Monday, November 1, 2010

My Grand Ma's treasure Box!

Last week, I went in Belgium for my mother's birthday and I rid through my Grand Ma's fabric collection. She used to be a seamstress and kept on buying fabrics for this or that project. She ended up with three closets full of fabrics. They range from summer to winter, great to average quality, vintage (50's) to new-ish (2000). A lot of my summer fabrics came from there. It was only time for the winter edition ;)

Some of them have a cute history, some of them make me feel emotional too.

It would be great to give me your opinion for their use... Are you ready?

Go!


This first one must be velveteen. It was the only one my Grand Ma was not sure about. There is quite a bit. I think it would work as a dress or skirt or blazer. What do you prefer?


Here is some basic lining fabric. Always good to have...


This is some jersey. I love the color! I might use it to make the same kind of dress that I did for my mum. The thing is that the color fits perfectly with the last blouse I have made and it would be perfect as a skirt. However, I don't know any pattern that would be flattering on me AND usable with jersey...


Those two are pretty old. The terracotta color is  plain light wool. It will probably become a skirt or a blazer.... The other one is a brownish suiting wool that my Grand ma bought to make trousers for my grand pa in the 80's. I miss him so much since he passed in 1988 (he raised me). I want to make good use of it but there is not enough for pants my size...


This is a checked wool: black, white and red. It would be great as a pleated skirt! My grend ma ordered it in the 60's to make a dress for my mum!


Those three wools are my favorites. They reminded me so much of Mondo in project runway (I still cannot believe he did not win!). There is plenty of each and my grand ma got all of them in the 80's to make herself a Chanel kind of ensemble. I don't know if you can see, but the fabric on the left has some camel into it! It works so well for this season! I would love to use it for a Louis Vuitton inspired dress. Once again, suggestions are welcome!



I am SO happy with these!

What would you use them for?
Have you ever had a fabric that had a history attached?
Does sewing make you feel emotional sometimes?



See you tomorrow for the finished Rachel Comey dress!

2 comments:

  1. I think the velveteen would look beautiful as a coat! As for me, no fabric stories, but I did come across a group of patterns one day, at a garage sale. There were two sets, and both had patterns ranging from the 1940's to 1980's. I wish I had bought both! Looking through those patterns now, I feel a sense of history, and a connection to the previous family who owned them, even though I did not know them.

    It would be lovely (and daunting, but lovely nonetheless) to have an emotional backstory to my fabrics :)

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  2. First, I want to tell you how really glad I am that you are posting again! (I instantly commented your first post after the break, but some days later I saw that my comment didn't reach you... I think I didn't continue with the part where you have to write the letters you see in a picture.., but never mind. Congratulations for your engagement! Beautiful ring, too! Will you make your wedding gown by yourself?

    I have got some fabrics in my stash which belonged to my husband's great grandmother, who I never knew. My mother-in-law gave them to me. Unfortunately, most of them are of a rather poor quality as they were produced in former East Germany, so I will rather use them for costumes and such, but I made a pyjama for my husband from the striped cotton (as it was his great grandmother, I thought it would be nice to make something for him)!
    And then there is the soft silk which my own grandmother brought me from her voyage to China when I was a child. It has a, well, ugly coloured floral pattern, which is the reason why I indeed sometimes get emotional when grubbing in my stash... always hoping that the colours will be totally fashionable the next year, as I cannot part from it despite the ugly colours.

    For your fabrics, I think you already made a good choice. I would use the velvet for a jacket or blazer, and I think that your grandfathers brownish suiting wool would make a nice short skirt! For the brown jersey, did you ever think of the Karen cardigan pattern from burdastyle.com?
    After all, you are very lucky to get so many beautiful fabrics from your grandma!

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