement Award
2) Not only manufactured but also printed fabric
3) The 1961 Elvis Presley album cover Blue Hawaii featured Presley in a Shaheen aloha shirt
4) Shaheen's high grade fabric and artistic designs propelled Hawaiian shirts into high fashion
5) The 1950s cotton Shaheen sundresses are fantastically glam and figure flattering
6) You'll be inspired to sew a dress when you find a vintage Alfred Shaheen sewing pattern
7) Fabrics were hand screen printed and resulted in deep, rich beautiful colors
8) People told Shaheen he was crazy to get into the textile business. We're glad he didn't listen
9) Shaheen hired many local Hawaiian designers for authentic Hawaii artistic design