Favorite Fabrics

I'm not so sure about the first-second-third run idea. Charismah may know something that I don't... there is, in the fabric business, something called a "strike-off". That's a test-printing of a fabric design. Well, let me back up. First the designer makes the artwork (and this is usually digital these days). Then (for prints) there are up to 16 screens that are engraved for printing the design. A screen is a fine-mesh metal cylinder, often with a 24" circumference (that's the vertical pattern repeat). The cylinder is initially coated with a substance that isn't penetrable by dye. A computer-driven laser is used to open pinpoint holes in the screen, which let the dye through; each different color in the finished print needs its own screen. All of the screens are mounted (very precisely!) on the rotary presses that print the design. (I'm attaching in a picture of one of the machines that used to operate at Cranston/VIP. I was pleased to have been able to tour their facility, before they stopped printing at their Massachusetts plant this past June.)

The first initial printing, the strike-off, gives an opportunity to see if the design translates well from artwork/paper to fabric. Usually it is a very small run, and the cloth is used to create samples for the fabric company's salespersons to show to shopowners and garment manufacturers. Sometimes multiple strike-offs are done, to get the quality of the print up to the standards of the fabric manufacturer. But it's not my impression that the strike-off fabrics generally make it into the retail sales world.

I'm not sure that the fabric manufacturers generally print a different quality of fabric for the chains, versus the LQS market. I think that, unless the chain specifically commissions an entire printing to be done to a (lesser) quality, whether the fabric is sold to a chain, or to a LQS, it's all being pulled from the same stock in the same warehouse. There are fabrics that I buy for my shop, that are EXACTLY the same prints as what I've seen in JoAnns. The only thing is... the LQS's generally get to carry a line for a half-year before it is offered to the chains (this is for Robert Kaufman and Timeless Treasures fabrics). I have seen Marcus fabrics that were printed in specific colorways for JoAnns and were printed on lesser quality greige goods, than the quilt-shop versions.

I think that what we all perceive as better (more attractive) fabrics is probably due to the quality of the printing: more screens equals a greater depth of color. It's also (obviously) more expensive to print a fabric with sixteen colors, rather than one with just two or three. Screens can be finer or coarser mesh, for a more or less detailed design. Some greige goods are heavier than others. I'm not convinced that thread count is everything... Michael Miller, Timeless Treasures, Robert Kaufman and Alexander Henry print on a little heavier fabric than most of the other manufacturers. Springs Industries fabrics are frankly very lightweight. And then the various finishes do result in a different "hand". (I really don't know much about finishes at all.)

Today a sales rep stopped by; he sells fabric from at least a half-dozen manufacturers and what he said was that there are fewer mills printing fabric these days, but that their quality has improved greatly over the last decade and they're all pretty much capable of producing the same high-quality prints. (The mills are typically in China, South Korea, and Japan. Only Santee still prints here in the US.)

When I choose fabrics, I really base my decision on the look of the design. I know that some manufacturers tend to have better animal prints, and some do a great job with flowers, others tend to draw upon a certain color palette that I find pleasing; yet others have their strength in the coordinating collections that they put together. It all depends on what you personally find appealing. I really haven't seen much of anything on the market lately that I would call "bad" in terms of quality.

Choose the fabrics that delight your eye. Touch them to make sure that they feel nice too. Beyond that... don't worry about it. But if buying in person, do watch as the fabrics are unrolled and measured; regardless of the manufacturer, it's the nature of fabrics that there is the occasional irregularity in the weave of the cloth. In busy patterns you'd never notice it, but in solid colors or pale prints it can really show. If buying online, buy from a store that you trust to be looking over the fabric carefully before sending it, the same way you'd be looking it over if you were there.