Thursday, January 07, 2010

Poison Green, and other lovely things.

Wow. Two posts in one day! This one, however, is for quilt-y types, especially if you are interested in reproduction Civil War-era fabrics.

I always wondered why they called a certain color "poison green," often paired with "cheddar yellow (or orange)", a color that I *do* understand. If you are interested, read this little thing about fabrics in the nineteenth century.

Shudder.

But that is not to say that today's fabrics are worry-free. You may know that formaldehyde is often used in the manufacture of clothing. As well as other nasties of which I'm not aware. You should always, always wash anything you buy before you wear it. Those of us who sew usually wash our fabric before we begin sewing.

You can get some further information by reading the comments under the blog entry. Lots of good stuff there.

ooh. One more thing. The article referred to in the blog post is from the Massachusetts State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity. Gotta love that...

4 comments :

Anonymous said...

GREAT POST! Things I went off to google after reading: tarlatan, spider silk, and poison green/cheddar yellow.

I knew something about why one should wash clothing before wearing it, but I'm even more committed now! Ick!

Violet

Anonymous said...

Okay, those two colors are TOTALLY not what I thought they were! Much prettier, less vicious. Very autumnal.

I like the addition of dark blue with them, too.

Violet

G.L.H. said...

Wow, you have great color sense. Dark blue with them--YES!!

Jen said...

Can you imagine the pc outcry if one used the word lunacy in a government department name? Of course, with the way things are nowadays - lunacy and government go well together....