Back in OLDER days - fabric was 36 inches wide or less. I have a length of 18 inch wide (selvages intact on both sides) calico from?
42 inch wide fabric has been around for at least 20 years (Hoffman and Kaufman are two names that I know of FOR SURE that have had the narrower widths for quite some time.
Interestingly enough, it seems like the 'pricier' lines were narrower before VIP, Peter Pan, Springs, and Marcus Brothers became narrower.
Look at the end of the bolt for the width - or better yet, bring your own tape measure to verify.
Also, some of us factor in shrinkage when we buy fabric. Fabric can shrink lengyhwise, crosswise, and/or both ways - and in a few cases, not at all. And I have run into a couple of weird things that s t r e t c h e d.
So - yelping about fabric becoming narrower - some of it may have - but some of it has 'always' been narrower - seems about as useful as baying at the moon.
I had 'assumed' that two widths of fabrics from the same collection would be measure the same width - so I trimmed off the same amount off the border print that I had trimmed off the main part of a pillowcase I was making - OOPS!
Moral of the story - don't assume!
Last edited by bearisgray; 07-10-2012 at 10:36 AM.