Vintage Fabric - Online Dealer Specializes in 1960s and 1970s Vintage Fabric

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(Free-Press-Release.com) July 26, 2010 -- Vintage fabric dealer and artist Tessimal laughs about the vintage fabric end of her business, "I got into it because I was using some of the fabrics in doll clothes and things, then people started asking me where I got the fabric."

She started selling fabric and gradually it became a significant part of her Etsy business. Etsy is a website where thousands of artists sell original arts and crafts work, but also vintage items and supplies.

"I got a sense of the kinds of fabrics people want and it's just kind of grown from there," She says. Tessimal stays away from solid colored fabric usually, because, "nobody can tell whether a solid is vintage or not."

It is prints and woven fabrics from the 1960s and 1970s that are her main stock in trade. These fabrics have distinctive design features and manufacturing methods than make them ideal for replicating vintage clothing, drapes and upholstered furniture. "Bark cloth is barely available anymore, but in the 60s and 70s mills were turning out the most stunning bark cloth with these ecstatic, trippy designs and these jewel-like colors. It's really beautiful stuff and people say Wow! when they see it."

She also deals in fabrics from as far back as the 1920s and 30s. "It's rare that I find these older fabrics in much quantity - but for quilters in particular, they want that depression-era look and the only way to get it is with the genuine vintage prints." That's because advances in fabric printing technology and dyes have made many of the designs obsolete.

Tessimal spends a lot of time scouring her area for vintage fabrics. She sometimes buys very small pieces, but she has her eye out for entire bolts too. At one time, due to water power in the area, Western Massachusetts and the Pioneer valley was a center for weaving in North America. "The area has a rich history in textiles and I think that's partly why I can find such unusual vintage stuff here. It's still a lot of work to find it, but my customers are so pleased to get this stuff, it makes the search worth it."

Tessimal also has a blog, TessimalsCelestialArt.com , where she posts photos and comments about some of the more interesting items she sells. "I deal in a lot of funky stuff and vintage kitsch," she says,"it's really diverse and the blog helps publicize teh diversity of the shop."

More information can be found online at http://www.TessimalsCelestialArt.com

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