Gingham fabric is iconic. It is the rare soul who can’t conjure a mental image of Dorothy’s blue-checked dress in The Wizard of Oz or the red-checked cloth that comes out of the wicker picnic basket in the real and imaginary movie reels of our minds. These checked fabrics are gingham.

You know what it looks like, but what is gingham? Gingham is a yarn-dyed fabric. That means that the yarns are dyed before the cloth is woven–it has no right or wrong side. In contrast, a printed fabric is woven in all white or some other base color and then dye is added in patterns to one side of the cloth after it has been woven. The fabric originated during the 1600’s in Dutch-colonized Malaysia. Originally it had stripes and was called genggang–the Malayan word for “striped.” The fabric developed its checks when production of it moved to England and the United States. Gingham grew in popularity from the mid-1700’s through the 1900’s.

Two colors of yarn are used to make gingham–usually white and another color. For example, the traditional picnic cloth is red and white. The red and white threads are set-up on both the warp and weft of the weaving loom in alternating sets of even numbers. When woven, this creates a pattern of square blocks–or checks–of solid red, solid white, and blocks that are hazy red where the red and white threads cross each other. Sometimes black and another color yarn are used to weave gingham–think red and black or blue and black. Sometimes two different shades of the same color are used.

Gingham is an extraordinarily useful fabric for quilters and sewists. Gingham works well as a blender or border fabric in quilts. It has been used for shirts, skirts, and dresses for hundreds of years. Gingham also is a useful home decor fabric; it works well for curtains and table linens. Therefore, Missouri Star is pleased to offer Carolina Gingham by Robert Kaufman for sale to our customers. Carolina Gingham is 100 percent cotton gingham fabric that comes in a wide range of colors. We carry Carolina Gingham woven check in two sizes: Carolina Gingham 1 inch check and Carolina Gingham 1/4 inch check. If you are using gingham for clothing, larger checks–such as 1 inch gingham fabric–is generally considered more casual. If you are sewing apparel for more formal situations, you may wish to use a smaller gingham check.

We love Carolina Gingham fabric! We love that it has stood the test of time. We love that it still feels fresh, colorful, and cheery. We love that it coordinates well with other fabrics and works well for 101 different projects. If you need gingham fabric by the yard, check the selection here at Missouri Star!