Yellow 1960's Retro Flower Power Cotton Quilt Quar Fabric by MarBethFabricsCrafts
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Calico is one of my favorite types of fabric to collect. There are so many colorful designs to choose from to create a variety of wonderful items. The word Calico is derived from Calicut, named for the city where it was first created in the 11th century, Calicut or Kozhikode India. The fabric was 100% cotton woven with simple designs and a few colors. These designs were hand painted or made with wooden block printing methods. This fabric was used to create clothing in India.
In the late 15th century the Calicut cloth was exported to England. This cloth became very popular as it was made into clothing and household goods of bed coverings. They began referring to the fabric as Calicoes as it became the choice cloth of many women. By 1700 the British were purchasing import fabric more often than the fabric made in their local mills. This caused Parliament to pass a law that would not allow the import of Calicoes from India. After the India Calicoes were banned from England, the woven cotton husk cloth created in their own country was often called Calico. Today Calico fabric in England and Australia refers to a solid white color cotton fabric.
Calico Heavy Width: 183cm (72")
Plain weave heavy weight Cotton widely used in general dress making and craftwork.
In the United States Calico Fabric is defined as cotton fabric with a small floral print. As a sturdy inexpensive fabric, it was popular for pioneer women to make clothing out of in the 1800's as the country expanded westward.
During this same time period women often used the Calico fabric to make other items for the home including quilts as seen in this Blazing Star quilt from 1825.
Calico continued to be a popular fabric of choice into the 20th century for clothing and home decor crafts. This 1950's style dress is a beautiful example of a brighter larger print calico.
Calico also continued to be a favorite fabric in quilt making in the 20th century, look at the variety of calico fabrics that were used to create this 1928 Fan Quilt !
In the 1970's calico fabric became popular again in women's fashions with the creation of the Gunne Sax dresses by Jessica McClintock. These dresses included allot of ribbon and lace and were a modern version of the pioneer dress. They were popular for everyday and special occasions such as proms and weddings.
Gunne Sax Dress
Today Calico fabric continues to be a very popular fabric of choice for quilters and other home decor crafts. New calico fabrics are created every year by fabric designers. Retro style calico fabrics have also been a favorite in resent years. These are great to create historic costumes and vintage style quilts.
1930's Reproduction Fabrics Are Bright And Cheerful
In This Brick Pattern 37.5" X 45" Quilt
Technology today now allows you to create your own calico designed fabric here are two places to do this are :
Spoonflowerhttp://www.spoonflower.com/
and
