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Eileen Trestain

Eileen Jahnke Trestain

Dating Fabrics - A Color Guide - 1800-1960 Paperback – Illustrated, August 15, 1998

by Eileen Trestain (Author)

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Are you a fabric collector, quilt collector, appraiser, or antiques collector who needs to know specifics about fabrics or quilts? Then this book is for you! It will help you identify, date, and recognize antique fabrics and their uses in quilts and clothing. Over 1,000 color fabric swatches are listed in this handy, easy-to-use reference guide. You'll be able to identify fabric dating from the pre-1830 era through the Second World War. Match your antique fabric by selecting a suspected time period and comparing colors and prints.

Print length

208 pages
Language

English
Publisher

American Quilter's Society
Publication date

August 15, 1998
Dimensions

5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0891458840
ISBN-13

978-0891458845
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In dating antique quilts, fabric identification takes on paramount importance. This practical handbook compiled by Trestain, an experienced quilt appaiser, includes photos of more than 1000 color fabric swatchesmany from the authors collectioncovering the period from 1800 to 1960. Trestain devotes a chapter to each of six different eras: pre1830, the settling of the West, the first centennial, the turn of the century, the Roaring Twenties, the Depression, and World War II. She prefaces the fabric swatches for each period with historical background and information about print styles, colors, and quilts of the period. This should appeal to quilt show visitors, fabric collectors, and quilt and vintage clothing collectors and is an essential purchase for textile collections and large public libraries.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

There are many books out with beautiful color prints of quilts from various eras but until now we couldn't examine an extensive collection of fabrics. Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1800-1960 offers this opportunity by organizing hundreds of fabric swatches by period. For each period, Eileen Trestain gives us fascinating information about how textiles were made, dyes were used and prints created in the making of fabrics during that time period. -Anne Johnson, 2001

Publisher ‏ : ‎ American Quilter's Society (August 15, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0891458840
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0891458845
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #596,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #142 in Antique & Collectible Textiles & Costumes
- #338 in Antique & Collectible Reference (Books)
- #953 in Antiques & Collectibles Encyclopedias

Customer Reviews:
149 ratings

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5 star		84%
4 star		9%
3 star		4%
2 star		3%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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steve j maddern

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

Great resource photos at 100% for scale, colors look true.

9 people found this helpful

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Theresa in Merida

Love the binding, the colors are clear, the images sharp.

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

This book has spiral binding so it lays flat, which is something that I like. When I research fabrics online I am never sure if the colors are correct. While this book is aimed at quilters, it is a valuable addition to my historical costuming library. It's small enough that I can easily take it with me to the store.

Helpful

Scott C. Hough

Dating Fabric-A Color Guide: 1800-1960

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book is like a dictionary of the decades of fabric used in quilting. I had several quilts that I knew were before
the feed sack era, and I was able to look up similar fabrics and date them . The book not only shows you samples of fabric (pages and pages) but also gives you a wealth of information on the history and process of why certain colors were used, and from what country they were imported from. Learning about where some of the fabrics were originally produced is a story in itself, and the author does a great job pulling it all together.

If you are trying to date your vintage quilt, and find out about it's history...this is the book for you. The vintage quilts were hardly ever dated, so this is a wonderful referance book that you can carry around. It is interesting to follow the history of the colors of the textiles (what was available at the time the quilt was made), the patterns, and the women who made the quilts.

2 people found this helpful

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Mary Z. Cox

Best book for dating cottons

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2001

Verified Purchase

I've owned this book for two years and I find myself referring to it whenever I want to create a specific time period quilt. I took it with me to the quilt shop when I picked out the material for the 1912, Lady In An Elegant Red Hat workshop given by Linda Cantrell. My appliqued lady looked almost magical because her dress was of a cotton popular during this time. The book is broken into sections that reflect historical changes in textiles in the United States.(Pre-1830,1830-1860, 1860-1880,1880-1810, 1910-1935, 1930-1960. Color plate swatches are arranged by color and color examples are given of fabrics in faded colors as well. This is a boon to history buffs in documenting quilts with faded fabrics. I love redwork and have found the red examples in both the 1880-1910 and the 1910-1935 section to be helpful in selecting period appropriate reds. The 1830-1860 and the 1860-1880's swatches have helped me identify fabrics to use for Civil War reenactment. Truly a great resource for anyone interested in reproducing or identifying historical quilts.

36 people found this helpful

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Kent Eddy

Fabric age

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

This book identifies the era that a fabric was made in. It is written by Barbara Brackman, one of the most famous quilt historians. I would recommend it for anyone interested in the history of quilts.

Helpful

Hughes2u

Handy Reference Guide to Period Fabrics

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

I have known about this book since it first came out in 1998. It is a valuable resource for any historical dressmaker or costumer. It has many photos of swatches of original cotton fabrics that are organized by color schemes as well as years. I have borrowed this book on occasion and finally decided to add it to my resource library. It comes in handy when shopping for fabrics to see if the choice of fabric closely resembles its original time period.

2 people found this helpful

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Cathy

Book is perfect

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2021

Verified Purchase

Book delivered in great shape. It has tons of information on time period fabrics. I have ordered the companion book today

Helpful

Michelaneous by Michele

A Must Have Book for Antique Quilt Collectors

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2008

Verified Purchase

When paging through this colorful book, Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1800-1960, imagine my tremendous joy when I found THE yellow flowered fabric featured in my most prized quilt, dating it between 1830-1860!

This very well researched and comprehensive collection introduces each time period from "Pre-1830 'A New Nation' with a thorough introduction of the era and the history of quilts and fabrics. Following are 1-inch x 1-inch photo swatches of the fabrics arranged by print style and colors.

A wonderful reference book for those who make, collect or simply appreciate this art form.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

catitudes

Dating PATCHWORK or COTTON fabrics

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2008

Verified Purchase

There is a problem with the title of this book, which I mention at the outset. "Dating Fabrics ... 1800-1960" does NOT give a potential buyer an inkling that the book is primarily about US quilting & printed cottons. This is unfortunate as the author obviously has a great deal of knowledge in that arena. So, don't imagine that this book is going to give you information about typical weaves & fibres of the era, to facilitate identification of unknowns because it doesn't & that obviously wasn't its purpose.

What you get is a spirally bound book in a hard cover, which would actually be useful for the purpose intended. The book is divided into sections, for example pre 1830; 1860-80. The major part of the book consists of 1.25" photographs of real-size fabric pieces, secondarily grouped by colour. These appear to be almost entirely printed cottons. Unfortunately, these photos are not accompanied by any notes. Some of these categories are also rather wide. This was particularly noticeable in the 1930-60 group. 12 pictures of 1930-1960 golden & lemon yellows, for example, but no clue as to what occurred when or how to tell the difference. Each section is preceded by several pages of information on the related stage of cotton fabric manufacture, dyes, patterns & miscellaneous related history.

So this is a useful book for the identification of old fabrics in quilts &, perhaps, for the ageing of fabrics for quilt use. It is also an interesting reference book of American printed cotton styles over a long period.

3 people found this helpful

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