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.