PTP: What can the fabric tell me?

Sometimes the fabric an outfit is made out of can give you an idea about where it was made.

Do you have an outfit made from an unusual fabric? What does it mean?

From experience, I’ve noted that from 1983 to 1984, certain factories used specific fabrics for some outfits. This means that if an outfit is made from a certain fabric, you’ll have some idea of what factory/place may have made it.

I’m sorting this list in two ways; first by fabric type, second by outfit. The first group had more than one or two outfits made with it. Please note, I’m not an expert in fabrics, so if I’ve used the wrong term/label please let me know!

BY FABRIC

Regular Corduroy

This fabric was used by the Chinese factories for the Corduroy Suit (#5), Ruffled Overalls (#12), and P factory preemie Elephant Rompers (P#13).

Vivid blue Corduroy Suit (#5) made by a Chinese factory.
Red Ruffled Overalls (#12) made by a Chinese factory.
Gold preemie elephant romper (#14) made by the P factory using Chinese Corduroy fabric.
Preemie photo courtesy of Holly Walls.

Softer Corduroy

This fabric was used by all Taiwanese factories for the Corduroy Suit (#5), Ruffled Overalls (#12), and preemie Sailor Romper (#14).

Comparison shot of Coleco corduroy and Taiwanese corduroy fabrics using the pants from a Corduroy suit.
Chinese vs. Taiwanese
Comparison shot of Coleco corduroy and Taiwanese corduroy fabrics using blue Corduroy suits.
Chinese vs. Taiwanese
Comparison shot of Coleco corduroy and Taiwanese corduroy fabrics using ruffled overalls (#12).
Taiwanese vs. Chinese
Vivid blue preemie sailor romper (#14) made from the softer Corduroy fabric.
Photos courtesy of Lynn Finley and Jodi Isaacs.

Soft Felt-like Material

This fabric was used by Taiwanese IC and WW factories for the Corduroy Suit (#5), and Elephant Romper (#7). NOTE: WW factory outfit from the 1983 series are HTF.

WW factory beige Corduroy Suit (#5). It's made of a heavy polar fleece material.
WW factory blue elephant romper (#7) with white shirt. It's made of a heavy polar fleece material.
WW factory red elephant romper (#7) with white shirt. It's made of a heavy polar fleece material.
Photos courtesy of Sarah Bensette-Renaud and Sherri Evans Downey.

It was also used by the SS and WS factories for the preemie Sailboat Romper (#14).

Blue preemie sailor romper (#12) with white blouse. It's made of a heavy polar fleece material.
Photo courtesy and Jodi Isaacs.

Velveteen

I believe that this fabric was only used by the OK factory for the Elephant Romper (#7), however, I have a very limited sample size. It was also used for Jesmar Preemie bunny outfits.

Velveteen elephant romper (#5) in a butter yellow colour with a bear patch.
Velveteen elephant romper (#5) in a steel blue colour with a duck patch.
Blue velveteen preemie bunny outfit (#12).
Photos courtesy of Gia Levato and Jennifer Pelfrey.

NOTE: Velveteen was used for other outfits too, but they are later outfits and it wasn’t factory or outfit indicative.

Heavy Canvas fabric

This fabric was used by some Jesmar factories for Swing dresses and Yoke dresses.

Tag from a Jesmar Swing dress made of a blue canvas like material.
Blue Jesmar swing dress with red neck ribbon. It was made of a canvas like material.
Pictures courtesy of Jennifer Pelfrey.

BY OUTFIT

Striped Jogging Suit (#18) – Most of them have cotton material at the arms and legs. However, some are made with a silkier, thicker, more synthetic material. This fabric was used by the P, PMI, LF, and IJ factories (that I know of).

Kitty Jogging Suit (#5) – Heather-grey coloured fabric was only used by the PMI and USA factories.

Kitty cat track suit (#5) made with heather grey fabric and dark pink trim.
USA Factory
Kitty cat track suit (#5) made with heather grey fabric and baby pink trim.
PMI Factory
Photos courtesy of Sarah Bensette-Renaud and Jodi Isaacs.

31 Tracksuit (#8) – Taiwanese material is not very fuzzy and is very thin.

USA Pinafore Dress – The pinafore section of these dresses is a very thin cotton, almost translucent.

USA pinafore dress with white pinafore and blue and white check sleeves and bloomers.
Photos courtesy of Jodi Isaacs.

Fake jean cotton fabric – This was only used for Jesmar Denim Rompers.

Jesmar jean romper outfit with plaid shirt on a white hanger.

Jesmar Tights – Rather than the regular silky cotton material, some Jesmar tights are made of a more knitted type fabric. They were generally short and did not fit well.

A photo of Jesmar vs Coleco tights. Both pairs are white but the Jesmar tights are much shorter than the Coleco.
Jesmar vs. Coleco tights

Other Factory Tells

You can also determine factory based on:
– the thread pattern uesd on white t-shirts, see PTP: Wonderful White Shirts
– the type of silk label used, see PTP: Silk Label Secrets (Updated 08/21)

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