Thrift store find!
07-04-2010, 07:50 AM
#52
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Ojai, CA
Posts: 883
Originally Posted by grammo
You are right. I wore a lot of feed sack dresses as a little girl. My grandma also made a lot of aprons. My aunt just passed away and I got all the old aprons. Some have never been used. I am thinking about using the material to make a quilt.
07-04-2010, 08:29 AM
#54
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 6
I am 73 years old. When I was a child, I joined 4H and we made all of our clothes out of feed sacks. I think a lot of the bulk items came in them, including flour, sugar, coffee, animal feed. The kids today think I am crazy when I talk about feed sacks. Didn't know there was any around anymore.
07-04-2010, 08:42 AM
#56
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 6
Feedsacks were originally made of cotton with the manufacturer's name woven into a strip across the middle of the cloth. Many women raised chickens for "egg money" and used the sacks to make dish towels and other items. It was during the depression when every little bit of fabric was a prize. However, women complained about the "strip" in the middle because they had to cut it out and would lose the "whole" piece of cloth. Not sure who thought this up, but someone had the brilliant idea to start making feedsacks (and yes, sugar sacks and flour sacks were also used) out of printed cloth. And, as the saying goes, "the rest is history." During WWII my mother made all of our clothes out of feedsacks (even her dresses). She made curtains, towels, pillow cases, etc. Hope this little history lesson helps some of you younger quilters!
07-04-2010, 09:41 AM
#57
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Colfax, LA
Posts: 346
When I was small (in the 40's), I would go with my grandfather to the feed store and pick out the sacks I liked for my grandmother to make my next new dress. He'd have to buy a couple or three bags (as I grew) of whatever feed he needed so guarantee enough fabric in that particular pattern. Then, I'd go home and look in the catalogs (Sears, Montgomery Ward, etc.) for a dress I liked, and my grandmother would make it WITHOUT A PATTERN. She could just look at the picture, cut it out, and sew it up on her treadle machine, which I now proudly own. I now realize what a talented seamstress she was. I wouldn't dare tackle making a dress with puffed sleeves and sometimes a pinafore and panties or bloomers to go with it (those usually made from flour sacks which were finer weaves) unless I had a pattern.
07-04-2010, 10:00 AM
#58
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 82
My mother called it"The Rolling Store" and yes she made our dresses out of feed sacks and flour sacks. The flour sacks were much softer cloth than the feed sacks. She saved sacks from fertilizer and used them for undergarments. Sorta rough ha ha
oh but what a memory! thanks for bringing it back
great find u r so lucky
oh but what a memory! thanks for bringing it back
great find u r so lucky
07-04-2010, 10:04 AM
#59
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Full Time RV'er
Posts: 485
Like many of you I had dresses made from flour, sugar, feed sacks. Many of the vintage quilts I have are made from these sacks. I remember going to the store with my Grannie to find another sack like one we already had so we could make a dress. I probably had underwear made from them also but don't remember. We lived on a farm in very rural Kansas. I believe beans and cornmeal also came in these sacks. We made a lot of cornbread and beans. Since I am restoring some of the vintage quilts, I am very jealous of your find. Congrats!
07-04-2010, 10:31 AM
#60
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Dallas, OREGON
Posts: 348
Originally Posted by Gal
Thanks Cathie, I thought it was flour or something like that, how lovely, I bet they are well prized nowadays! Very pretty prints!
Gal
Gal
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