Chapter 4: Fabric Investigation I

 This has been such an interesting series of tasks; it's possible to learn a great deal about each fabric through looking carefully and describing what you see, followed by some very simple experiments.  

Fortunately some time ago I had had a massive sort out and tidy-up of the fabrics I have in stock, learning along the way how much I lean towards natural fibres, labelling those fabrics by fibre content.  I discovered that I was unsure about the content the man-made fabrics I had.  As a result I went out and bought a few bits and pieces, finding out along the way just how many fabrics use a combination of fibres, for example wool/viscose to make felt (see 4:8 below), and Silk/velvet is another such example (see 4:6 below).  Presumably such combinations aim to exploit the best of both fibre types.

I also want to comment further about Man-made fabrics, which have been produced in response to Natural ones, trying to mimic transparency, lightness, drapability but also try to preclude a propensity to crease or any other qualities which are seen as less desirable.  Of course cost and supply also come into play.

 A useful aid in ensuring I had a good spread of both natural and man-made fibres was a chart in Sew Guide.com

4:1 Range of Fabrics Tested

Here then below are tables showing the result of my investigation:

4:2 Cotton

4:3 Burning and Melting Cotton Fibres

4:4 Linen

    

                                     

4:5 Burning and Melting Linen Fibres

                                  

4:6 Silk 

4:7 Burning and Melting Silk Fibres

4:8

I've included Wool/Viscose Felt and Viscose Felt in this table to make the comparison easy to see.

4:9 Burning and Melting Wool Fabrics

4:10 Man-made

4:11 Burning and Melting Man-made Fibres

Final Thoughts:

• Texture is seen as well as felt. There are such contrasting textures amongst my samples: think of damask and dishcloth, hemp and net. Texture can be imagined too and in doing so the leap as to how it will behave and how it might be used is made.

• A fabric's yarn and structure can determine how this behaviour and again where best it can be used.  The warp and weft of nettle linen and lawn are vastly different and will behave differently.  Then there are knitted fabrics, another thing entirely, where stretch is a priority.

• The effects of flame and heat are a matter of safety, but in the context of this module are yet another way of seeing how fabric can be manipulated: think about the cut, curl and shrink of chiffon, the irregular die back of fine calico.  I well remember from the beads I made for the final piece in Module 3 how difficult it is to control the effects of heat: one moment nothing has happened, the next one's carefully planned idea has gone up in smoke.

• At the back of my mind is the field gazing I've been doing, the textures, the contrasts, the shapes which interplay and I'm very much looking forward to marrying these experimental findings with my outdoor observations.