Vintage Corduroy Fabric

This week's post is about vintage corduroy fabrics.  Although corduroy is generally thought of as a winter clothing fabric, its a fabulous year-round textile for quilts, bags, and other accessories.
I find it very easy to sew and love to pair it with similar weight fabrics such as barkcloth, wool tweeds, and printed and cut velvets.

I remember corduroy being very popular in the 1970's, and had a well-loved pair of orange corduroy gauchos when I was a kid.  :)  This cute Penn-Dutch print was likely produced around that same time.

This next one is my favorite ( love the color combo of teal, navy, and olive) and is probably a little earlier, 1960's, I imagine.

It is a great match with the solid teal, as are several other fabrics.  The bright Fairy tale barkcloth is just begging to be paired up with it!

I also have a couple vintage linen towels that pair well with the solids.

Not sure yet what project these combos will be used for.  But what about you? Have you worked with this sturdy, versitile fabric?   Any other fans of corduroy out there? 
There's a lot of nasty weather across the country this week, stay safe everyone!

Vintage Novelty Fabric ~ In the Garden

Spring offically began last week (yea!), so for many of us that means gardening. I thought it would be fun to hunt through the stash and archives for some garden related vintage fabrics. Here's what I found... a variety of cute novelty prints with gardening related themes. Patio print from the 1950's. Children's fabric from the 1970-80's. Cute border print. And a couple in the "formal gardens" category; a striking black barkcloth. And a lovely scenic cotton fabric from the early 1900's. What about you, any garden themed fabrics in your sewing room?

Mid Century Barkcloth in Chartreuse!

I recently came across a wonderful piece of mid century modern barkcloth. It has a cool design of waves (or maybe they're claw marks?) on a chartreuse leopard spotted background! The name of the pattern is Aurora and is a Goldco Vat print according to the info on the selvage. I've had this design before in a green and a brown colorway, but I think this acid yellow or chartreuse is my favorite! Its currently listed on the website here: http://www.nieszvintagefabric.com/productdetails.aspx?productID=722We're having the most gorgeous summer-like weather here in Southern Ohio, so I'm heading out to the yard to play in the garden...hope you're enjoying spring, too! :-)

From Vintage Barkcloth Samples to Wristlets

My lastest sewing project has centered around a group of vintage barkcloth fabric samples. I acquired these about 4 years ago, and although I didn't know at the time what I would do with them, they were just too pretty to pass up. There was a variety of different textures, colorways, and prints, but all featured the romantic florals so popular during the 1940's.
The floral and scroll print below is my favorite. There's a deep blue colorway, too.

The average size of the samples is around 7"x11", which turned out to be a perfect size for making wristlets! I've paired the barkcloth with natural linen and made some of them with zippered tops....
And others have a front zipper style... So, the next time you come across small or odd shaped vintage fabric pieces and think, "I don't know what I would ever use them for", get them anyway! Inspiration will come eventually. :-)
Happy sewing everyone!

Red and Pink Vintage Fabric Color Combo

Today, as a follow-up to the Pink and Orange post, I'm showing some of my vintage fabrics in one of my favorite color combos...Red and PINK.

Naturally with these colors, we're bound to see a lot of florals...and I have plenty of them! Let's start there with some large bouquets and columns of roses and hollyhocks.

The smaller prints are cute, too.
Next, on top we have a gorgeous 1930-40's fabric, predominantly red with pink roses. And on the bottom, a fun mod floral from a vintage 60's bedspread. You might recognize this one from the living room makeover photos. This next group shows the last of the florals along with a cute geometric print and two fruit related designs.
A funky midcentury modern barkcloth depicting trees and buildings is perfect in this red/pink colorway!

And now we come to the kitchen linens and prints. The first two are pairs of kitchen curtains from my grandma's house. They look homemade, but never used (yep, that was just like gram).

Check out the adorable diamond oven mit in the bottom fabric. :)

And these are kitchen towels. Perfect for a retro vintage-themed kitchen.

Well, I think that just about does it for the RED and PINK tour. Some of these are available on the website (click on the pics) or will be by the end of the weekend.

Oops, I just found one more. Here's a cute little border print...

Ok, now I think that's it. LOL Have a great weekend, everyone!

"Dancing Leaves" Barkcloth Tote

I love this barkcloth and have been dying to use it in a project. Its a midcentury modern print entitled "Dancing Leaves" and has been attributed to the surrealist artist Salvador Dali.
For this tote, I've paired it with a green linen that is a shade somewhere between olive and chartreuse. A geometric black and white fabric was used for the other side as well as the interior pocket.Black piping was used to help the two fabrics stand out against the green linen.
Since this is an open tote, I think I'll make a matching zippered pouch for it. I haven't decided yet if this is for me, or to sell. If I succumb to the pressure to make some money, it will be on the website, here. :)
Have a great weekend, everyone!

Random PINK Post ~ Barkcloth

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month...Pink October. So throughout the month I'll be showing random pink posts of fabrics or other pretties. I am determined to schedule an appointment for my first mammogram (a few years late) before the end of the month. I have a way of putting these important things off. So, I'm hoping that seeing more pink will move me a little closer to the phone. LOL

Midcentury Barkcloth

I haven't done a slide show in a while, so I thought I would share some of my favorite midcentury modern fabrics.
(I can't seem to add text to a slideshow post without completely destoying the link. So, I'm sure you've figured out that its in the post below.)

Also, its "Barkcloth Week" over on the True Up blog. There's some fabulous eye-candy over there! Its an all fabric blog and delivers lots of valueable info on fabric resources, new designers, fabric printing, and a fun weekly vintage swatch theme.

Enjoy the show!

My Tiny Kitchen ~ and A Little of This and That

Whew! Who would have thought it would take sooooo long to finish such a tiny kitchen? I'd still like to make a new valance for the the window, but haven't found the right fabric, yet. I'm torn between giving the small room a punch of color, or keeping it more subdued and blending with the adjoining living/dining room.
Here's a list of the materials that we used: Colonial Gold Granite countertops, Cabinets from Home Depot in Dove White, Kohler Smart Divide sink, Brushed nickle hardware and faucet, Wall color is a very light tan called "Hominy" by Martha Stewart from Lowes.

Now comes the "Little of this and That" part of the post. First, some fabulous fabrics. I think I'm finally ready to part with this beautiful GlenCourt curtain panel.
And I also came across these great 1950's barkcloth pieces as I was reorganizing the stash.
Its kind of a deco wave on a leopard spotted background. The small green piece sold quickly, but there is also a larger piece in brown listed on the website. You can see all the newly listed items here. And I have a few pictures of some of the sewing projects I've been working on. This first wristlet may look familiar, as the fabric is the same gorgeous ocean blue linen that my drapes are made from. I made yet another wristlet from the cute powder blue chidren's fabric, but added a fun detail to the back. A vintage yoyo flower and appliqued leaves.

Here's the front...are we tired of seeing this fabric, yet? LOL I've also been making some vintage fabric bookmarkers. I thought they would be nice as freebies to include with orders. I'll try to get a picture of them soon.
Well, that's it for my miscellaneous post today. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!