Favorite Fabrics

Does anybody know what does happen to the strike-offs, the initial test printings that the fabric manufacturers have made, so that they can approve the design and colors before doing their large production runs?

I think that most of the strike-offs go back to the manufacturer (from the overseas printing mills) and become sample swatches for their sales force, or demo projects that can be displayed at Quilt Market or shown on their blogs and websites, to help sell the collection.

But I wonder what happens to the rejects? As in, if somebody at the mill loads the wrong greige goods onto the printing machine... or uses a color of dye that's not quite right... or they forget to load in one screen, so a color is missing... you get the picture.

Do they trash it? Sell it off as pound goods (for recycling)? Does it get sold as no-name seconds?

Anyone here know more about this aspect of the business?

BellaBoo

I believe all mistakes are sold to a fabric broker who then sells it to another distributor or directly to a store. I doubt it is destroyed when money can be made from it.

patricej

rumors abound about this. the haters will have a field day with this topic. we will now almost certainly see page after page of sworn testimony that it all winds up at joann's and walmart. :roll:

the only way to know exactly what a manufacturer does is to write and ask. don't believe anything you haven't seen in writing from a manufacturer, on their corporate letterhead. everything else is pure speculation.

Spydee

Well, I am coming at this from a completely different perspective.

I have lived in Asia and I am pretty darn convinced that the strike-offs end up at local markets (the place where most people shop). Fabric is often marked with a marker where the error occurred. I have seen where a dye-lot error is marked on the edge and the offending color is circled on the selvage in both Korean and English.

I know that the stall owners often purchases directly from the factory "store." Remember that a lot of quality fabric is manufactured in Korea and Japan. Why would a manufacturer ship it all the way back to the US when there is a viable alternative?

Whether this is done with the blessing of the the likes of Moda, Free Spirit, etc., who knows. But I can say with a fair bit of confidence, that not all strike-offs end up at the likes of WalMart and Jo Anns.

Candace

I wish they were donated to charities, but I think what Spydee proposes is closer to the truth. Why pay shipping to sell them off locally. Trip to Korea and China anyone? :>

quilterjody

Here is a link to lots of information regarding fabric quality and greige goods.

http://www.fabrics.net/cotqual.asp

ckcowl

walmart probably gets them.

in all seriousness, unfortunately there can in fact be lots of waste...those people lucky enough to live near fabric manufacturers or designers can really make out well! so much is simply tossed in the dumpster! it is sometimes possible to contact these places and get permission to (dumpster-dive) it is not always the case, but too often some places do find a way to make money for every bit, either selling it as seconds/flawed goods to discount stores or to 'sweat-shops' making inexpensive clothes/items with flawed fabrics. but some of the larger companies do not waste their time (you know the big corporate world is notorious for wasting! much better to toss it than to offer it to someone who could use it.)in new york you can salvage thousands of dollars worth of fabrics every single day!it is probably true in any large city with textile mills, fabric manufacturers or designers. home dec companies toss out lots too.

bearisgray

What's really sad is that some manufacturers will do something like dump ink or oil on the goods so no one can use them.

cpfrog

I "think" they are sold as "irregulars" since I've seen alot of it that has been given to our babycharity group (the leader may purchase it from some non-descript store or online). It is MISprinted; MISaligned; MISsing design; etc. We still can use it but we try to cut around the "MIStakes".

Rags for some companies... I'm guessing here... it is a shame if they just throw it out.

If we get a professional answer, make sure it's printed here (sorry for the pun! ) Thanks.

patricej

there is no standard procedure. it's something each manufacturer would decide for themselves.

again ... unless you see it in writing on the manufacturer's letterhead it's speculation.