Barkcloth Hawaii - Timeless Hawaiian Fabrics For your Home & Body

Aloha, I'm your web host Nyna. I'm glad you surfed into Barkcloth Hawaii's Online Fabric shop today. We are a small family run fabric shop specializing in fifties retro tropical Hawaiian floral fabrics and when available atomic prints as well.

I started this business in 1997, it's been lot of fun work allowing me to chat with folks worldwide. I love that. We welcome everyone's inquires and business. The individual shopper, interior designer, wholesalers and hospitality industries are all folks we have assisted in the past and who have returned to buy again over the years. You might notice throughtout the site dog paws here and there. If you scroll over them customer comments I've collected over the past decade will appear. You may have to scroll down to an unoccupied area to read them but they are fun to see and bring back a lot of fine memories for me. I've deliberately kept the comments subtlely hidden in the background so as not to interfere with your fabric viewing pleasures.

Some of you may know about my daughter's struggle with CAPD, an auditory learning disorder. Thanks to the fantastic school she's been attending since 3rd grade - she's been taught a new way to learn. They specialize in teaching gifted children with learning disorders such as dyslexia. We are very proud of her, last year she received a letter from President Obama for maintaining a high grade point average. Next year she will be ready to begin college. This year we have set up a college donation fund that you can participate in at the checkout page if that interests you.

Thank you for your continued interest and delight with Barkcloth Hawaii. It has been a pleasure to meet and share with you. I've always thought that if each and everyone of my customers were all hanging out at the beach house together we'd have a blast. Aloha Nyna

We have several styles of Barkcloth fabric. All of them are cotton, they can be machine washed in cold water and hung to dry. You should wash all fabric prior to sewing to set the shrinkage and frankly I just hand mine over to my husband John and let him do the laundry. That guarantees that no worse could possibly be done to the piece. Another option of course would be to have your finished project dry-cleaned.

What we call our Non-Upholstery Barkcloth is a dobby weave. It feels like a soft linen and some patterns are available in two different widths 44" &/or 57" wide. The Non-Upholstery Barkcloth drapes beautifully and our master seamstress Dale has made some stunning curtains and bedspreads for many of our customers these past many years. She can sew just about anything if you send a description, measurement &/or photo. I feel so lucky to have her in our life.

The 57" wide Barkcloth also comes in two different upholstery versions. The differences are slight but those of you familar with the original bark cloth from the 1940's will appreciate knowing which one is a match for that classic style of long ago.

Both are cotton. If you are looking for a base fabric that feels just like the one from yesteryear than you will want the nubby bark cloth. If you are going for the pattern and you don't know what the 1940's version feels like anyway, than you wouldn't notice any difference. Here's the difference: The nubby style barkcloth has twisted threads. The bark crepe style fabric does not. The twisted threads give the fabric a slight raised effect. Hence the name (feels like a birch tree bark texture more or less.) Many of you who are familar with the original bark cloth from long ago have bought and loved the bark crepe version without any hesitation more than once so obviously both styles are lovely. Our Bark Crepe upholstery fabric is less textured. Both work wonderfully for totes, handbags, and outer clothing such as jackets. They're soft, drape able and durable. Abrasion testing has indicated they have met and passed the industry standard of 15,000 rub cycles. They're perfect for your heavy duty home decor projects such as drapes, furniture upholstering and bedspreads.

Sadly all barkcloth has become less available over the years. Too bad about my business name! So I've adapted, and branched out to provide other types of fabric that is not barkcloth at all but still have the patterns we've come to love so dearly. The cotton apparel fabrics feels like your typical cotton - sort of like good bedsheets. This is available in broadcloth and or poplin. Both are 44" wide and are just perfect for making clothing thus I've designated it as apparel fabric, use these for quilting and other fun sewing projects. We also have a few 44' & 57" wide rayons (more are alvailable though not always stocked so if you are wishing for more email me and I'll update you.) We have a few weaved fabrics that are reminiscent of burlap these work for all your upholstey applications. Keep in mind if you are mixing two diferent types of fabric you are going to want to have them dry-cleaned. Then for you Winter residents you might like our one of our fleece fabics to warm you up.

The majority of our fabrics have between a 24" and 27" vertical pattern repeat. Most all of our upholstery fabrics have been treated to be water resistant, they are strong and long lasting and fade beautifully if left in the sun.

The art on these fabrics run either as an overall layout

or as a panel layout, as seen below.

Now imagine walking into a local fabric store having a piece of fabric cut off of a bolt paying for it, taking it home and deciding that it's not going to work out for you after all. Since the piece has been cut to your specifications they don't want it back. It has to sit around waiting for another customer who needs the same exact print in the same exact size before it can be resold again. And then there is the way a remnant will unexpectedly fall from the top shelf & bounce off my head as if to mock me and with the precious storage space it consumes. I offer $3.00, 10 x 12 inch samples of most fabrics to help you decide. I have a shelf full of end pieces and yes some returned remnants that is way beyond my reach and requires that I get a ladder, climb on top of a bin, walk across a railing to get to. So I discourage returns. Still if you insist and I'm having a generous moment, try me.

We accept credit card payments or Pay Pal. If you are an international buyer we only accept payment through Pay Pal or if you call us to pay by phone. Please send your billing and shipping information via email first though so we do not have to stuggle with each other's accents. I love hearing your voice but I'm growing deaf with my old age and I'd like to make sure that I'm shipping to the correct address. The email will insure that I get it right. Do not put your credit card number in your email unless you like to live dangerously. It's not secure. I will send you a secure buy button via email for you to pay with. Eventually I'll figure out how to make my cart configure shipping costs to your beautiful country.