A Crafter's Life, Thrift Shop Adventures

Mysterious Thrift Store Fabric Find

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Earlier in the week I went to drop off a donation of no longer needed items to one of our local thrift stores.

There was a long line at the “drive thru” drop off donation area (good to see so many people in town making their lives lighter of stuff!),  so I decided to park at walk in my donation. After dropping off my donation, since I had already parked, I figured it would not hurt to go into the thrift shop and look around…

Naturally I went directly to the donated fabric section of the thrift shop and after a bit of rummaging discovered a yard of a lovely Asian print I thought would make great kimonos.

I am careful on thrift store fabrics of quilting weight material and always check the manufacturer name on the selvage (end/label area) of the fabric. This print had a name I had never heard of – Watex – but it the fabric felt like a high quality Hoffman Fabrics style Asian print, so I bought it (yes my huge $1.99 investment).

Returning home, I tried to google “Watex” and could not find anything of use other than it appears to be a Japanese fabric and several people were selling “Vintage Watex” on eBay and Etsy. The word “Watex” on the selvage was surrounded by Asian language characters, so I guessed the fabric was manufactured somewhere in Asia.

Below are photos of my fabric find, let me know if you have ever heard of Watex fabrics!

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If the fabric’s origins/manufacturer remains a mystery, it will still be great fabric for a future miniature kimono or other project.

Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

12 thoughts on “Mysterious Thrift Store Fabric Find”

  1. What fun! I need NO fabric right now, but I’m becoming more inspired to troll the thrift shops for fabric, including that already made into clothing. Once I get through a few more projects using stuff I already have…

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    1. Yes! Not to encourage your consumption and I admire your being good, but there is something fun about setting a limit of say $5 (which you could have easily spent on a fancy coffee drink) and “trolling” the thrift shop (plus you support the charity associated with the shop). I cannot believe what I have found thrifting and my finds are nothing compared to the incredible finds my friends Betty Anne and Susan have found (like rare antique fabric that they could had resold for $$$ if they wanted!)

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  3. What an absolutely beautiful design! I love it! And yes it would be totally perfect for your kimonos.

    I have some fine Japanese wrapping paper of similar designs. Do you think you could use that somehow?

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      1. Cards!! What a good idea for it. I’m glad that you are now embracing your designation as *artist* because you have made such nice cards earlier, I’m sure you’d have fun with that paper. Luckily, it’s very thin so it can’t weigh much. Now, if only I could remember where it’s at…. oh, those fond memories of my time in Japan. I miss being there, (almost?) more than I miss being in Denmark.

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  5. While I don’t really read orientalist characters, I did study them years ago, and I think you have character groups from 3 different oriental languages–observe how “different” each group is. Suggests to me the fabric was made for export. It is beautiful!

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    1. I am so glad you commented on this. I was meaning to give an update – one of the other readers was able to find out what it means, will post in the Postscript section my next post. A timely reminder for me your comment 🙂

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