Vintage Fabrics  - IN SEARCH OF WARP ENDS By Joan Kiplinger Join Joan's New Vintage Fabric Discussion List!

printer friendly versionRevised 7/15/01! More Pictures Page 1,  Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7 and Page 8!

June/July, 2000:

Bias Tape–the great sewing room labor saver
(With Accompanying Bias Tape Brands Chart)

So advertised Wm. E. Wright & Sons in 1917. The magazine ad proclaimed "great for children’s dresses, summer dresses, aprons, negligees and finishing lingerie." Probably there wasn’t and isn’t a sewer who wouldn’t agree to that claim.

It’s difficult to say when commercial bias tape as we know it today arrived on the market. Both wide bias and circular skirt facings seem to have made the earliest appearance in the early 1880s when there was a competitive market for skirt facings, an essential protection in an era when skirts were floor length and most streets were not paved.

Warren Featherbone Co of Three Oaks, Michigan began operations in 1883 producing a variety of notions; but there is no information whether bias tape was part of its initial line or when it was introduced.

William Wright first peddled his bias tape from a wagon, then opened a store in 1897 in New York City after conceiving and making a practical method of card winding and unit packaging of bias tape for retail sales, according to company records. Apparently consumer acceptance of prepackaged tape was so good that in 1922, because of a need for expanded production facilities, the company moved to Orange, New Jersey.

However, these dates by no means preclude earlier availability of bias tape. Because of lack of dating information, I have not been able to determine yet the first manufacturer, American or foreign – sometimes we forget that Americans are not the first to invent.

Regardless who was first, a universal description of bias tape was proclaimed in the Ladies Home Journal, April 1898 issue in its Home Dressmaker column in answer to a query: "Cloth trimming consists principally of bias bands stitched on or near the turned edge of vests, yokes, belts, sleeves, pocket fronts, etc., using it as you would any band trimming and contrasting material as well."

As great fashion changes from the elegant and sophisticated Edwardian to simpler and more casual styles evolved at the beginning of the World War I years,. bias tape’s versatility increased. Witness the large selection of bias tape listed on Wright’s early cards which deemed its product MOST ELASTICITY– It’s in the Making and contained this information:

. Materials –nine fabrics including taffeta and washable silk [these and later additions are listed on chart accompanying this article]; 28 cotton colors including reseda [greenish white color of mignonette flower, probably what we call celery] and 32 silk colors. Color guarantee did not include taffeta and soft-finish silks as they were not intended for laundering.

. Widths –13 different widths from ¼" to 1" width; 1/16^th of an inch difference between successive widths.

. Yardage – black and white came in 6 and 12-yard lengths for cotton and 3 and 6-yard lengths for silk; colored cotton, 3 and 6 yards; colored silks, 3 yards.

. Reverse side of card promoted Wright’s tapes as the only ones to use with a sewing machine binder attachment.

(To view the detail of any of these pictures, click on them.)

Cards were printed in full color as well as in red and black. John Martin’s name appeared only on the color cards. Wrappers did not advertise the spool sets; one would only discover them as they unfolded bias tape or peeked underneath.

Bland and complacent as the bias tape industry would have you believe, the companies were anything but. Along with other industries they came under scrutiny in the late 1920s- early 30s when many labor and productions standards were circumspect so that when the National Recovery Act became law in 1933, a Code of Fair Competition for the Bias Tape Industry was enacted in May 1934. after public hearings.

For bias tape workers, it meant guaranteed minimum wage and uniform fair wage, work week and employment standards. The industry at that time employed 610 workers with a total investment of $1,363,000. For employers it meant industry-wide rehabilitation – creating an open-price association or fair-trade practices, elimination of monopolies or monopolistic practices and of discrimination against small enterprises, and promoting cooperation between labor and management to set fair employment standards and policies.

Shows you what 610 angry voices in unison can bring about.

Bias tape was an indispensable sewing need during the 1920s-40s, then tapering off as fashions changed and as sewing machine technology provided more sophisticated alternatives to garment and home decor finishing. Sometime during the latter part of the 1970s honest-to-goodness bias tape disappeared. What remains on the shelf today is a sad remnant. A Wright’s Ideas book, selling for $1 in 1974, shows some decorative uses for tape, but lacks the enthusiasm of earlier publications.

It is this very fact that makes collecting old bias tape important to vintage fabric collectors for construction and repair. First, you can’t run to the store to buy it. Second, were it possible to do so, color and fabric selection you might need at that moment wouldn’t necessarily be the current fashion statement and therefore not in stock. Fortunately, old bias tape is available in an amazing array of colors and fabrics, thanks to online auctions, flea markets, antique stores and estate/yard sales.

It is beneficial to never stop searching; you will be amazed at what you amass in a short time. In fact collecting becomes downright greed. The addiction or seduction begins innocently enough by buying old bias tape just to have cotton.

As the pile grows, you become aware there are various grades and types of cotton ranging from sheer to opaque, from fine to coarse. Thus begins a subcollection of acquiring as many different fabrics as possible; of course you will want all the colors, prints and novelties so now a sub-subcollection emerges. And of course the Spool and Zoo Pet series and variations are must-haves, too.

You then begin to notice a proliferation of brand names; this starts a serious quest for a wrapper collection which leads to another subcollection of wrappers for the same company in chronological order. Then rickrack and seam bindings make an appearance and then you want matching thread on wood spools…..they are lurking out there, waiting to grab you.

At some point you will require extra storage space; after all you will need duplicates because who in their right mind wants to destroy a beautifully preserved package and ruin a collection.

What can you do with bias tape besides collect it? The brave will actually use it for quilting, home décor, children’s clothes and various accessories. If you are a saver who cannot throw out odds and ends of tape, consider making a braid trim as shown in the photo in this article.

One way to make use of bias tape scraps -- create a braid trim. Contributed by Diane Cucci

As a project to help vintage collectors on the path to bias tape dementia, the following chart has been compiled to show the many companies manufacturing bias tape and other notions. You will be surprised at the number of brands, and there are probably more unknowns waiting to be discovered. As far as I know, all those listed are domestic.

This chart is by no means complete and is meant to be an ongoing project. As you will see by the empty spaces, there are a lot holes to plug , especially company history which is intended to capture beginning and ending dates and other trivia.

Examples of combining wave braid and interlaced rickrack with crocheted embellishment.From the collections of Diane Cucci and Trisha Smith.

We encourage you to join in this project. Make a printout for a handy reference. Notice content in each column. Check your wrappers to see if they contain any information not listed on the chart. Don’t be fooled because you may have the same wrapper brand[s]; wrapper design and information changed sometimes at will. Record any new information as you continue to find it. And please forward that information to Jessie and Judith at fabrics.net. As this chart will always be available, your participation will help to keep it current.

Your input is also welcome if you have any information to update or to add to this column

Many helped in supplying text for the column and in the compilation of this chart including members of the Quiltropolis vintage fabrics list. My profound thanks to Thelma Bernard who provided information from the Ladies Home Journal issues; Shirley McElderry for Spool and Zoo Pet and chart information; Diane Cucci, Julienne Stewart and Katherine Smith for photos; Sharon Stark and Trisha Smith for photos and chart additions; Leona Stormoen for page 5, page 6, page 7 and chart additions; Robin VanLoon for chart additions; and Elaine Good, Nan Jaeger and Linda Learn for Wright’s information and chart additions; Anne Papworth for chart additions and pictures. At fabrics.net to Judith for hosting and enabling this project and to Jessie who has been elected High Grand Keeper of the Chart.

UPDATES

1. Vintage fabric collector/dealer sites to visit: Julienne Stewart at http://www.juliennes.com and Sharon Stark of Sharon Antiques at http://www.rickrack.com

2. If you have not already joined the vintage fabrics discussion group with its historical eboard, check in at http://www.Quiltropolis.com Access mailing lists, select vintage fabrics and you’re on your way.

Next [July]: The Pre-WWWI Paris Designer Label Scandal—Which Has the Toni? Does Your Collection Harbor Fakes??

August: Fast Times at Textile High – Vintage Sweatshops and Fraud Meet the Law

Joan Kiplinger is an antique doll costumer and vintage fabric addict who learned to sew on her grandmother's treadle and has been peddling fabrications ever since.