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Yes, yes, yes…I know I’m ending the title with a preposition. But bear with me. I have a sinus headache so I’m not writing at one hundred percent. In fact, this article will be shorter than I originally intended. We’ll stretch silk out to next week, too. “Mommy? Where does silk come from?” “A stork . . . → Read More: Textile Tuesday: Where Does Silk Come From? One of our most luxurious fabrics is formed from the secretion of a caterpillar. It’s a good thing that silk is unlike any other fiber–dry hand, a unique natural luster, good moisture absorption, beautiful draping, and high strength–or else I think we’d all be grossed out. To be more accurate, silk is produced by the . . . → Read More: Tu-Wednesday Textiles: The Silk Road Does angora wool come from a goat or a rabbit? What the heck is quiviut (besides a great Scrabble word)? In this last installment on wools, we will answer those questions and provide lots of interesting information that you can throw about at your next cocktail party. Basically, specialty wools are from the goat, rabbit, . . . → Read More: Textile Tuesday: Specialty Wools Image courtesy of Shorpy Historic Photo Archive (Shorpy.com). August 1942 in Madison County, Montana. Sheep grazing the Gravelly Range at the foot of Black Butte. View full size by clicking on image. Gorgeous 4×5 Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. If you watched The Thorn Birds, you know that it . . . → Read More: Tuesday Textile: Wool (Part 2) “Where does virgin wool come from? The sheep that runs the fastest.”~Harry F. Banks
Ancient Sheep Drawing Way back in November of last year, I finished our exploration of bast fibers. After a very long winter break, we now return to Tuesday Textiles and will begin to explore natural protein fibers. If you’ve . . . → Read More: Tuesday Textile: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep Have You Any Wool? I just looked at sheets from a venerable department store’s online catalog. The advertisement was beside itself with giddy. For one day only, I could buy a 6-piece sheet set (my choice of the size) for only $79.99! But, get this! The sheets have a thread count of 800! And we know that the higher . . . → Read More: Textile Tuesday: The Great Thread Count Conspiracy We know that flax is one of the oldest fibers known but there are other bast fibers that are just as ancient: Ramie, hemp, and jute. Photo courtesy of SacredEarth.com Ramie Truth be told, I have only started hearing about ramie in the past few years because of the Talbot’s catalog. And, until . . . → Read More: Textile Tuesday: Hey Jute! Don’t Be a Hemp! Flax is one of the oldest textile fibers still in use. Anyone who has gone to Sunday School probably remembers hearing Bible stories about the use of it in both the Old and New Testaments. Don’t remember? You probably know it better by its fabric name: Linen. There is much confusion about flax and linen . . . → Read More: Textile Tuesday: The Girl with the Flaxen Fabric In a previous textile post, I mentioned that cotton is the most commercially important seed fiber. But cotton isn’t the only seed fiber. Other seed fibers include coir, kapok, and milkweed. Even though these fibers aren’t usually used in sewing, I thought I would share them with you so that you will recognize what they . . . → Read More: Tuewednesday Textiles: Other Seed Fibers Cotton is the most commercially important seed fiber. Last week, I wrote about its production and the types of cotton. This week, we’ll focus on the common uses of cotton. “The fabric of our lives” is more than just the cotton slogan. It really does permeate almost every area of our lives. In 2004, cotton . . . → Read More: Textile Tuesday: Cotton, Part 2 |
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