I am just so excited!!! I spend a lot of time in the store looking at fabric while it's open on the cutting table, and looking at fabric includes noticing the selvedge. I will talk briefly about what a selvedge is and why is is worth mentioning, but first, I have to tell you how much fun they are becoming. Look!
Aren't they fun? The little pictures fit the fabric! I am dancing around in front of my computer because I am so thrilled to see these photos again!
A selvedge is the edge of a piece of fabric. It's on both sides, and runs parallel to the warp, or lengthwise threads of a piece of weaving. They keep the edges of the fabric from unravelling, and are often a tighter weave than the fabric and may have little holes where the edge is fastened to the loom.
Usually people cut off the selvedge before they use the fabric, because since it is a different weave than the fabric, it can shrink differently and warp the fabric. Most people throw it out, but some creative folks are using them to make pot holders, oven mitts, and other small quilts. I've even seen them representing book spines on a quilted book shelf.
They also usually have the designer's or manufacturer's name on them, and also show the different colours that went into the fabric's printed side. For a very long time, these colours were shown in little circles, like the top photo above. Recently, designers and/or manufactuers are having some fun, and showing the colours in little shapes.
The first one I noticed was the little reindeers when I opened a new Chrsitmas line to cut fat quearters. I was tickled pink and probably drove my co-worker nuts, because I had to, right away, open all the other bolts to see what their selvedges were like.
I guess I'm less observant than I thought, because a couple of people told me, with great patience, that new shapes have been used for a year or two, but even though that first discovery might have been late, it remains in my mind in great detail, I still get a kick out of each new selvedge discovery.
Fabric is fun, what can I say.
And the fun begins even before I sew it into something wonderful.
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