I design household items using vintage fabrics and would like to know
when copyrights expire for old fabrics. (Fabrics that were
manufactured in the late 1800's to early 1900's).  I plan to have
these designs to be mass produced overseas, but do not want to
infringe on manufacturer's copyrights.

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Clarification of Question by chicdesigner-ga on 18 Mar 2005 16:34 PST

To clarify my question, I need to know if fabrics manufactured in the
late 1800's to early 1900's have copyrights?

Here you go.

How long does copyright protection last? 

As a general rule, for works created on or after January 1, 1978,
copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.

http://www.monmouth.edu/resources/ogc/copyright.asp

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Seems you want further proof so i have located the information on the
goverment site.

Works Published and Copyrighted before January 1, 1978 
A work published before January 1, 1978, and copyrighted within the
past 75 years may still be protected by copyright in the United States
if a valid renewal registration was made during the 28th year of the
first term of the copyright. If renewed by registration or under the
Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 and if still valid under the other
provisions of the law, the copyright will expire 95 years from the end
of the year in which it was first secured.

Therefore, the U. S. copyright in any work published or copyrighted
prior to January 1, 1923, has expired by operation of law, and the
work has permanently fallen into the public domain in the United
States. For example, on January 1, 1997, copyrights in works first
published or copyrighted before January 1, 1922, have expired; on
January 1, 1998, copyrights in works first published or copyrighted
before January 1, 1923, have expired. Unless the copyright law is
changed again, no works under protection on January 1, 1999 will fall
into the public domain in the United States until January 1, 2019.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.html