My borther gave me a ton of fabric and some is marked and most are not. How do I find out what it made of. I know I have about 50 to 60 rolls of fabric, 100 to 200 on a bolts. Any ideals?

You could send it my way and Id be able to help... :mrgreen:
Just kidding...the ends of the bolts dont say?

that is my problem is does not say. Some look like cotton but has a shine to it so I am not sure what it is.

You are so lucky. To test what it is, I usually cut a small piece and light a corner of it. If it shreds off, it is a natural fiber, like cotton or wool. If there is any melting - it is polyester.

the fire test cotton doesn't melt everything else does. cut a piece and burn a corner if it burns and doesn't melt it is cotton. If it has a little flame but melts or burns and you can feel little hard beads when it goes out it is a fake fiber.

thank you, I will try that out. :lol:

what is a fake fiber?

After I burn the fabric I feel the burn end. If I feel little "beads" I know it is not 100% cotton.

The fire test below are accurate and man that must have been like Christmas receiving so many bolts of fabric. You will be sewing long past when the cows come home!

Thank you all, I have my work cut out , I am trying log everything he gave me so I will know what I have wish me luck. He is a great brother he gave it to me to help me out. I had Cancer and he wanted me to sell it to help with medical bills. With a brother like that who cares what the doctors says. :lol:

I have seen a lot of nice quilts that were made out of cottons and cotton/poly blends. Just make sure that you prewash everything when mixing fabric types. Some people believe in only using cottons, some happily mix all kinds of fabrics... Wall hangings that do not get washed often/or never, they use all kinds of fabrics...
Be creative with these wonderful gifts from your DB and most of all....
Have Fun!!! :wink: :D :D :D

Congratulations!
After awhile, you will start picking up indicators that tell you if it is polyesther, a blend, or 100% cotton.
I am with Amma ... if I like a color or the fabric fits, I use it no matter what the blend is as long as the weight is similar.
fake fabric is polyesther (actually a byproduct of oil/gasoline)
I have found over the years, that I can tell by making a cut what I am working with - - cotton will cut cleanly ... polyesther starts wisping off on the cut edge ... and, if you are still not sure, give the edge of the cut a rub and see what happens next.
The burn test is the most accurate, I would suppose ... there is also a smell that happens with natural fibers burning ... like hair being burnt, while the other fabrics have an acidic, biting air.
The small beads from the burning of polyesther comes from the fact that they are oil-based ... it has been said that you could start fire to all the plastic in the world, and it would never disappear, it just shrivels on itself and turns into a ball!
I love plastic, don't get me wrong ... I have tried to figure out how to create an outdoor oven for melting all the plastic we have into some kind of rock for a retaining wall ... so far, my family thinks I am too crazy to even bother to try to fulfill my latest whim! :?

Where are you? I'll be right over.LOL There is a way to find out if it's a 100% cotton, cotton poly blend or wool by burning a small piece of the fabric, unfortunately I don't know where the test is on my computer. Maybe someone else can help you.

Some 100% cottons have that shine because they are made with a certain type of process. I call those fabrics "polished cottons", but many people will refer to them as "chintz".

Thay can still be 100% cotton, so I also recommend the burn test.

Best of luck to you. If you need some help using up those materials, I'll bet you will find a lot of us here who would be willing tocome over and help you out!

Odessa

I found this site on the web:http://www.ditzyprints.com/dpburnchart.html, it lists all kinds of fabrics

That's it, I'm booking the plane tickets right now! lol!

Whatever fabric it is and whatever you decide to make, I really do hope you get many many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Damkina

I really want to start burning fabric corners to try this out! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Here is the site that has Fiber Burn Test Chart that I use

http://www.fiber-images.com

Congratulations on surviving cancer.

Have fun and enjoy making those quilts and other projects to help defray your medical costs. Maybe have an auction or raffle for the quilts to help raise the money.

I would suggest that as long as you don't mix types of fabrid within a quilt, it should be fine. I have seen lots of poly blend quilts that turn out fine, even poly knits (yuck). It depends on if you want to make a quilt for showmanship or function. There are so many needy folks that would be happy for anything.If you have that much fabric, you could surely find combo's of color that look great together.

Once I had 4 big black garbage bags full of various knits. I made them into 14 large quilts (similar to a blizzard quilt) to send them to disaster folks (can't remember which disaster it was, but I do remember it was a cold climate. I never saw the faces of those who received them, but I could feel the happiness in my heart. They actually were kinda pretty!

What a great brother you have. Have lots of fun with all that fabric.

I've found several sites but particularly like the first.

http://quilting.about.com/od/fabrice.../burn_test.htm
I like about.com because they have almost everything; at the end of this article are more topics of interest for quilters.

http://www.lindrix.com/fabcontent.html
Easily read chart

http://www.fiber-images.com/Free_Thi...ent_guide.html
this is also in a chart format but I think the last column should have been the first;-)

http://www.fabrics.net/fabricsr.asp

http://www.fabriclink.com/University/BurnTest.cfm

Hope this helps.

thank you , you guys are the best !!!

I have made a lot of crib quilts - all washable, of course. I wash what ever fabric I find that has a design I like. Then I iron the pieces -if they don't shrink, nor stick to the iron-and look well with only a pass over from the iron, I feel free to use them. I don't worry about what they are made of, only that they will wear and wash well. Many mixtures of materials are better than pure cotton, I find. I do use cotton flannel for backings, as it stays so nice and soft. My great grandchildren love them.

great ideal!! :)

One way you can tell 100% cotton and cotton-poly mix is to snip a piece and burn it. I usually stand at my sink and hold the fabric with tongs and light it. I put it out with running water. If the piece feels hard and melted looking in the burned area, there is polyester in the fabric. If the burned area is soft and looks like burned paper, then it is 100% polyester. Hope this helps.

I can't help with the content, but are you going to sell it, or quilt with it?
Your brother must own a fabric factory! He sure owns a big heart. :D

It could be a polished cotton.

are polished cotton and chintz the same product?

And, if you wash polished/chintz ... doesn't it end up being cotton anyway?

Chintzed cotton, is just the same, apart from the fact it has been passed through a hot roller which gives the surface the flat sheen. (My ex was a textile designer/printer!)

I think your brother is the best!! Can't wait to see what you make with it all!! Please post lots of pictures :D

Also, if it is chintz it doesn't wash well.

what happens if you wash chintz?
and, the polished cotton feels almost like flannel?

Omak.. I always thought of Chintz as being a heavier version of polished cotton.. usually used for curtains and upholstery type things. And they are both still cotton.. but the finish is not lost on polished cotton when washed, it still retains a sheen. Way back when there was also "cotton satin" another shiny version of a cotton finish. Pima cotton is another version, very light weight with a different length of fiber and has a bit of a sheen on both sides. pretty much reversable

I have sold some but it is hard to sell if you don't know what it is and how much to sell it for. I have some gorgeous Brocade with butterfly on it. Not sure what I can do with it. Hope to learn how to quilt where my squares match up. then I hope to do a dinner plate quilt. You guys have given me alot ideals. this is half of the fun to see what You come up with. I know I need to get some organization going to see just what I have . and Yes my brother has a big heart.

I booked marked each site. Thank you again. I feel your love for quilting and for others. I can not thank you guy enough.Have a bless day. for you have Blessed me.

I want to thank everyone , I did use the burn test on a lot of the fabric I had. I was bummed out for a few days most of it is poly and not cotton. Maybe a blend with cotton. I am back to the drawing board. What to do with it. I want to use only cotton in my quilts. I do have friends who sew for a living and willing to give me there scraps. God opened a window so his light could filled my heart with peace.

Tote bags and purses are good ways to use fabric that isn't 100% cotton. There are a jillion patterns available for both.

Tote bags make great gifts for all the little kids in your life! Even little boys can appreciate a "tractor" bag to haul toys around in.

I went through my mom's fabric too - and picked out only the cotton.

My sister and I were going through boxes of fabric -

We lit a candle - then put the candle and an ash tray in/on a large metal cake pan - I had a pitcher of water handy, too - just in case.

I snipped off a piece of fabric about 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long - held it with tweezers over the candle until it flamed

Most man-made fibers (I think rayon might be an exception) burn with black smoke. Like others have said, they will either make very hot globs or leave a hard or crispy ash.

THE RESIDUE FROM MAN-MADE FIBERS ALSO STAYS HOT LONGER THAN THE COTTON RESIDUE after the flame goes out.

I know this because I just had to feel the ash before it cooled down. And got sore fingers.

Cotton always leaves an ash that literally powders in one's fingers. So does wool. I don't know anything about silk or linen.

Wool has a different smell from cotton.

Nothing wrong with using whatever works in a piece.

My personal preference is to keep the weights and fiber contents about the same, but other than that - - -

Some cotton poly blends are lovely and stay nice for years. (There are some that are not so nice, too)

It is fine to be a purist and only want cotton, but there is also something to be said for using what you have to make practical items.
The totes are an absolutely wonderful idea ...
but, I have to tell you that if I need a color, or I need fabric, I will use whatever I have.
The biggest reason to need to know which is cotton and which is polyesther is: when you set the seams ... poly does not play nice with a hot iron :?
I have found some amazing poly that seems to handle the hot iron just fine, as witnessed by a recent Day Camp we had, and I forgot to mention to the "iron lady" that you might want to keep an eye out for such and such fabric ... however ... I even forgot to tell my "sewing ladies" and no one seemed to have any problems at all!
When I use poly in a quilt, it is always best to use the pieces fairly quickly, since they have a tendency to string off, if left to their own devices ... although ... with the blends, doesn't seem to be a problem, either.
If you really choose not to use the poly fabric, Project Linus, or any other organization that makes charity quilts will use what you donate - - and, be glad for it. :wink:

You could make a bunch of tote bags and sell them. May in Jersey

What a fabulous brother you have!!! So wonderful to try to help you out like that. You are truly blessed!!