Look what turned up in my attic...

Sadly, I can't blame this one on the house.  The previous owners left a lot of interesting stuff behind, but this came with me. I just didn't know it had come with me until I stumbled across it last week while I was digging through boxes in the attic.

Quilters talk abut ugly and dated fabric. Well, if this stuff doesn't win the prize, I don't know what would --

It gets worse. There's a four yard length of fabric there. left over from my high school sewing days. One edge is uneven and I can see where I cut a neckline and sleeves. How much of this did I buy and what on God's green Earth did I make out of it?!  Because I seriously have no memory of it.

The scarier fabrics of the 80s seem to be making a comeback.  Teenage Daughter requested a detour to the mall down in Eugene last month and I thought one of the stores was going to make my eyes bleed. (I've always thought that was a really mean thing to say, but now I've actually experienced the feeling myself.) Every awful article of clothing from my teenage years, and they somehow made them worse.  Seriously, who would take the tasseled print polyester scarves my grandmother wore in her real estate days and make them into blouses to market to teenage girls?!

This was going to be a post about how I threw away my fabric mistake from twenty-some years ago, but it's actually a decent quality cotton and there's a lot of it. I think I'll run it through the wash to get out that stored-in-the-attic smell and use it as foundations for string blocks.

Because if you've ever read this blog before, you know I can't get rid of fabric that has any possible life left in it.

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 62 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 233 1/4 yards
Net Added for 2013: 174 3/4 yards


Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 2950 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 9500 yards
Net Added for 2013: 6550 yards

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times and Finding Fifth.

ugly fabric?

When I told you that my latest new-to-me stash was all usable cotton, I wasn't thinking about the scrap bags.  The lady had quart size Zip-loc bags of scraps for a dime a piece. If I could see one print through the plastic that looked like it would make good bow ties or bits for the Lego quilt, I added the bag to my pile. The plan was to toss the unusable fabric.

And I'd do it, if I didn't see every bit of fabric that comes into my custody as a challenge.

Like this piece. It's not ugly -- I'd use it in a baby quilt if it wasn't for the texture. I'm not enough of a seamstress (or not experienced enough in vintage fabric) to describe this weave. Let's just say that even I wouldn't put it in a scrap quilt.

So what was it from? Judging by the shape of the scraps, someone wore it. I've felt scarier synthetic fabrics in my life, but I still can't imagine wearing something made from this stuff. I can imagine a snap bag, though.

 

And then there's this piece. Imagine burlap, but softer. Why couldn't those shoes have been printed on cotton?

 

Neither of these is going in the trash. They're too vintage for me to just toss.

What do you do with vintage scraps when you come across them? If you won't use them yourself, do you pass them along to someone else who will?


Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 46 3/4 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 228 1/4 yards
Net Added for 2013: 181 1/2 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 2050 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 8700 yards
Net Added for 2013: 6650 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times. And for more fabric, check out Sunday Stash at Finding Fifth.