Fabric Acquisitions: May 2011

Ok, so you know how I recently sorted and documented my fabric/refashionable clothing stash? And how that I was recommitting myself to using or giving away the contents of my stash rather than letting all that wonderful potential just sit there? AND, how I planned to use/give away at least in proportion to how much was coming in? Well, it would make sense to document what is going in, right?

All the fabric and refashionable clothing that goes into my stash is second hand. Most of it comes from the deliveries of donated textiles at work; probably about 50-60% of what we receive isn't suitable for using in our range so if I like something that we can't use and I can imagine myself actually using it, I'll absorb it into my stash rather than let it go back to the warehouse with the rest of the undesireables to be turned into rag. Some of our fortnightly deliveries yield quite a bit for my stash, some will yield nothing. Some pieces will be unearthed in a mid-week sort-out. However it appears, I think it would be useful to document here on this blog what's come in to my stash from time to time, and talk through my ideas for each piece and hopefully gleen any ideas you might have to its use. I really don't want to be adding more to my stash unless I can see a use in the near-ish future. So here goes: my recent acquisitions:

Sample knit panels:

I'm thinking these'll be useful for more knitwear refashions when the weather gets colder again (perhaps along similar lines as this knitwear refashion unless I have any other ideas).

Vintage curtains:

I was tripping pretty hard when I saw these. Both sets of curtains are in really good condition and I'm guessing from the mid-1950s. They are the same design but different colourways. How on earth have they stayed together for 60-odd years? God, I could get really obsessed with the journey fabric or items of clothing take throughout their lives if I allowed myself! I'm thinking amazing shirtdresses using a vintage pattern, thus creating New School Vintage!

Red stretchy stuff:

Unless I've made a glaring omission, I don't think I have a top in one of my very favourite colours! Mental! This fabric is fairly thick jersey with some sort of elastane content making giving it a good stretch recovery. My long-sleeves leopard print top has been super-useful since its creation, perhaps something similar. But a simple round neck plain T-shirt might be a bit boring, no? Boring, or useful? Should I add some kind of design detail, or would that spoil a potentially versatile garment? Thoughts please!

Heart-stopping Atomic print Vintage fabric:

Umm, I left this til the end because if you saw it at the top of this post, you might have been so stunned by its wonder, you'd never get through the rest of what I had to show you! This gem appeared in the form of a strange collection of curtains and cushion covers, some pieces in better condition than others. Along the selvedge is written ''Nautilus' by Mary Warren', and a little research led to the discovery that Ms Warren designed this print for Heals in 1954. Incidentally, or not incidentally, the film '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' was also released in 1954 and featured a submarine named 'Nautilus'. The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Jules Verne and published in 1870. This fabric design even featured in an exhibition entitled 'Designing Women of Postwar Britain: Their Art and the Modern Interior' in Colarado Springs a couple of years ago. I cannot tell you how I wish I could have seen that exhibition!

All that detailed background research might lead you to believe I won't be cutting it up. Wrong, I am going to cut it up. If it was all in mint condition I might have thought differently, but I reckon I can squeeze out one incredible dress and still have one of the cushion covers which are the best condition to keep and stroke and adore as it is. I'm thinking a traffic-stopping mid-century wiggle dress. I think the gods were telling me something when I came across this Imelda May video on Youtube a matter of days after I aquired this fabric!