TEXTILES for the SEAMSTRESS Including ? a Seamstress should ask…and understand NATURAL FIBERS • Wool can bend up to 20,000 times before breaking • Cotton breaks after 3200 bends • Silk breaks after 1800 bends • Rayon after 75 bends WOOL FACTS • Domesticated in southwest Asia 12K years ago. Romans started the industry in 3rd century A.D. when occupied England. • Flannel Act of 1600 in Britain: every corpse to be buried dressed entirely in wool. Living required to wear all-wool garments from Nov. to April. • Ancient times: whitest fleece commanded highest prices • Big production in Argentina, New Zealand, Australia where there are 40 sheep /person and 40 acres /sheep! • 40 of hundreds of breeds are raised for fleece. Merino most widely distributed breed. • Graded according to fineness of fiber: Fine, Medium, Coarse and Carpet • Demands as much time and effort at the ironing board as at the sewing machine • Lanolin is most important byproduct and is main ingredient in skin creams, soaps and cosmetics, and as a softener or lubricant. • Used to stuff baseballs and mattresses, surface of tennis balls, tips of felt pens Woolen Worsted COTTON FACTS • 12,000 B.C. Egypt • 1607 first commercial planting in North America • Industrial Revolution in US begun by Eli Whitney - Cotton Gin in 1793 • Huge demand led to use of slavery • Upland Cotton - most common types against which others are graded • Pima Cotton - U.S. (TX, Z, NM, CA) • Egyptian Cotton - finest in world • Planted March-April and harvested August-Sept. • Hand-picked (15 #/hour) best and cleanest compare to 650#/hour by machine • Linters (short fibers stuck to seed after ginning) used to make: rayon, acetate, plastics, paper, glass, film, high gloss lacquers, twine, wicks, carpet, mattress and furniture stuffingoils, lubricants, soap, paint, livestock feed, flour and fertilizer. SILK FACTS • 2640 B.C. Empress accidentally dropped coccon into hot water where it unravelled into the filament • 3000 year monopoly on silk, then leaked to Japan and India • 552 A.D. Monks smuggled to Constantinople then spread to Italy, Spain, Europe • Base of finances for Renaissance • Today: China, Japan (where first cultivated), India • 1 cocoon yields 1600 ft to 1 mile of continuous filament • ‘Gum’ is sericin. The more sericin that is boiled off, the better the quality of the silk making it softer, more lustrous and pliable. • Found in: face powder, cold cream, wigs, dental floss, braces, bicyle tirres, fishing line, parachutes, Ben Franklin’s kite, electrical insulation, surgical sutures, nose of Concord Jet. Silk Duppioni (doupioni, dupionni) = • produced when 2 or more silkworms spin their cocoons too close together. • produce slightly tangled cocoons to produce filament that is rough, uneven and not as strong as cultivated silk • usually from cultivated (farmed on purpose) rather than wild silkworms because more crowded growing place! • crosswise yarns subect to fraying and raveling • seam slippage likely so not close-fitting styles • falls into wide cones; can be gathered ‘shot’ or irridescent = LINEN FACTS 1. Flax yarns and fabrics increase about 20% in strength on wetting. Linen is therefore stronger than cotton when it comes to washing. 2. Linen can absorb upto 20% of its own weight of moisture while still feeling dry to the touch. That explains why Linen cloth are always fresh and cool. 3. The tensile strength of Linen is thigh: twice as strong as cotton and 3 times stronger than wool. 4. Linen reduces gamma radiation almost by half and protects humans against solar radiation. 5. Linen Cloth does not accumulate static electricity- even 10% of linen in a blend is enough to eliminate the static electricity effect. 6. Cool to wear: Heat conductivity of Linen is 5 times as high as that of wool and 19 times as that of silk. In hot weather, those dressed in Linen clothes are found to show the skin temperature 3-4 deg below those wearing silk and cotton. Among all the linens, Irish Linen is always known to be the best. Linen is an important fiber for Ireland, so much so that stamps and coins are minted showing linen leaves. Sewers Need to Know… • Linen WILL wrinkle - love it, or don’t use it. “Status Wrinkles” • Wash n dry several times - last time pull from dryer while still damp. Iron to dry with a hot, dry iron using spray starch. Dping this will prevent wrinkling as much but won’t have stiff, dry crisp ‘hand’. Know the WEIGHTS of Linen • Handkerchief: hi thread count, perfect for baby clothes, blouses, christening gowns • Medium-weight: for sportwear blouses, pants skirts, vests • Bottom-weight: jackets, pants, skirts from my friend Louise Cutting - the linen authority! http:// mytextilenotes.blogspot.com/ 2011/08/some-facts-about- linen.html • absorbs moisture • dries quickly • static-free • lint-free • moth stain resistant • sheds surface dirt • dyes well MAN-MADE FIBERS CELLULOSIC Rayon Lyocel (Tencel)*** Acetate***/TriAcetate SYNTHETICS Acrylic & Modacrylic Nylon Olefin Polyester Rubber Saran Spandex Vinyon RAYON “Poor Man’s Silk” til early 1920’s as ‘Rayon’ • pine, spruce, hemlock, even cotton • Bamboo Know this about … RAYON • loses 50% strength when wet …. avoid hot iron, press on wrong side • more comfortable than poly • less static-producing than poly • shrinks • dries slowly • 3 processes: • Cupramonium - Germany 1857 - less of • Metrocellulosic - France 1884- not around • Viscose - England 1892 - widely used today Know this about …TENCEL • 1972 developed form of rayon made from hardwood pulp • Only 1 current producer: Lenzing AG • More $$$ than cotton or viscose rayon. • Soft, absorbent, very strong when wet or dry, wrinkle-resistant Know this about …ACETATE most common fabric known today of acetate is ‘Slinky Knit’ Know this about …POLYESTER • Dupont introduced 1951 • Petroleum by-product • Absorb poorly • Dull tools quickly • Wrinkle resistant • Less stretchy than nylon • Pill easily and attract lint • Dust and smoke retained • Fabric softener can permanently stain • Durable • High color retention • Reputation SAVED by BLENDS & Microfibers Know this about …MICROFIBERS • Usually polyester or nylon • must be synthetic • 0.7 denier or less in size • 1 denier = 1/20 fineness of silk strand • silk strand = 1/5 diameter of human hair • Ultrasuede - one of first successful synthetic microfibers • popular in 1990’s starting in Sweden Micro = ‘Little’ = MORE surface area THEREFORE • More surface area = more susceptible to EVERYTHING incl breathability • Presscloth NECESSARY - self fabric works - from WRONG side • Water resistant, therefore sew-in rather than fusible interfacings preferable • Teflon Foot, Even Feed Foot, Reduce foot pressure Microdenier fabrics feel soft, are durable, and have the ability to wipe surfaces clean even without using a wetting agent. Know this about …NYLON • The ‘miracle fiber’ - 1st synthetic created 1938 • Term so popular could not register ‘nylon’ • 1st used for Toothbrush…then stockings at reasonable cost because of puncture resistant moreso than silk • WW2 .. not dependent on imports, wide use for military ie: parachutes, outer clothing, tires, etc. • More expensive to produce than poly so more $$$ • Nylon is 11% of synthetic production • Polyester is 58% of synthetic production Remember…..Qiana Nylon?? Know this about … NYLON compared to POLYESTER Nylon Polyester Polyamide Polyethylene Naphthalate Chemical Name Created as a liquid, mechanically spun Spun into thread from chemical Manufacture and dried into individual fibers. solution. More common to certain kinds of More widely used in all kinds of apparel. Uses apparel, including lingerie, tights, Carpets, drapes, and bedding. Some raincoats, and swimwear. Carpets, industrial use. Low moisture absorbency Wrinkle resistant Wearability Exceptionally strong, abrasion resistant, Strong, resistant to stretching and Durability resistant to damage from oil and many shrinking, resistant to most chemicals, chemicals. crisp and resilient wet or dry, abrasion Melts then burns rapidly Melts and burns at same time Flammability Environmental Most nylon made from unavoidable oil Non-biodegradable, but can be recycled impact refinery byproducts - possible to purchase 100% recycled polyester Light-weight, warm, smooth, soft, quick Quick drying, light-weight, smooth. Comfort drying. F ROM WWW.DIFFEN.COM FIBER STRUCTURE staple filament natural or synthetic only natural is silk must be spun into yarn long strands poly fiberfill is example TWIST Counterclockwise Clockwise DENIER Denier = fineness of man-made fibers weight of 9K meters of yarn (or fiber) clothing fibers range from 1-7 denier carpet fibers range from 15-24 denier average silk yarn: 4-5 deniers Sew…..Why does TWIST Matter? *amount of twist varies with length of fibers, size, yarn’s intended use *increasing twist up to a certain point strengthens the yarns *too much twist places fibers at right angles to center and causes shearing action between fibers and yarn loses strength *yarns with long fibers don’t require as much twist as yarns with short fibers since they establish more points of contact per fiber and give stronger yarns for the same amount of twist. Low Twist - in filling yarns of fabrics that are to be napped permits napping machine to tease out ends of staple fibers. Average Twist - most often used for yarns of staple fibers, seldom for filament yarns. Standard Warp Twist - warp yarns must be stronger to resist wear of weft yarns snuggled among the warp yarns. High, Hard Twist - (voile) 30-40 turns per inch. SPINNERET ‘SHOWER HEAD’ THRU WHICH SYNTHETIC ‘GOO’ FORCED