I know I said I only post completed garments on Sew Retro, but something very weird happened to me at my local sewing store recently......I was browsing the rolls of fabric and I came across a very short roll, 35", which I don't think is still produced in dress fabric, at least not where I come from. Picking it up, it looked alot like vintage crepe, 30's or 40's. I was astounded and concluded that some great textile manufacturer had seen fit to reproduce this lovely fabric.......joy. 30's crepe is hideously expensive and very very rare in my part of the world, I'm assuming because most of it got used up during the war years. I saw quite a bit at a vintage fair earlier in the year and wanted to buy it all, but it was out of my price range. So, having found this vintage reproduction crepe, I unrolled the 3.5m that was left on the roll and had a closer look. Guess what I found......age spots, all over it, and a small tear in one corner. This was real 30's crepe! Bizarre. So I asked the ladies who work in the store why there was a roll of fabric with age spots all over it, and they said they had never seen it before and had no idea where it had come from. Even stranger. Of course I just had to have this dress length that had obviously had such a long and mysterious journey to get to me, and after enquiring as to the price, the store owner begged me to take it for free. Even better.
So, that is the story of how I ended up with this lovely fabric:
All the age spots came out after a good wash and it will eventually finish its life as some fabulous garment, The End.
P.S - As this is a fabric related post, I will quickly share this swoonworthy find........4 yards of vintage heavy cream satin of real silk.......for $3 in a thrift store...it has the most gorgeous feel and drape I have ever seen.
It's just dying to be made into a beaded evening dress!