Reproduction fabric-feed sacks especially

[gmommy04]

Your post made me snoop around the internet and ebay a bit. There seem to be a lot of reproduction as well as REAL feedsacks available. It's amazing to me how many there are!! Many many are just adorable fabrics!! Here is a sample of real ones on ebay. Sure wish I were a seamstress---Kit and Molly would have some cute new clothes!!
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Fabric-St...sacks-and-More

Karla

[SanFen]

OMG. . .these make me want to haul out my machine, something I've been avoiding doing because I know myself - once I start, I'll never stop!

Sandy

[AGTeacher]

Very neat!!!!!!!!! wish I could sew! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[geneobug]

On a site called "reporductionfabric.com" I foun a wonderful collection of cotton fabrics from the 1700's through the 1970's. These appeal mostly to quilters, but there is a large section called "feed sack" fabrics we might be interested in. Enjoy!

[Kit_Girl]

those fabrics are so pretty!

[3castles]

My mom was born in 1944 and she used to tell us how when it was time for a new dress she'd get to go with my Grandma to the feed store. (they were farmers) Mom had 12 brothers and sisters so money was WAY tight! It used to make me laugh and laugh when she'd tell about going up and down the rows of chicken feed to pick out her
'new dress'! I used to think that was the funniest thing when I was a kid! LOL
She also said that they used flour sacks for things like underwear. They would bleach out the stamping on them with lye soap and make underwear including something that looked like a bra. They used everthing back then!

It really seems sad in a way the way our society is so wasteful. It seems like everything at the grocery store come in a package of some kind that has to go into the garbage. We are a family of 3 and it seems like we have a HUGE amount of garbage every week even though we try to recycle.

Maybe we should try to go back to simple times and truck over to the dog food store and pick out fabric for a new dress!!!!!! Hmmmmmmm....

It wouldn't be a bad idea, would it????

[Starearedkid]

Wow I really wish I had the time or patience to sew!

I would ask my grandma, but well she is 86, and for her now sewing is a chore-although she would do it. She is one of the best seamstresses ever!

-Jordyn

[joelanddeborah]

My Grandma, who was born in 1922, just passed away this past September, and I've been missing her so much this winter. She grew up during the Depression. As a little girl, she only ever had dresses that she or her Mom sewed from something else, usually feed sacks. Not only because of poverty, but also other depressing family situations, her childhood was sad for her. She married into an affluent family and was able to raise my mother well, but never liked to talk about her childhood. I loved her dearly.

She got the Pleasant Company catalogs in the mail all through the late 1980's and 1990's. She loved history, and always looked at every single accessory to judge whether or not it was accurate. (I don't know what happened to all those nice catalogs--I'd give anything now if we had saved them all.)

In 2000, when the Kit doll came out, I got all excited to show her everything. I thought it would be fun to buy her Kit and gradually get her the accessories. But I was so sad when I showed her the catalog and she said that all of Kit's things were "too pretty." She would enjoy my collection now, and just maybe she CAN see it... She just loved pretty things, but not those things that reminded her of sadness.

Excuse my ramblings...Thank you for the link!

[moderator]

Jo-Ann Fabrics used to have a line of feedsack fabric (looser weave, with feedsack prints), but it was discontinued. They have since mixed it back in with the quilting fabrics, but if you're lucky you might be able to find some leftovers in with the quilting material. The fabric went for around $4 retail, so a dress could be made for about $2.

I was so disappointed that they discontinued this before I purchased any. Some of the material looked close to Kit's birthday dress material, especially with that "unique" green color, which was common during the era. They still have some prints that could pass for feedsack, but they don't have that feedsack feel to them.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ March 08, 2006 12:27 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>