Seriously wondering this. I am cleaning out stuff because we just don't have room to keep things we don't use/need.

I'm having a hard time parting with some fabric but at the same time I'm wondering if it's going to be any good when I finally have the time to get to it. I'm thinking that will be in 13 years or so when my little one turns 18! :?

Thoughts?

Golly I hope not. I have some skirts and pjs,imbroiderd scarfs. That I entend to use in quilts one day. They aren't Fabric like fat quarters or anything. But the skirts were when they were teens and some baby clothes were my 2 DD and they will be..youngest 46 ,next Friday the 8th. the oldest 47...18 days later Tuesday the 26th.
I have everything stored in one of those bags you use the vacume to suck all the air out and it makes it smaller. Then I have them in a drawer so they don't get light. The bags aren't too exspensive at walmart. Thats what I would do if I had material that old. My opinion, hope I gave you an idea.
BillsBonBon

As long as it is stored properly, kept out of the sun I would think it would last a long time . I have fabric my mom gave me that is at least 20 years old and it is fine .

Ok you guys have made me feel better all ready.
I'm still going to thin out but at least now I feel like it's okay to hang on to some.
:D

Ahhh most of my stash is from the 80's and 90's when I was doing more collecting than stitching. I had it stored in opaque plastic tubs and it's as good as ever. Stash on!!!

Did I ever tell you about the box my mom sent me?
She had found it in my closet at the home I grew up in.
As near as I can remember ... the fabric had been in that cardboard box for 25 years! - - and, it is STILL in that box and is living quite well, until I can figure out what to do with it!

I hope not, I have some that old. I keep it closed up, out of the light , and it looks like new still,.

I think if you store it right it will be fine for a long long time. I hope so anyway cause I have some I have had a long time.

There are quilts on display that have been used and stored for how many years?? decades?? century?? I think if they are stored well, they will all be fine :D:D:D

If you store it properly, dry and dark, then it will keep forever...I have inherited fabrice that is over 50 years old and still in excellent condition....I have made garments from it.

What do you all really think about the vacuum bags?
The reason I ask is: A number of years ago, people were doing counted cross stitch and other handwork, displaying it under glass, and it was rotting!
Turns out that natural fibers need some air circulation in order to maintain its integrity. If you consider quilts that have survived a hundred years, most of them in unfinished WOOD cabinets ... are we really doing a favor to our fabrics by using the vacuum bags? Might that also be the problem of storing for long periods of time in plastic containers, though it hasn't been a problem for me as of yet ...
and, cardboard boxes ... could it be all this recycling process is creating a less stable form of storage than our forefathers/mothers appreciated?
And, while I am on it ... about that invisible thread stuff ... plastic! I can't imagine how that affects cotton, wool, or silk ...
*stepping down from soapbox* <wave>

I think certain patterns do. I found when I went back over some fabric I had gifted my niece that 10 yrs later a lot was not in style with ME, colors change so you might end up hanging onto something a long time before they are popular again or your "un" sick of them. I just use it as an excuse to.. get newbies.

a stash expires with the current owner.

after that it's a collection of vintage heirlooms.

;-)

I am soooooooooo going to tell my daughter this. :lol: :lol:

no, fabric doesn't have an expiration date... hehehe, but it does have a 'must feed with other fabric' date :mrgreen:

I do alot of scrappies. so for me old & new work just as good

I think that if fabric has an "expiration" date, we're all in BIG trouble :lol: :lol:

ain't that the trueth. i have a couple pieces that an angel sent me when i first started. i'm still using it.

I sure hope not, I've got fabrics from the 80's.LOL

If anyone is thinning out their stash, PLEASE send my way. Dang embarrassing to ask. I hate this asking. PLEASE don't think bad of me. I just wanna keep sewing :oops: :oops: :oops:

No 'expiration' date, no 'best used by' date, no 'void after' date. I still have tie-dyed and batik fabrics that my sister and I made back in the mid-sixties and some calicos that my mother got in Europe right after WWII.

I have fabric from the 60's and I still plan to use it, someday.

LOL Telling my sons that one also

I have fabric as far back as the 70's and all my mine is fine- I have fabric scraps from fabric I ordered from Sears catalog -does anyone else? I have heard different" do's and don'ts" over the years as far as storing your fabric and mine has been changed so many times - don't know what is best. I used to refold all mine bez I believe if left folded the same way too long you'll get a fade line. That's my story on having to touch all my fabric and I'm sticking to it.

Hear Hear! I could always use more stash!! Since my mom and I are both quilters, I tease her that I am going to check her suitcase everytime she leaves so she doesn't steal my stash!

http://aliaslaceygreen.wordpress.com...9/fabric-401k/

I blogged about this a few months back.... :-D

Off to see if you all agree!!

I have used fabric that my Mom has had for over 20 years...all great. I have a 3 yrd piece of fabric I used in a quilt for my daughter and she is 35..The piece is in perfect condition..ready to use for her 5th child..my grandson Duncan Campbell!!

If it stored right you should have no problems (no sun light, no smoking and such) My DW is still using material that came from my Mom and aunt that is over 40 years old!

Heck no!!! I am occasionally using some fabric that is at least 20-30 years old from my DH's aunt's stash that we inherited when she passed away 3 years ago. I wash it to rehydrate it, and it works great!

Ha-HA!! See post above from my DH...he says over 40 years, but ..... I think closer to 20-30.

Good Heavens!.........I hope not!!! :O

I have some linen that came from my grandmother. She died when I was 2 and I am now 51. Turned it into a quilt and it behaved fabulously. Some of the older cottons were died with funky methods in the 70s and could bleed, so I would take extra care in washing them. But using them - not a problem.

i have a quilt my grandmother made it was made from scarps of material she used tyo make us pj's when we were little some of it is 50 pluse years old i still; use the quilt when the grand kids come my dad says he remebers som e of the blocks when he was young he is 79 so i hope it never expires it is faded and i have repaired some spots but is is as good as it ever was

I have some fabric that is over 50 years old that I plan to turn into a quilt. It was my daughter's great grandmothers fabric. She had cut it up to make a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt and never got around to it. My ex-MIL gave it to me and I plan to make a couple of table runners for each of my girls from it. The fabric still looks excellent and is in great shape.

DON'T throw any fabric out as you will use it eventually, and the one you can't find in the future is the one you threw out in the past, but in saying that if you HAVE to throw some out give it to a fellow quilter or maybe a guild to use for charity quilts :-)

Guilds are always eager for fabric for charity quilts. They would definitely welcome anything you don't want.

I don't think anyone replied to your question, omak. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't use them under any circumstances. All fabrics, natural and man-made fibers alike, need to breathe and they can't in those things. The vinyl or whatever it is has to be full of chemicals and certainly not acid-free. Nope, I wouldn't use them for anyting at all and especially not for my precious fabric stash!!

Some people collect vintage fabric. That stuff can be 60+ years old. If it's cotton and never used or laundered, it seems to be in good shape. You can tell right away if it's rotten. It breaks apart when you sew or press.

Patrice, I like the way you think! :lol: :lol:

One of the ways I test fabric to see if it will stand up to quilting is to hold it really tight between my two hands, then take a finger and try to rip it from the center out ... (if the fabric is rotten at any point, it will be easier to do than put it through paper)

That is sort of what I have figured. I use the Ziplock bags for short-time storage of a quilt or project, but I don't and won't store any fabric in a plastic bag, though I do not have a problem with the plastic bins ... understanding the manufacturing of the different tensiles in plastic is helpful for making a final decision.
Recycled boxes are a problem for long term storage also, since it takes more process and chemical to recycle cardboard and paper than it took to make the original product.