Before we go any further view this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxdidDqtiT0Fabric has journeyed a long way over the years. People (some) have moved from walking around comfortably naked, to wearing leaves, scrap bones and animal fur (like our Native Americans did), to a wide variety of fabric derived from plants, animals, hair, insects, and crude oil. Yes, crude oil! Can you believe it?
I have been fascinated with fabric for a while, thus my interest in it as my inquiry project. Most of my fascination with it occurred over the past 10 years as I became increasingly obsessed with Interior Designing and all the skills this amazing area involves. Designers, be it interior or fashion, uses a wide array of fabric. As such, their usage of it has to come from a place of knowledge and confidence as it relates to the final outcome of whatever project being worked on. Fabric pose this mystery to me and being the inquisitive person I am, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to start delving into the intrigue behind it all. Over the years I've wondered and questioned:
- How is fabric made?
- What does it come from?
- How do they get all those textures, colors, and patterns onto fabric?
- How come there's such a variety?
- What is the level of difficulty that goes into the process to the final product?
- Are there specific countries that certain fabric comes from?
- Is fabric dyes/ink/paint colors different from food, art, and what they use to color other items we use around the home?
As a child, I remember wearing and seeing in my home fabrics such as linen, cotton, rayon, polyester, suede, leather, and faux leather. Silk was a luxury item one paid dearly for and being in the low socio-economic status, on the most part, exempted my family from owning items made from it. Cashmere and wool were not very popular because we were tropical people and these were thought of as for cold climates. And so my love affair with fabric continued. As my interests grew, so too did my noticing as it relates to quality, softness, variety of colors: and how names for them were formed.
- Thickness vs thinness
- High thread count vs low thread count
- Egyptian cotton vs other types of cotton
- What fabric is best for certain projects
- How were names formulated for them and on and on.
I realized quickly that there was a lot more to fabric than meets the eye. As a result of this, I also realized that this had the potential to be a really wide topic, thus it can be explored at different angles, so I needed to narrow my inquiry search . Therefore, the steps I plan next and the directions I have been pursuing are, how fabric is made, what is it made from; the popular ones we have come to know; and finally how are various patterns and color transferred onto fabric.
So far, I have learned that both Interior Designers and fashion school students (depending on their areas of interests), have to study:
fabric: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004179/textiles.html;
fibers: http://www.amefird.com/fiber_science.htm and finally
textiles: http://www.economicadventure.org/visit/exhibits/textiles/brochure.pdf
One site I found particularly easy to read and understand, therefore helpful was, http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid. It gave succinct information about how fabric is made, where it comes from, the types of fabric derive from these sources, and much more.
Additionally, I also checked out www.thaitextilemuseum.com/.../Fabric_Making.../fabric_making_process.html. This site is obviously written by a non-English speaker and so though the information given is helpful, I was turned off by it because it contained too many convention and grammar errors. I wondered if there was no one to edit/revise for them - I guess not. Oh, and during my inquiry I also learned that textiles are different from fabric in that they are threads and yarns used for weaving, knitting, crocheting, and so on.
As mentioned above, fabric comes from various sources and therefore produce the types we know of:
Plant fibers from bamboo, pine, spruce, and hemp produces - cotton, linen, rayon, and hemp.
Animal/Hair fibers obtained from shaving, sheering, brushing and animal furs produces - cashmere, wool, and alpaca.
Insects - silkworms who form cocoons of silk moth by eating mulberry leaves produces - silk - the most expensive fabric there is.
Crude Oil produces synthetics processed into chemical polymers forming fibres that makes - polyester, nylon, acrylic, and so on.
Doesn't crude oil sound really crude - unattractive to our delicate sensibilities? Does it change your preference to wearing these fabric (if you do)? I know some professions who won't care:-}
In the long run, it's all very fascinating. What are your thoughts? How does this affect your feelings if (some of) what is mentioned above is news to you? If nothing else, as with me, I have a new found appreciation to the process of how fabric is produced, my choices and preferences in my home as it relates to what goes on my skin via clothing, underwear, towels, sheets, etc; what I sleep on and in, what I sit on and basically everything fabric that affect my (your) life.
You can also view:
- http://www.viddler.com/explore/LauraDameeks/videos/115/ (how fabric is stamped)
- http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XODQ1ODcxNjg=.html (a fabric bag making machine)
- http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-video-10280605-making-batik-fabric.php (how batik - dyeing fabric, is made)
All this talk about fabric brings back an old memory of song artists Madonna's song, "Material Girl." In my country fabric is referred to as material or cloth, and it represents many things - wealth or lack thereof. The material we wore said a great deal about our financial status. Today, most people can afford some type of luxurious fabric/material/cloth.
With all there is to learn, my journey continues...
