Brick House Fabrics has always focused on novelty fabrics.
Let’s start with what a novelty fabric is. A simplistic definition is a fabric with a pattern that highlights a subject. They are not solids, stripes, or plaids. And, florals don’t usually qualify either, though there are exceptions. Paisleys and geometrics are not novelties, but again, there are some exceptions.
If one looks at the menu on the website, one sees a breakdown of genres. There are horse fabrics, rooster toiles, toile fabrics, seashell fabrics, etc. These are novelties. They are fabrics that have subject matter.
I started this business over 25 years ago. I started by buying fabrics that were novelties, chickens, horses, and dogs, and then some true novelties- bears and lions dressed in medieval clothing, chess fabrics, and other odities. And, I began to realize people wanted things that reflected their interests. They wanted to have their interests as part of their living enviornment. If someone was a horse lover, they wanted horse fabrics. If someone collected tea cups, they wanted something that emphasized that love.
One lady had a grandson who loved ducks. She bought a duck fabric that was available at the time, and made pillow cases as a Christmas present for him. She wrote that he told her that she was the best grandma ever!! How wonderful is that?
A lady sent us a picture of aprons she had made for the waitresses at the Enid, Oklahoma airport cafe. They loved their aprons with airplanes on them!
People want fabric to have a connection to them, and their living spaces to be an extension of them.
And, this is what novelty fabrics are all about! Something that actually says something that ties people to a theme. When a person writes and says that they love coming down into their kitchen and seeing their curtains, which emphasize what they enjoy, that is really nice!
So, we focused on novelties. Many novelties are produced as stand alone patterns. So, we did increase other things. But, a stripe is just a stripe, does a stripe say much? Do we interact with stripes?
While there are many generic floral patterns, that are pretty pretty, or wild and wonderful, very few really qualify as novelties. If a pattern showcases a specific flower, then yes, I would say it does qualify as a novelty.
We have two sunflower patterns.
One is a French fabric, with sunflowers and other flowers. Even though it highlights a French theme, I don’t feel it is really a novelty fabric. Where as the other one does seem like one.
This one says only one thing- SUNFLOWERS! For me, this is a novelty fabric.
A travel fabric that has a vintage look with postcards, photos, and documents is a true novelty.It encorporates photos of various places in Europe, postcards, stanps, and communicates what travel used to be like for people. One went to Europe, took pictures, and wrote letters and sent postcards to people letting them know what they had been doing and what they had seen. While this fabric is about travel, it is also about the past, and it gives a sense of that past.
While not everyone might want novelties for large projects, sometimes a novelty can give a bit of punch to a room. The monkey jungle fabric is one of those. It has been used for curtains, dining chairs, and about everything else. While it is not for everyone, a couple of pillows does liven up a room!
The aqua green monkey jungle fabric is another novelty fabric featuring monkeys. But, it gives a very different feel from. The colors, foliage, and monkeys emphasize life in the jungle, versus the jungle monkey fabric with the monkeys wearing clothing.
And, I think that is an interesting point- what is it a person is trying to emphasize and convey when they are decorating their living space. I think we all need to think about that.
It used to be we would say, I want a cottage look, or lodge decor, and that was it. But, novelties give a person a chance to really hone in on their interests.
Say someone has a cottage by the ocean? Okay- but cold Maine ocean or tropical Hawaiian ocean? And while shell fabrics work, maybe one wants to emphasize a specific thing. Maybe one is a birder, and wants a fabric that emphasizes that.
Or maybe one is a beachcomber, and wants a couple of pillows that says what one’s interests are.
And, that is what I think is great about novelty fabrics- a person gets to express something that is of interest to them, to let out part of their personalities. And, I think that is a good thing! And, that is why I like novelty fabrics.
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