#textile science

[umabloomer]

My coworker asked me why no one has invented an athletic textile that is sweat-wicking but also odour-resistant and I said it exists and it’s merino wool 😭😭😭 and she said “bUt IsN’t WoOl ItChY? 🥺” The athletic wear companies have everyone believing that synthetic fabrics are the only appropriate athletic wear. But it is actually plastic and stinky!!! Touch wool please. If you think polyester spandex is more breathable/less hot than a light merino knit you are being fooled. Also most leggings or whatever from popular companies are terribly over-priced for what they are (plastic extruded as filaments) and you can find merino leggings or tops for around the same price as some of the higher end athletic brands.

[20dollarlolita]

Hey! I’m hoping you might have a suggestion for fabrics; I’m looking for a thick cotton to make a petticoat style skirt (like those oldschool ones made of cotton with pintucks and insertion lace). I want it thick enough that the white skirt isn’t see through and it stays stiff enough to provide volume if I use it as an underskirt, but not so thick/rough it’s uncomfortable or that I can’t gather it to be frilly. There’s so many words out there- duck? Broadcloth? Canvas? Twill? I’m not sure how to describe what I’m looking for in a Google search. All I know is I definitely don’t want quilting cotton. ‘Burberry’ (which I see a lot of brands use) just turns up plaids a la the high fashion brand. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you so much!

Anyone who is interested in burbery in the lolita context should talk to @babelglyph aka burberryglyph. The short version is that burbery is a lightweight cotton twill used in a lot of old school pieces, and B.Glyph knows where to get it, as well as can provide info about why they know that the fabric they recommend is true burbery twill, as well as why it's called burbery. I remember that they know all of this but can't remember the actual answer to any of it.

As for other fabrics you mentioned: All duck is canvas but not all canvas is duck. Duck is a plain weave and other canvasses can be a twill weave of some kind. Either way, the heavier yarn and overall thick construction is what makes canvas canvas. Fun fact, "duck tape" predated the term "duct tape" and referred to tape made of duck canvas. Broadcloth is usually interchangeably with quilt cotton, though "quilt cotton" is generally a more specific term. Broadcloth can be pretty much any fiber but quilt cotton is expected to be cotton. Some people think that broadcloth has to be a single color. Twill is a weave structure, so the words that predate it are important. "stretch twill" is going to be different from "suiting twill" or "heavyweight wool twill." If you want to see a twill weave structure, generally the most accessible example of a twill structure is denim. Look at some blue jeans and you can see how there's that slanting pattern caused by the blue threads passing over 2-3 white threads before going under a white thread? That's a twill weave structure. (You then have to have it be cotton and have the two color setup to be proper denim. Technically black jeans aren't denim, they're just twill, but no one wants to get into that fight with me.)

If you're looking for cotton fabrics that aren't quilt cotton, but tend to be in that sort of lighter weight area, I'd look for:

Cotton sateen: This is cotton fibers woven in a satin weave. This has a really subtle luster and will drape better than quilt cotton,

or

Cotton poplin: poplin has what's called an unbalanced plain weave, so the threads are woven in the same pattern as quilting cotton, but where in quilting cotton they are the same thickness vertically and horizontally, they're different thicknesses vertical vs horizontal in poplin. This means that it hangs better, and also that it has a different drape depending on if you're using lengthwise grain or crosswise grain. Poplin is used for shirting a lot.

If you need to get thicker, you will probably want to look for lightweight twill. I'm trying to not get too into textile science, which is hard because i LOVE textile science. So stick with me for a second:

The "higher quality" a fabric generally feels, in quotes there because quality is subjective, but through history we have associated finely spun yarns with a higher quality. Thinner yarns are harder to make, and you need to use more of them to make the same size fabric as you'd make with thicker yarn. Thinner yarn has to be structurally better constructed to take the force of being woven into fabric, versus a thicker yarn. So, when we want something that feels like quality, we look for fabrics spun with a thinner yarn. This is why expensive sheets are measured in thread count: more threads per inch is a better quality sheet.

However, the problem comes when you want a thicker fabric made of thinner yarns. If you've ever had a potholder loom, you understand a plain weave: a yarn goes over one yarn, under the next, over the next, and so on. Thinner threads in a plain weave will make a thinner fabric.

However, if you start using other weave patterns, you start changing fabric properties. In a twill weave, a thread will go over two or more other threads before going under another thread. One of the side effects of this is that it's possible to fit more threads into the same space than you could fit in a plain weave, meaning that you can make a thicker fabric with thinner yarns going into the construction process.

And this means that, if you're judging a fabric thickness by weight, like you know how many ounces a yard of fabric is, a twill fabric will be made of finer yarns than a canvas fabric of the same weight.

In addition to being "higher quality", we like thinner yarns in garment construction because they're more flexible, so they make the fabric hang more like a garment and less like a canvas sack.

As a final note, when you say "provide volume as an underskirt", a twill skirt with pintucks and insertion will have some volume, but if you're doing a lolita fashion look, you'll also need petticoats under that. Some fashion styles, that added volume will be enough, but in lolita fashion, if you can get the hem of your skirt to be 10" away from your legs in all direction, you're probably approaching the correct level of poof.

(But for what it's worth, if you're trying to add some more volume on a cotton underskirt that's not for lolita fashion, pintucks will make the same skirt have more volume. Creating that rigid-ish line that goes in the direction opposite of what the skirt would naturally want to fold, especially if you make several of those lines in a close spacing, will hold the skirt out and make it have more lift. Just a fun fact there. If you want to get as much volume as possible out of this, you will want to use many small pintucks, as well as the stiffest insertion that you can find. Skirts want to be small and make lots of soft vertical folds, so applying horizontal decoration that makes that folding harder to do will add volume).

I don't know how much of that was answering the ask and how much was just Pink Loves Textile Science 2023(tm)

[fantasticfibers]

Learning Process no. 1.2: Extracting lanolin from sheep wool

I'm trying to different processes for extracting lanolin

Cold prewash: I've washed it 4 times while it has soaked for a few hours about 5.

"The wool grease is continuously removed during this washing process by centrifugal separators, which concentrate it into a wax-like substance melting at approximately 38°C" - Sengupta, Amit; Behera (2014). "Comprehensive view on chemistry, manufacturing & applications of lanolin extracted from wool pretreatment,also used in vitamins" (PDF). American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER).

That means the cold wash may still have the lanolin oil

I possibly have to investigate how to do some centrifugal separation?

Boiled: I would prefer not to use this method as i understand from my research that the wool will not be useable after having it boiled. "Wool felt melts between 105 and 110F" - p. 50. the Big Book of Handspinning by Alden Amos

The water needs to boil for a few hours.

I'm reading from different sources especially this thread on permies.com

https://permies.com/t/65837/extract-lanolin-wool#2624426

And watched different videos on YouTube:

Extracting Lanolin from Sheep's Wool, Edwardian Farm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2pEIsyWD-Y

Lanolin extraction from Sheep's wool DIY : My learning Process, homemade from scratch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoH3Cv5AS4A&t=635s

If you have some knowledge to share, please do! It will be much appreciated

[transsexual-dandelions]

Does anyone have any good resources for finding research/journals on more niche topics and ideas I can’t find anything productive about biodegradation of textiles or the natural ageing process of clothes/textiles

[zegalba]

Aleksandra Kasuba studio space at the Philadelphia College of Textile and Science (1977)

[nasa]

NASA Inspires Your Crafty Creations for World Embroidery Day

It’s amazing what you can do with a little needle and thread! For #WorldEmbroideryDay, we asked what NASA imagery inspired you. You responded with a variety of embroidered creations, highlighting our different areas of study.

Here’s what we found:

Webb’s Carina Nebula

Wendy Edwards, a project coordinator with Earth Science Data Systems at NASA, created this embroidered piece inspired by Webb’s Carina Nebula image. Captured in infrared light, this image revealed for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth. Credit: Wendy Edwards, NASA. Pattern credit: Clare Bray, Climbing Goat Designs

Wendy Edwards, a project coordinator with Earth Science Data Systems at NASA, first learned cross stitch in middle school where she had to pick rotating electives and cross stitch/embroidery was one of the options.  “When I look up to the stars and think about how incredibly, incomprehensibly big it is out there in the universe, I’m reminded that the universe isn’t ‘out there’ at all. We’re in it,” she said. Her latest piece focused on Webb’s image release of the Carina Nebula. The image showcased the telescope’s ability to peer through cosmic dust, shedding new light on how stars form.

Ocean Color Imagery: Exploring the North Caspian Sea

Danielle Currie of Satellite Stitches created a piece inspired by the Caspian Sea, taken by NASA’s ocean color satellites. Credit: Danielle Currie/Satellite Stitches

Danielle Currie is an environmental professional who resides in New Brunswick, Canada. She began embroidering at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic as a hobby to take her mind off the stress of the unknown. Danielle’s piece is titled “46.69, 50.43,” named after the coordinates of the area of the northern Caspian Sea captured by LandSat8 in 2019.

An image of the Caspian Sea captured by Landsat 8 in 2019. Credit: NASA

Two Hubble Images of the Pillars of Creation, 1995 and 2015

Melissa Cole of Star Stuff Stitching created an embroidery piece based on the Hubble image Pillars of Creation released in 1995. Credit: Melissa Cole, Star Stuff Stitching

Melissa Cole is an award-winning fiber artist from Philadelphia, PA, USA, inspired by the beauty and vastness of the universe. They began creating their own cross stitch patterns at 14, while living with their grandparents in rural Michigan, using colored pencils and graph paper.  The Pillars of Creation (Eagle Nebula, M16), released by the Hubble Telescope in 1995 when Melissa was just 11 years old, captured the imagination of a young person in a rural, religious setting, with limited access to science education.

Lauren Wright Vartanian of the shop Neurons and Nebulas created this piece inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope’s 2015 25th anniversary re-capture of the Pillars of Creation. Credit:  Lauren Wright Vartanian, Neurons and Nebulas

Lauren Wright Vartanian of Guelph, Ontario Canada considers herself a huge space nerd. She’s a multidisciplinary artist who took up hand sewing after the birth of her daughter. She’s currently working on the illustrations for a science themed alphabet book, made entirely out of textile art. It is being published by Firefly Books and comes out in the fall of 2024. Lauren said she was enamored by the original Pillars image released by Hubble in 1995. When Hubble released a higher resolution capture in 2015, she fell in love even further! This is her tribute to those well-known images.

James Webb Telescope Captures Pillars of Creation

Darci Lenker of Darci Lenker Art, created a rectangular version of Webb’s Pillars of Creation. Credit:  Darci Lenker of Darci Lenker Art

Darci Lenker of Norman, Oklahoma started embroidery in college more than 20 years ago, but mainly only used it as an embellishment for her other fiber works. In 2015, she started a daily embroidery project where she planned to do one one-inch circle of embroidery every day for a year.  She did a collection of miniature thread painted galaxies and nebulas for Science Museum Oklahoma in 2019. Lenker said she had previously embroidered the Hubble Telescope’s image of Pillars of Creation and was excited to see the new Webb Telescope image of the same thing. Lenker could not wait to stitch the same piece with bolder, more vivid colors.

Milky Way

Darci Lenker of Darci Lenker Art was inspired by NASA’s imaging of the Milky Way Galaxy. Credit: Darci Lenker

In this piece, Lenker became inspired by the Milky Way Galaxy, which is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. The Sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur.

The Cosmic Microwave Background

This image shows an embroidery design based on the cosmic microwave background, created by Jessica Campbell, who runs Astrostitches. Inside a tan wooden frame, a colorful oval is stitched onto a black background in shades of blue, green, yellow, and a little bit of red. Credit: Jessica Campbell/ Astrostitches

Jessica Campbell obtained her PhD in astrophysics from the University of Toronto studying interstellar dust and magnetic fields in the Milky Way Galaxy. Jessica promptly taught herself how to cross-stitch in March 2020 and has since enjoyed turning astronomical observations into realistic cross-stitches. Her piece was inspired by the cosmic microwave background, which displays the oldest light in the universe.

The full-sky image of the temperature fluctuations (shown as color differences) in the cosmic microwave background, made from nine years of WMAP observations. These are the seeds of galaxies, from a time when the universe was under 400,000 years old. Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team

GISSTEMP: NASA’s Yearly Temperature Release

Katy Mersmann, a NASA social media specialist, created this embroidered piece based on NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) global annual temperature record. Earth’s average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record. Credit: Katy Mersmann, NASA

Katy Mersmann is a social media specialist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She started embroidering when she was in graduate school. Many of her pieces are inspired by her work as a communicator. With climate data in particular, she was inspired by the researchers who are doing the work to understand how the planet is changing. The GISTEMP piece above is based on a data visualization of 2020 global temperature anomalies, still currently tied for the warmest year on record.

In addition to embroidery, NASA continues to inspire art in all forms. Check out other creative takes with Landsat Crafts and the James Webb Space telescope public art gallery.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

i did Not cry in the museum but it was a very near thing

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Chalk-based coating creates a cooling fabric

In the scorching heat of summer, anyone who spends time outside—athletes, landscapers, kids at the park or beachgoers—could benefit from a cooling fabric. While there are some textiles that reflect the sun's rays or transfer heat away from the body, current options require boutique fibers or complex manufacturing processes. But now, researchers report a durable chalk-based coating that cools the air underneath treated fabric by up to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Evan D. Patamia, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will present their team's results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Fall 2024 is a hybrid meeting being held virtually and in person from Aug. 18–22; it features about 10,000 presentations on a range of science topics. "If you walk out into the sunlight, you will get increasingly hot because your body and clothing are absorbing ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (near-IR) light from the sun," says Trisha L. Andrew, a chemist and materials scientist working with Patamia. "And as long as you're alive, your body is generating heat, which can be thought of as light, too."

Read more.

[mindblowingscience]

Dyes widely used in the textile, food and pharmaceutical industries pose a pressing threat to plant, animal and human health, as well as natural environments around the world, a new study has found. Billions of tons of dye-containing wastewater enter water systems every year, and a group of researchers from the UK, China, Korea and Belgium say that new sustainable technologies including new membrane-based nano-scale filtration are needed to solve the issue, adding that legislation is needed to compel industrial producers to eliminate colorants before they reach public sewage systems or waterways. Published today in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the study Environmental impacts and remediation of dye-containing wastewater was written by academics from the University of Bath, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), and KU Leuven, Belgium. The research highlights that currently, up to 80% of dye-containing industrial wastewaters created in low- and middle-income countries are released untreated into waterways or used directly for irrigation. The authors say this poses a wide range of direct and indirect threats to human, animal and plant health

Continue Reading

[fleshaesthetic]

Biomoda | Suzanne Lee

"Lee designed this jacket from bacteria grown in her bathtub. Because it looks so similar to leather, its unusual production methods might be overlooked by many, on first glance. This challenges our assumptions of what clothes can and will be made from in the future"

(further reading)

[aeide-thea]

[T]rousers were actually a technological breakthrough. Mounted herders and warriors needed their leg coverings to be flexible enough to let the wearer swing a leg across a horse without ripping the fabric or feeling constricted. At the same time, they needed some added reinforcement at crucial areas like the knees. It became, to some extent, a materials-science problem. Where do you want something elastic, and where do you want something strong? And how do you make fabric that will accomplish both? For the makers of the world’s oldest pants, produced in China around 3,000 years ago, the answer was apparently to use different weaving techniques to produce fabric with specific properties in certain areas, despite weaving the whole garment out of the same spun wool fiber. […] Most of the pants are woven in what’s called twill, which you might recognize if you’ve ever put on a pair of jeans. The oldest known twill fabric in the world comes from the Hallstatt salt mine in Austria, and it has been radiocarbon dated to a bit earlier than the pants, between 3,500 and 3,200 years ago. Twill makes a diagonally ribbed, heavy fabric that’s also stretchier than the original wool thread. […] Flexibility isn’t everything, though, especially for the rough use a mounted warrior’s clothing probably got. At the knees, the ancient weaver switched to a different weaving method, called tapestry weaving, which produces a less flexible but thicker, sturdier fabric. At the waist, a third weaving method provided a thick waistband to help hold the pants in place, no doubt preventing extremely embarrassing battlefield incidents. And all of those components were woven as a single piece; there's no evidence of any of the fabric having been cut.

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

Cheep textiles in costumes for fantasy make me want to gnaw through a steel beam. But if I see a cheep fabric in science fiction I am ready to accept that Alien Race 53 just has a dogshit taste in polyester

[othmeralia]

Here are some cotton yarns dyed green for the Eagles! We're so excited for the Super Bowl on Sunday and hope that our Philadelphia Eagles bring home a win!

[hollygl125]

Drawing, Design for Wallpaper and Textiles: Flowers and Butterflies; France; brush and gouache, graphite on blue paper; 66.5 x 51 cm (26 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.); Gift of Harvey Smith; 1968-107-22 (Cooper Hewitt)

[sewingsillythings]

Absolutely love this Star Trek: Voyager costume