Virtual Fabric…Imagine That!

jandofabrics, jandofabric, sensory perception

As a fabric specialist, advise columnist, researcher and writer for J&O Fabric Store, I spend a great deal of time searching the internet , reading books, reviewing articles, and exploring the world of textile goods to find out what’s old, what’s new, and what we can look forward to in the industry down the line. And while most of the information I come across is more mainsteam than not, every once and a while I stumble on a study that really excites me. One such study that caught my attention was conducted out of John Moores University in Liverpool. The aim of this project was to develop an intuitive visual and haptic communication system using the standards and expectations of the textile and related industries with particular regard to professional aesthetic, and psychological perspectives, and the working methods of the industry; then to create a resource tool (in this case, the Logitech Wingman mouse) in order to bring the benefits of such capabilities to the buyer or consumer. In laments terms, researchers brainstormed ways to make the look and feel of fabric more tangible when viewed over digital devices such as computers.

Is Walmart to Blame? J&O Offers Soundboard for the Rise in Novelty Fabric Prices

As one of South Jersey’s largest and longest operating family owned fabric stores (45 years and going strong), we receive calls  from crafters, artisans, designers, sewing novices, and even expert seamstresses/tailors constantly. Some call inquiring about proper yardage for commercial projects, some call seeking advice regarding the characteristics and use of specific textiles, and still others call in a desperate attempt to secure hard to find and otherwise unavailable prints from the one source they know that has built its reputation on providing their customers with some of the industry’s most popular licensed prints and top quality decorative fabric at discounted prices over the years.  J&O Fabric Store even has customers who have been with us from the start and can still remember when a yard of a novelty cotton cost as little as $1.50. Unfortunately, though our reputation as a reliable one stop source has remained, the days of pulling out a dollar or two for a yard of fabric are long gone.  What’s even more challenging is that at the current rate the textile industry as a whole is going, what we pay for novelty prints one month, has the potential of increasing by the next without warning. Like  unstable oil and gas prices we’ve been forced to endure, we are experiencing fluctuations at every turn when it come to cotton material as well, as a result, everyone from the manufacturers down to the individual consumer feels the sting of it.