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I remember those measurers at our JC Penneys when my Mother made my school clothes. The fabric was in the basement, but they had a balcony where the girls clothes & office was too. They had the tube thing to send to the office too. My how things change!
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Oh I remember those meters from when I was a little girl. Had forgotten all about them. We bought our fabric from Penneys or a store that was right next door to it. Can't remember the name.. thanks for reminding me of those meters.
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I remember!! ~~waving at you~~
My mom went to the local Jc Penneys and I remember not only the fabric meter, but the little upstairs floor with the mens section, and would watch with wonder at the receipt and the paperwork coming from upstairs to downstairs in the little contraption--it was fascinating!! I also loved the fabric meter. I remember her "giving us" an inch or so before she would nick it to start measuring...... |
Originally Posted by Lyncat
The first fabric I picked out was for doll clothes. We had a store called S.A.S. in Phoenix that was filled with fabric that was overstock from factories, and was sold by the pound. You had to treasure hunt through large boxes of fabrics, all different sized pieces (small to many yards long). They had big barrels of buttons that were sold by the cupful, trim that was very inexpensive. The women who worked there had a European accent and would always take you to task if you were a child who wandered away from grandma. I loved going there. The best part is, the store is still there, so I have been shopping there for at least 45 years.
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I remember those machines well. Back then we made practically all of our clothes, and bought lots of fabric. I remember seeing them at Beall's, J.B. White Company, J.C. Penney, Sears, and a great little shop in downtown Longview, Texas called "Famous Fabrics." I think they probably quit using them when the double knit fabrics became so popular because they couldn't be pulled through the machine. I do wonder why they didn't start using them again after the knit era was over.
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the fabric store i got fabric the first time was called golden state fabic in pacific beach in san diego ca.it was for my school sewing class for a skirt. no one can believe i quilt and have sewn a few things cause i always got a d-- in sewing lol. shows what those teacher know huh? hahahaa.
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CD in Oklahoma
I haven't seen one of those in years. I distinctly remember my mom buying fabric downstairs at Montgomery Wards, and I was fascinated by the machines. Have you tried using it to see how accurate it is? I heard that they weren't always reliable. I would be curious to find out. :?: |
My mother worked in the fabric dept of Murphy's in Cincinnati. She was always buying fabric for herself even though she rarely sewed. She just loved her fabric.
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OMG! I remember those! That brings back memories of spending time watching the ladies in the fabric department of Hutzlers of Baltimore use those machines while my mom shopped for her fabrics. Thanks for posting a photo of that meter.
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I do remember the meters, but WHERE, can't remember that part. I remember having to make a lined garment in the home ec class in high school. I remember the fabric vividly. I was a bright pink wool (almost neon) and I was making a dress with long sleeves and a dropped waist and WAS SUPPOSE TO wear it for the fashion show the home ec class was putting on for the school. NO WAY I'll look like a pink elephant.I do remember fabric in Wool Worths, and I think places like The Mart, Mammouth Mart, The Fair, Zayre's (from Mass). I also remember So Fro Fabrics, was like a JoAnns.
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I remember those fabric meters too! I used to by fabric at our local grocery store, Dieringer's which later became DiscoMart. I also bought fabric from Woolworths and Newberry's. I don't remember JC Penny carrying fabric but JC Penny's was a little out of our budget except for "special occassions".
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Originally Posted by ThayerRags
Discussions about old fabric stores (long before they were called “quilt shops”) on another thread got me & my wife to reminiscing about who sold fabric back years ago when she started sewing as a teenager, what fabric was available at the time, and how fabric was handled back then.
She didn’t get to buy much new fabric, but when she did, it was usually at Woolworth’s. Once in a while, she may have bought some at the JC Penney store, but she remembers Penney’s more for the stairway that you had to go up to get to the women’s and girl’s clothing. It wasn’t a full two-story building, but had departments and offices up on the second level. It seems to me that it had those air tubes that the clerk put a ticket and your money into a canister and shot it up to the office. Your change and receipt would come swooshing back down in a few minutes. Similar to modern drive-in banks, but the canisters were metal and only about the size of a small juice can. We have an old measuring/cutting table in our shop that has the meter mounted on the side of it from the days when fabric was measured and nicked with the meter, and then your fabric portion was ripped from the roll or bolt. We’ve never used it, but keep it set up just for fun. I found the meter along with two others up in the attic shortly after we bought the shop. The table or bench that it’s mounted on is 10’ long x 4’ wide x 2 1/2’ high, and has a storage area underneath. Can you remember where you first bought new fabric? For those who have never seen one, here’s a couple of photos of a fabric measuring meter. CD in Oklahoma I'm trying to remember when I'd have paid for my own fabric--late teens I guess. I started making most of my clothes when I was in 5th grade. But Mom was buying then. I don't know that I went to a store that was mostly a fabric store until I was well into my adult years. |
Originally Posted by klc
I also remember those meters. My first recollection is shopping for material with my mother. She would spend what seemed like hours looking at fabric. I would spend my time with my brother sitting on bolts and playing hide and seek under and around all the fabric. She mostly shopped at Montgomery Wards, but she also shopped at Penneys, Ben Franklins and Woolworths. She was an excellent seemstress. I wish I would have taken a liking to sewing myself way back when.
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Originally Posted by ThayerRags
Originally Posted by Cosy
Sometimes Mom would order from the Sears and Montgomery Wards (She called it Monkey Wards!) catalogs, but not often.
In an old Sears Summer Catalog from 1964, Sailcloth & Pique (all-cotton stretch fabric) was 97 cents per yard, Denim was $1.22, Duck was 74 cents, Poplin was 46 cents (39 cents, for 10 yards or more), and Knit-Look (non stretch) was 66 cents. All of them were 36-37 inches wide. The 42 inch wide Denim was 92 cents per yard, and the 44-inch Seersucker was 88 cents for the plain stripes and $1.13 for the prints. Dan River Bone-tones were 93 cents for the 36” wide. The 35” wide Ginghams were 58 cents per yard. The 36” wide all-cotton Oxford Prints & Solids were 66 cents per yard, and the 36” wide 124-thread per square inch Percale Prints & Solids (closest thing to today’s Quilting Fabric?) was a thrifty 29 cents per yard (27 cents for any 10 yards or more). CD in Oklahoma |
Originally Posted by suzee
The first place I bought fabric was JC Penney. Their fabric department was located in the basement. (The mezzanine was where the ladies' dept. was.) My mother didn't sew much, but I remember buying a length of yellow linen to make myself a dress when I was about 14. My mother chastised me for not buying green. It seemed that everything I owned at the time was green and I wanted something different. To this day I don't wear green!
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There was an independent fabric store in our small town--called Remnant House--those machines were too modern for that store! It had wood floors and used yard sticks nailed to tables and cut a notch in the fabric and ripped off the piece--they gave you plenty of extra in case it wasn't straight--this was in the 60's. Both my grandmothers and my mom sewed and when it was "penny an inch"--look out! lol That store was packed! Mother never let me or my sister take Home Ec is high school and was totally amazed when I went to college and became a registered dietitian which was in the Home Economics department--I got the last laugh--but I aced all those sewing classes thanks to her and my grandmas:)
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CD I want to thank you for this posting. As you can tell it has brought back many memories for a lot of us. I was in 4H and I think the first thing I made was a dress that I had to model at the Fresno County Fair. Thanks again it was fun looking back (way back)to when we were younger (a lot younger).BrendaK
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Woolworth's and the 5 & Dime were the places I got the fabric for my 4-H sewing projects using those machines. Trying to find the "new" 45" material - so the clothing patterns had different yardage layouts for 36" and 45" material.
I remember the move it an inch forward and back, depending on whether the previous rip put the fabric way out of a straight line - the cheaper materials were not always woven evenly so they didn't tear straight. Then you would get home and have to straighten out the tears by pulling a thread and cutting along the pulled thread line. So much work! |
Originally Posted by featherweight
Yes, I too remember those meter thingys. I used to get a lot of "Material" at Duckwalls, Hesteds, JC Pennys, Monkey Wards. Then we got the new "Cloth World".
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Originally Posted by VickyS
Woolworth's and the 5 & Dime were the places I got the fabric for my 4-H sewing projects using those machines. Trying to find the "new" 45" material - so the clothing patterns had different yardage layouts for 36" and 45" material.
I remember the move it an inch forward and back, depending on whether the previous rip put the fabric way out of a straight line - the cheaper materials were not always woven evenly so they didn't tear straight. Then you would get home and have to straighten out the tears by pulling a thread and cutting along the pulled thread line. So much work! |
Montgomery Ward sold fabric in the 1930s and had a Mezzanine and those whizzing money carriers on cables, before vacuums.
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Originally Posted by Anna.425
Alberta Chandler at A Stitch in Time taught me how to sew when I was 5. It was the original kids summer program and terrific fun. Remember kettle cloth. We made printed kettle cloth skirts, they might have even been called dirndl skirts. It was years before I realized the effect she actually had on my life. Alberta treated us like we could do anything if someone just taught us how and she gave us every opportunity. That is the kind of 1st grade teacher I became and it was wonderful.
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Originally Posted by GrannieAnnie
Originally Posted by VickyS
Woolworth's and the 5 & Dime were the places I got the fabric for my 4-H sewing projects using those machines. Trying to find the "new" 45" material - so the clothing patterns had different yardage layouts for 36" and 45" material.
I remember the move it an inch forward and back, depending on whether the previous rip put the fabric way out of a straight line - the cheaper materials were not always woven evenly so they didn't tear straight. Then you would get home and have to straighten out the tears by pulling a thread and cutting along the pulled thread line. So much work! But, if you pull a thread and cut along it, the fabric is not distorted along the edges of the cut like it is when it is pulled when the fabric is torn and the threads along the torn edges ravel a little bit. |
What a great discussion thread .. my memory is a bit fuzzy but I remember shopping at Hertel's in Pasadena, CA back in the 50s and I think that is where I first purchased fabric. Could have been a fabric store next door to them but don't recall the name of it.
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Yes! Mezzanine! Thank you! That’s the term I was looking for.
I wonder if the mezzanine was a sort of trade mark of JC Penney Stores? CD in Oklahoma[/quote] Mezzanine is not a JC Penney thing - just a term for what it was - kind of a partial floor that ran all around and you could look over the edge onto the first floor. I loved them as a child - haven't seen one in a long time. The Bon Ton department store in York, PA had one - a lunch room was on it plus other things I can't remember. Building is still there but is now an office building of some sort. Sandy in Mooresville, NC |
Thanks for the memory!
I had forgotten all about those meters. |
I remember kettle Cloth... I liked it for skirts and shorts... it was a bit stiff and would hold the shape rather nicely... and Cloth World is closed???? Wow! It goes fast!
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My son and daughter-in-law bought me a fabric meter for my birthday several years ago. It works, but not well. I would love to find a place to have it repaired or adjusted. Any hints?
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I don’t know if any of my meters work correctly or not. We haven’t planned on ever using them again, so I never have tried them.
As far as getting one calibrated for accuracy, I wouldn’t have a clue who might still do that. Which makes me wonder... Who was responsible for making sure that they measured correctly? Were there inspectors that went around checking the meters for accuracy? I don’t see any stickers on my meter that would indicate that it had been checked by an Official. Surely they didn’t depend on irate customers to let them know that their meter was out of whack! CD in Oklahoma |
Originally Posted by ThayerRags
I don’t know if any of my meters work correctly or not. We haven’t planned on ever using them again, so I never have tried them.
As far as getting one calibrated for accuracy, I wouldn’t have a clue who might still do that. Which makes me wonder... Who was responsible for making sure that they measured correctly? Were there inspectors that went around checking the meters for accuracy? I don’t see any stickers on my meter that would indicate that it had been checked by an Official. Surely they didn’t depend on irate customers to let them know that their meter was out of whack! CD in Oklahoma |
I think you’re right. The Bureau of Weighs & Measures used to check my gas pumps back in Colorado during the 70s, but they put a sticker on each pump so the customers could see that it had been inspected. Maybe they had a certificate posted nearby for the fabric meters?
CD in Oklahoma |
Originally Posted by ThayerRags
I don’t know if any of my meters work correctly or not. We haven’t planned on ever using them again, so I never have tried them.
As far as getting one calibrated for accuracy, I wouldn’t have a clue who might still do that. Which makes me wonder... Who was responsible for making sure that they measured correctly? Were there inspectors that went around checking the meters for accuracy? I don’t see any stickers on my meter that would indicate that it had been checked by an Official. Surely they didn’t depend on irate customers to let them know that their meter was out of whack! CD in Oklahoma I remember when the meters disappeared and I recall a clerk telling my mom that using the yardstick and the cutting groove were the new way to measure because the meters weren't as accurate. |
Originally Posted by Glassquilt
The meters worked well on woven fabric but not on knit which stretches. So while the meter reports 8yds in reality it might only be 7½yds.
What is the name of your very lovely avatar quilt, Glassquilt? It's a beauty! |
Originally Posted by jpthequilter
Originally Posted by GrannieAnnie
Originally Posted by VickyS
Woolworth's and the 5 & Dime were the places I got the fabric for my 4-H sewing projects using those machines. Trying to find the "new" 45" material - so the clothing patterns had different yardage layouts for 36" and 45" material.
I remember the move it an inch forward and back, depending on whether the previous rip put the fabric way out of a straight line - the cheaper materials were not always woven evenly so they didn't tear straight. Then you would get home and have to straighten out the tears by pulling a thread and cutting along the pulled thread line. So much work! But, if you pull a thread and cut along it, the fabric is not distorted along the edges of the cut like it is when it is pulled when the fabric is torn and the threads along the torn edges ravel a little bit. Oops, I misunderstood the post. Sorry! |
Originally Posted by flowerjoy
I remember kettle Cloth... I liked it for skirts and shorts... it was a bit stiff and would hold the shape rather nicely... and Cloth World is closed???? Wow! It goes fast!
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The basement of Ben Franklin - which had the money canisters as well. What a great memory. They had the best grilled cheese bread hot dogs on the planet! The bread was grilled on both sides, the dogs were split open and grilled, and the whole thing was served open faced with as many dill pickles as you could eat. Heaven! (Of course, my travels back then were about 50 miles radius from where I lived, so it's possible someone else had better hot dogs...)
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We had two dime stores in our neighborhood where we bought fabric. When we visited our grandmother in Georgia, we bought at Penney's. The JoAnn's here still uses the meter for measuring decorator fabric and batting.
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Originally Posted by justflyingin
I remember when the meters disappeared and I recall a clerk telling my mom that using the yardstick and the cutting groove were the new way to measure because the meters weren't as accurate.
The table was set up for two cutters to work at the same time on opposite sides of the table. Each cutter had a small drawer just below the top for tools, and the rest of the area under the table was for storage and has sliding doors on two sides. BTW - Rawdon E. Tomlinson, the “T” in TG&Y, was from Frederick Oklahoma and back in 1935 was one of the founders of the TG&Y chain of stores. CD in Oklahoma TG&Y Cutting Table [ATTACH=CONFIG]217954[/ATTACH] |
Usually bought my fabric out of the Sears catalog. The only fabric stores around were small and very expensive.
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I remember those fabric meters used to stretch the double knit my mother bought at KMart. She hated those meters because she always got shorted on her fabric. Remember double knit??
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