The Mother Lode of Fabric
#1
The Mother Lode of Fabric
The mother of two boys that graduated from our high school called me and asked if I would like a donation for my sewing class. She said her boys had volunteered to clean out the attic and there was a bunch of fabric up there. I said sure. My chapter of the Am. Sewing Guild has a huge garage sale every Sept. and we sold ALL our fabric last year so I figured what I couldn't use, the guild could use. All the money raised goes for scholarships.
So the first wave came today via one of the boys. I just had to take a picture. Twenty 32 gallon garbage bags of fabric. I went through all of them looking for fabric for my class. Found some fabulous stuff I know the kids will like. There's cottons, flannels, fleece, silks, satins, sateen, knit, home deco, fur, felt, unfinished baby quilt tops, panels, denim, silky polyesters, you name it, it's in there. He told me he could bring 40 more bags tomorrow and probably another 20 on Monday!!!
I'm delivering this shipment to the guild's storage unit tomorrow, then coordinating getting tomorrow's shipment over to the unit this weekend, then hopefully the last shipment on Monday. All the fabric is in great condition too. My personal stash looks so pitiful now.
So the first wave came today via one of the boys. I just had to take a picture. Twenty 32 gallon garbage bags of fabric. I went through all of them looking for fabric for my class. Found some fabulous stuff I know the kids will like. There's cottons, flannels, fleece, silks, satins, sateen, knit, home deco, fur, felt, unfinished baby quilt tops, panels, denim, silky polyesters, you name it, it's in there. He told me he could bring 40 more bags tomorrow and probably another 20 on Monday!!!
I'm delivering this shipment to the guild's storage unit tomorrow, then coordinating getting tomorrow's shipment over to the unit this weekend, then hopefully the last shipment on Monday. All the fabric is in great condition too. My personal stash looks so pitiful now.
#2
Banned
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Enid, OK
Posts: 8,273
sadly being stored in an attic, could means tons of issues...#1 rodent "stuff", and #2 dry rot or mildew. I would not store this anywhere until I knew what I was dealing with!
That poor lady is going to have buy insulation for her attic now!
That poor lady is going to have buy insulation for her attic now!
#4
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 4,783
I agree that there may be problems with the fabrics from being in the attic. I would pull on some of the fabrics to see if they tear easily. It probably depends on how hot/cold it got in the attic (some are fan ventilated to keep cool in the summer) and how long they were in there. Given the size of the lot, I don't think they were put there temporarily. Maybe you'll be lucky and they were only put there recently. That'd be great!
Another caution, just in case: If there are mouse or other rodent droppings mixed in, you need to wear a ventilator to prevent breathing dust from the droppings. There are diseases you could get (marsala? I forget...). You also should spray any droppings with a mist of water first to minimize dust and wear gloves, of course. Hopefully you won't need that little tidbit of information!
Another caution, just in case: If there are mouse or other rodent droppings mixed in, you need to wear a ventilator to prevent breathing dust from the droppings. There are diseases you could get (marsala? I forget...). You also should spray any droppings with a mist of water first to minimize dust and wear gloves, of course. Hopefully you won't need that little tidbit of information!
#8
My question is why so much fabric? I'd like to know the story of this collection. Has the mother been storing this up for awhile or was it from a previous owner of the house? That's an awfully big stash in anybodies book, & various kinds, too. Don't get me wrong, I think the gesture of the donation is fabulous, but that much? Someone had to be hoarding for years!
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