"Sensory" type fabrics

That sounds like an interesting project. If I were you, I'd probably appliqué the pieces to something like polar fleece (use the good stuff from Malden Mills) or Minky (should be available in Joanne's or any good quilt shop).

Penny makes a lot of outdoors stuff, and her list of suppliers will have sources for both polar fleece (but it's also worth ringing the mill and seeing if they'll send you an off-cut: remnants are usually only available to call-in customers) and nylon flag 'silk' or poly taffeta as used in waterproof clothing:

For the tulle, try using dress net: it's very stiff and rather scratchy, but zigzagged to a sturdy backing it should last for years and give a good sensory input. Again, Joannes should have it.

Panne velvet is a good one. :) You might also like to try my least favourite fabric on the planet: poly lurex knit with sequins bonded on! Dire for making up, but great tactile experience (note I say great rather than pleasant!), and almost indestructible except by heat: you need to wash and tumble dry as cool as you can, otherwise the sequins fall off and bond themselves to the thing you really didn't want them to.

Something furry might be fun. And something crinkly... Ask Penny's sources what they have that might fit this one.

I also got hold of some of those squeakers that they put in kid's clothing over here, and in toys... One of those might be a fun addition.

As you'll only need small pieces of any of the fabrics, ask about and see what folk will donate. And pop in to the quilting group (rec.crafts.textiles.quilting) as this will appeal to them and they'll have more fun ideas for you, and many more sources than I can think of from here! :)

We quilters are very resourceful and imaginative! Lots of the group make quilts and blankies for kids, both as personal and family projects and for charities like Linus. LOTS of good ideas there. :) Be sure to emphasize that colour is less important than the tactile side of this one.

For this type of application, the flag/kite nylon at most fabric stores should work just fine. Kate's already pointed you to a list of online sources, though.

Less sturdy fabrics can be backed with cotton to provide durability/stability.

Poke around at your local fabric store. Close your eyes and run your hands over the bolt. Some of the stores around here have fabric with appliqued ruffles or heavy embroidery. Puckered or pleated fabric might be good, too. Satin, denim, upholstery fabric, faux suede. Dotted chenille. (Many quilt stores have precut fat quarters of minky brand chenille in various textures.)

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

I made stuffed animals out of old chenille bedspreads that kids love to rub on their faces and stroke with their little hands. I find them (the bed spreads, not the kids) at garage sales, the middle is usually worn smooth but there's a lot of good fabric around the edges. Corduroy, different sized 'wales' in different directions. You can get packages of the little "safety eyes" you put on children's stuffed toys and make a bumpy square filled with them on the quilt, too. Cut squares of old sweaters, lots of textures there depending on what they are made of. What a great idea for a quilt for little fingers to feel. Those soft net type loofa things might fun. Good luck! Val

If I were doing that, I would hit a thrift store or rummage sale and feel my way through the clothing, looking (feeling) for interesting textures. If you hit a rummage sale late in the day, you can usually get a bagful of whatever for a flat rate. You don't care about size, color, overall condition - you just want usable pieces to cut to include.

Sewers' scrap is another good source. Not quilters, I don't think, because everything would feel pretty much the same. People who do weddings would have interesting textured pieces.

This all reminds me of the balls I used to make for my babies, with all sorts of colors and textures for them to experience.

I'd look into the swatch sets that some mail-order fabric stores sell. Joy Beeson

I'm kind of curious about the context in which you're working. A school, hospital or institutional setting? And what is the nature of your work with children with disabilities?

Phae, I work as a nurse in home health. I travel from client to client being kept in the home. All of these clients are on state and federal health care plans which don't pay for any of the extras and many times don't even pay for the necessities either. Most of the family are literally tapped out financially due to the high costs of raising such children. Many of these children have extreme mental retardation, cerebral palsy, seizures, blindness/deafness, have to be fed through tubes placed in their abdomens, paralysis ect ect.....(I say 'children' even though many are in their 20's, being small of stature, and mental age of between 0- 2years.) The one that brought up this idea is a client who is blind and deaf, her right hand is contracted and her whole world is received through what she can feel and grasp in her left hand. She is bed bound as we are fighting with the state/federal agencies to get her a wheelchair , which, in their infinite "wisdom", they have denied. Her family is wonderful to work with . I wanted to surprise them with this little gift: )

On the same idea path I was thinking of getting some inexpensive washcloths and serging some sensory type fabrics to one side that could be used individually.

Again I apologize for the brain not functioning as yet. I tend to do most of my emailing early in the am before leaving for work. :)

Cindy

It was not my intent to be rude and I admire your dedication. But I really wondered which settings were failing to provide adequate services and giving you so little support. Educational, hospital and institutional settings should all have occupational therapists, skilled in sensory-motor integration, who would know exactly what works best with children with sensory deficits.

Pursuant to the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) in the US, the children you describe would almost certainly be eligible for Early Childhood programs and, in some States, Infant and Toddler programs. Such programs should have the types of therapies you describe as related services and, in the early years, are usually implemented with parental participation. In addition to humanistic concerns, we've known for decades that appropriate early therapeutic and educational services almost always mitigate the need for later, incredibly expensive (as well as dehumanizing) institutionalization for almost all but a fraction of a percent of persons with disabilities.

Others here have given you the information you require so I will merely say that it really angers me that in this day of alleged "no child left behind", we are finding a dramatic increase in reliance on people of good will such as you (charity) instead of providing what the law required as early as 1975. And at the same time that some States are outlawing abortion or even actively discussing outlawing birth control, women who give birth to damaged babies are being given less and less help. No I am not promoting abortion--- just commenting on the irony of the situation. The measure of a society is how it treats its old and disabled. It's a damn shame, Cindy, you can't get the support you and your young charges require. Our leadership is failing the more vulnerable among us.

Phae

Happens here as well... They shut all the 'hospitals' and 'Homes' for such children in favour of 'care in the community'. Hmph! With the lack of support now available, it's more a case of 'don't care in the community'. We'll be going back to exhibiting them in freak shows next...

Cynical? Moi?

Yes, it's so much more important to build a fence the length of our borders, and to depose certain dictators who dared to threaten one's daddy.

Exactly!

I am sorry to hear that the same thing is happing across the pond. It's really getting to be Life Among the Savages....

OB-SEW: Many times when I install a centered zipper in the back of a knit top, I run the zipper stitching lines all the way down to the hemline for a little design statement. When I do this, I go back to mark the end of the zipper, separately, with a V or a very small bar tack.

I admire all that you are doing to help this person, as for 13 years I worked with mentally challenged adults. Sometime I see a wheelchair at Goodwill. Maybe her family could afford to get one there. You might could explain the situation to the manager and ask her to call when a wheelchair comes in. HTH Barbara in SC

She is bed bound as we are fighting