I love looking around online at what other people sew, especially dresses, and this means that I look at a lot of Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian blogs. They make some great dresses, and power to them for wearing what they love to wear without caring about “what’s in”. But can I just say, unless you’re going for complete anti-decoration in your wardrobe (which some are, that’s fine) cotton quilt fabric is not the only fabric you can make dresses out of!!!! GAH!!
I know it’s cheap, and easy to sew with, and I guess if all your friends have dresses like that then it seems like the thing to do. But I’m just so sick of looking at these dresses from great patterns that could be so lovely, except for the fact that they are made out of garish, bright, stiff cotton quilt fabric. I’m not talking about fundamentalist communities who only choose from lists of specific pre-determinted patterns or fabric, I’m talking about the people who just think wearing modest dresses most of the time is a good idea, and make them because they’re impossible to find at the mall.
And just to throw in a Bible verse, Proverbs 31, the Virtuous Woman (or Mighty Woman, as my husband has told me it could be translated as. How cool does that sound?):
13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
There we have wool, flax (linen) and silk listed, not to mention “purple” and “tapestry” which probably means expensive and detailed, as far as I can tell. Maybe they didn’t even have cotton, I don’t know. But I think the point is still made.
Get some linen or something, people! I would rather have one linen dress than a closetfull of ugly cotton print dresses.
Now I’m off to finish sewing my silk chiffon number…ha!
I sew admittedly very little, but I find it odd? disturbing? that so much of fabric stores are devoted to quilting fabrics. And then there is a hierarchy of quilting fabrics stores – if you are a true quilter, you would never buy your fabric at the chain store, opting instead for the local (read more expensive) quilt shop. I seem to remember there being a lot more variety in fabrics when I was younger (that is, when I was a child and my mother made my clothes). Do you find this true in your experience or am I way out of my league?
Yes, I’ve found that to be the case. The Jo-Ann in my home town of Manhattan, Kansas had far less quilting stuff than fashion stuff. I believe it took up one wall and a couple aisles. In Orem, the quilting stuff takes up like half the fabric section. However, the store in Orem is much bigger than the one in Manhattan, and has more of a variety of fashion fabrics, and more to choose from. Therefore, I like the store here better. But usually I buy things from online fabric stores. It’s much cheaper and there’s more variety.
And it’s weird about the store hierarchy. I’d like to show the quilt fabric snobs the hundreds of awesome, completely hand-stitched quilts my grandma has made, and she shops at Jo-Ann all the time. When I’m an old lady I want to make quilts like she does.
Moab has no fabric shops but an incredibly active quilting community. Oddly when they need fabric it seems to magically appear at the Senior center in the cupboards.
We’re putting on a “Quilt Show” from May through June.
Though Moab doesn’t have a fabric shop though we do have a weaving/knitting shop that’s pretty cool.
I’m glad to know that Samuel is listening to the occasional Hebraisms I throw his way. It’s nice to be appreciated.
Cotton would have been rare enough in Israel that even a Virtuous Woman would not have been expected to work in it. It would have been imported from India or Egypt (although her best Linen would probably have been imported from Egypt, too). The use of cotton is very, well American, as a quick glance at our history will show.
That being said, linen is a lot of fun, although I tend to prefer wool. But not in the Summer.