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Stevenson Vestal e-news for August 2004

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August, 2004
Luxury Fabrics Demystified
In the workroom some fabrics prove especially difficult to handle and sew. We have an additional charge for working with such fabrics. At Stevenson Vestal we call these materials luxury fabrics because often designers and consumers perceive rich or luxurious qualities in these challenging fabrics.

But we know you have questions...

How can you identify the most common luxury fabrics with confidence? What do we mean by “silk-like” fabrics? And which luxury fabrics apply to which SV products for the purposes of our luxury fabric charge? Read on to learn the answers to these important questions.
Identify Silks and “Silk-likes” with Confidence
You can easily identify two of the most common types of luxury fabrics, silk and silk-like fabrics, by doing the scrunch test. A genuine 100% silk fabric will hold its shape when you scrunch it up, almost as if you have molded it into place.
Genuine silk: before...
..."scrunched"...
...and after.
Silk fabric it will stay put as if molded. Luxury fabric charges apply.
Silk-like fabrics look like genuine silk but have a high percentage of artificial fibers such as acetate or polyester. They will have an opposite characteristic: they tend to spring back to a flat, unwrinkled appearance after you scrunch them.
Silk-like fabric: before...
..."scrunched"...
...and after.
This fabric springs back to its original shape. Luxury fabric charges apply.
Both extremes of the fabric characteristics above cause our artisans difficulties, and we will apply a “luxury fabric” charge to both (but only for the appropriate products—see below: Luxury Fabrics and SV Products).
Ordinary fabrics however do not pose these types of difficulties. Our artisans can easily handle and sew ordinary cotton or cotton blend fabrics and many other traditional drapery fabrics, none of which exhibit either extremely moldable or springy characteristics.
Ordinary fabric: before...
..."scrunched"...
...and after.
This cotton blend does not mold or spring back. No luxury fabric charge here.
Luxury Fabrics and SV Products
Two statements summarize how luxury fabric charges apply to SV products.
1. For all products except Cornices and Tiebacks, we charge for:
a) All silk, and all silk-like (artificial fibers, springy hand) fabrics.
b) Crinkle sheer fabric.
c) Velvet, vinyl, suede and upholstery weight fabrics.
2. For all products except Cornices, Draperies, Tiebacks and Austrian Shades we charge for:
a) Sheer fabric.
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