Cubism Art Movement - Vintage Fabric

If you like the early 20th century Cubism art movement, you'll like this avant-garde Cubism influenced vintage 1960s - 1970s fabric called "Roses Cubism" with blue and green roses at Revival Fabrics.

"Roses Cubism" vintage fabric, in comparison to the second photo, a 1915 Rij-Rousseau portrait, has a striking similarity to the abstract lines of the Cubism art movement. (photo used with permission from Wikimedia Commons).

As with many vintage fabrics, you won't find the original artists name on the selvage of Roses Cubism. But regardless, fine art design on fabric, it's always a gem to find.

FREE Shipping on Orders and a 15% Discount!

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 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.

Vintage Clothing Tag Photos - I like it

Over at the World Famous Design Junkies blog, I like their photos of vintage sewn-in clothing tags.

As a fan of vintage clothing, the first thing that I do when I find a piece that I like, is check the tag to see the size.

If a manufacturer name on the tag is no longer around or changed names, that gives you a big clue of the age of the garment. Letter fonts are fun to look at, and there's another clue to solve the age mystery. Fonts are popular one year and discontinued the next.

Vintage clothing tags can tell you so much about the era of a garment, plus it's just plain fun to see graphics from the past!

I Recognize that 1971 Singer Sewing Machine!

My mom had this very same 1971 Singer sewing machine and loved it so much she used it for years. She eventually upgraded to a newer Singer, but used her 1971 machine for tricky sewing jobs; she knew that '71 inside and out.

This 1971 commercial brought back great memories of shopping at fabric stores with my mom for just the right sewing pattern. Then I'd pick out the fabric I'd want for my outfit. I can still hear the riiipppp sound as scissors met cutting table, at the fabric cutting counter. Or if the fabric was thick, it would be a whoosh-snip-snip sound.

Thanks mom, for the great sewing memories.

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.