I forgot all about that too! Hadn't even thought about them in a long time. It is funny that just mentioning that gadget brings back memories of my old local fabric store!

Wow! I didn't consider myself old, but here it is... I worked at a fabric store that used those measuring devices! I MUST be ancient :lol: The device was set on a bar that attached to the table. No slipping. and we were told to be accurate, no extra inch. Ah well.

Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

The memory of this dates me, too. I'd be so happy to be getting my fabric cut and the sound when they punched it to start the cut always made me feel like "Yay! It's gonna be mine!"

Fabric stores quit using the Measurematics (or whatever the brand was at your store) when knit fabrics became plentiful. If you tried to pull knits through the gadget they stretched something fierce. They were also not cheap to lease. (Most companies didn't sell them, they leased them to shops.)

Pati, in Phx

About tearing fabric.
In the "old days" fabric was manufactured a bit differently. As with everything else technology has affected the end result at the fabric plant. <G> If you remember those old cottons that were torn off the bolt, you had to iron them or they stayed a wrinkled mess.
Well, When "Permanent Press" clothes started appearing, the home sewists also wanted to be able to make clothing that didn't need real ironing, just the occasional touch up. So a "non wrinkle finish" was developed for fabrics. However, the "non wrinkle finish" also sets the grain of the fabric. It will return to the grain as it is set at the time the finish is applied. So, while we used to tug and pull fabric on the diagonal to straighten the grain, that doesn't work now. To "straighten" the grain of the fabric wash it and dry it. press as needed. That is how the grain will return when it is washed. Regardless of how much you tug it around.
Good things are not always totally perfect. <G> (By the way, one reason Home Dec fabrics are more expensive is that a lot more care is taken to make sure the grain is straight and perpendicular. That adds to the cost of manufacture, as do some of the extra finishes added to Home Dec fabrics. )

Have fun,
Pati, in Phx

I didn't know they still made these things. Years ago the local store had one on the counter to measure fabrics. It was neat. Wish I had one.

I remember those! Haven't thought about them in years. I wonder why they quit using them in the first place. I just bought fabric at my lqs and was very pleased at how the fabric was cut. All of it was a little bit more, not on the nose. :lol:

Oh my goodness, I haven't seen one of those in sooo long. I think the old Ben Franklin in Newaygo MI is the last place that I seen one being used. Oh for the good old days of measuring fabric accurately

Pati,
That's very good information to know. I learned to sew before permanent press and non-wrinkle finishes for yard goods. Since I've started quilting, I've been wondering if I should be trying to straighten the grain like I used to when sewing clothes years ago. I'm gathering from what you wrote that after the fabric is washed and pressed I should just consider the grain/s to be parallel to and at 90 degrees to the selvedges.

JoAnns measures the Home Dec fabric with those machines. Don't know why they would not use them for all fabric.

[quote=DoxieMom]Pati,
That's very good information to know. I learned to sew before permanent press and non-wrinkle finishes for yard goods. Since I've started quilting, I've been wondering if I should be trying to straighten the grain like I used to when sewing clothes years ago. I'm gathering from what you wrote that after the fabric is washed and pressed I should just consider the grain/s to be parallel to and at 90 degrees to the selvedges.


Not necessarily. But what I am saying is that whatever the angle of the grain is, that is what it will return to. If you are lucky it is at a 90° angle to the selvedge, but it may not be.
But our ancestors didn't really worry about grain line in small pieces. And if you look closely at some of the beautiful antique quilts that are considered treasures, a lot of the pieces are not cut on grain. Our foremothers used what they had, every bit of it. <G>

I also learned to sew in the days of finding the straight of grain and making sure that grains were perpendicular. But things do change. (I also learned directional sewing, and a lot of different things that are now considered to be inaccurate..... they worked for the fabrics and tools of the time. <G>)

Pati, in Phx

Pati,
Thanks very much for the additional information!

[quote=Pati- in Phx]

Oh my goodness! What a blast from the past! I had totally forgotten about them! I remember them, but can't remember where. I think cloth world had one, but I remember going somewhere with my mom that used one too.

I remember them from JCPenney's, House of Fabrics, Fabricland, etc. They were fun to use but I remember that sometimes they weren't completely accurate.

Yes they have one at the Joann's close to me but I only see them use it on very large bolts and on upholstery fabric.

Gee, I remember these, where did they go and why?

Great meomories--that is what I remember too--the clock that measured fabric!!! I hate getting home and finding that I am short an in. because the fab was cut crocked!!

My curtain shop has had one for years. It does measure the length of fabric through it making the process easy and faster. Ask if you can have a close look at it the next time you are in the shop and watch how it works, that way you can be sure of it's accuracy for yourself. I would still make sure that it was the right amount, the shop should give you an extra inch or so JUST INCASE IT IS OUT A BIT.

That's where I saw it too. I was looking at her unrolling the batting and thinking....What is she doing?...So I asked. Pretty cool I think.

Funny! I was telling my daughter about these "measuring tools" just the other day.

I would love for the quilting/fabric stores to start using those again. How many of you have had to stand and wait because they lost count and have to start again? I love my local (45min away) LQS, when they cut their half yards are 19" and their full yards are 38 inches. It is always so great when the owner is a quilter so they know what to do and do it right.

I know it is the wrong thing to do, but I can't stand to watch some of them cut my fabric. I turn around and try to ignore them to a point. I watch long enough to see them count the yardage. I have actually bought fabric and by the time it is washed and evened out, the piece is too small for the intended project. I live 40 miles from town, so I can't just run back to the store for more. It really is frustrating.

K mart had them years ago (yes, KMart had a fabric department)
Woolworth's had them too (yes, Woolworth's had a fabric department)

When stores got rid if their fabric departments, it was like 20 cents a yard

My aunt had one of those in the fabric dept. of the general merchandise store the family owned. I wish I had picked it up before they tore the old store down in the late sixties.

I have one of these if you would like to buy it but it is real heavy postage might be a lot.
Linda

Thanks, that's very nice of you, but it's a sentimental thing -- I would have wanted hers.

I bought fabric at Fant's in Guntersville,AL this past Saturday, and they used one.

Oh, that takes me back to when I was a little girl. Every Wednesday my grandma and I would go to town for groceries, and we'd stop by the mall and go to Penney's fabric dept. I loved watching the woman pull that fabric through the machine. I can remember exactly how it sounded. Years later the mall closed, and they turned it into an elementary school that I taught at for awhile.

Joann's has that thing. God bless.

I know about the distance problem. I live about 50 miles from Ipswich and my favourite fabric shop, so I have to make sure I have enough so I buy at least a a metre more especially if it is on special.

Back many, many years ago, when I was learning to sew, the wonderful fabric shop in my hometown had one of those machines, Crystal Lake (Illinois). I haven't been there in many years, thanks for taking me on a trip down memory lane. Perhaps soon I should take a road trip!

Those should be a permanent part of fabric stores today. They are so accurate. Childhood memories!

Yeah, I remember that also.

I remember the Woolworth store and Newberry's had those when I was a kid-centuries ago.

I remember those things.Back in1967 (that will date me) I worked in roses dept. store. Every now in then I worked in the fabric dept. and used one. Wonder why they don't use them anymore?