Textiles guide E-Book

Florence Ferrari

• Herausgeber: ESMOD
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 138

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Textiles are part of our lives but we are not always familiar with them. Knowing how to choose them and how to use them is essential to better respect and optimise the resources at our disposal.
Designed with the user in mind, this book explores the various technical data on textiles in a straightforward manner, while keeping in mind the difficulties users face in choosing their creations.
The first part deals with the textile industry: raw materials, spinning, weaving, knitting and finishing, without forgetting the education of the touch (the hand of the fabric) which is so important in any choice.
The second part helps the user to learn the vocabulary, properties, qualities and defects of each textile family: wools, cottons, silks, knits, technical and innovative fabrics. It also includes data on their ecological impact, with a summary of good practices to better respect the environment.
Tips, comparative tests and technical details are included to accompany the reader in his discoveries.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


After studying literature, Florence Ferrari graduated from ESMOD as a fashion designer.
She specialised in textiles as head of the fabric library for an ESMOD subsidiary, then became a textile technology teacher, while regularly working as a consultant editor in style offices and as a journalist in the professional textile press.

Leseprobe

Florence ferrari

know how to choose, know how to use

textiles Guide

Inclus

l’éco-conception

Nouvelle édition

Table OF CONTENTS

INDEX

Préface

What are the fabrics made of in the clothes we wear? In the last few decades, the question has become extremely complex. Lists on composition labels are longer, innovative fabrics arouse both interest and perplexity and there are many ecological questions. Between marketing arguments aimed at convincing more than explaining and chemical considerations whose consequences escape most fabric users, it can be difficult to find one’s way.

This guide is geared to fabric and clothing users, either beginners or those with more experience. It’s goal is to clarify the overall fabric offer and aid in selecting fabrics that are appropriate for their needs and desires. Throughout the book, the reader will find compara-tive pages as well as suggestions for experiments, tests and clever ways to better anticipate a fabric’s reaction when used.

The object of the first part of the book is to describe fabric production steps from raw materials to ready-to-use textiles. It concludes with a chapter dedicated to “fabric hand” and how to appreciate it empirically using a more systematic approach.

The second part addresses different textile families, their uses, sectors of application and names.

This guide is also a directory of the most common fabrics, broken down in the book by areas for use with the same terms listed at the end alphabetically. These names are indicated throughout the book by colored tabs.

Table OF CONTENTS

Part 1: Steps for fabric production

Chapter 1. Fibers.......................6

Natural fibers...................9

Wool..................................10

Animal producers.................12

Silk.....................................14

Cotton................................16

Linen..................................18

Other vegetation fibers.........19

Mineral fibers......................21

Chemical fibers...............22

Artificial fibers.....................24

Synthetic fibers....................27

ChapiteR 2. Yarns.....................31

Thrown yarns.......................32

Covered yarns.....................33

Novelty yarns......................33

Yarn to fabric.......................34

ChapitER 3. Woven fabrics..........37

Types of cloth......................38

Wovens..........................40

simple weaves.....................41

Variations............................41

Variations............................42

Complex weaves.................44

Knit................................46

Weft knit or weft knit fabric...47

Warp knit or warp knit fabric48

Tulle...............................49

Lace...................................50

Non-wovens...................52

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ChapiteR 4. Finishings...............53

Dyeing...........................54

Yarn dyeing.........................55

Variations............................56

Yarn-dyed patterns...............58

Reserve dyeing....................60

Printings and other patterns.........61

Traditional printing...............62

Digital printing.....................63

Screen printing....................64

Set transfer..........................64

Flocking..............................65

Burn-outs.............................65

Laser technology..................66

Embroidery.........................66

Fading................................67

Coating and Laminating.70

Finishes..........................72

Chapter 5. Fabric hand.............76

Evaluating drape ...........77

Qualifying textures........81

Experimenting with fabrics....................82

Part 2: Fabric Families

Chapter 1. Woolens.................86

Choose a fabric…...........88

Dry woolens........................90

Dressy woolens....................91

Cool wool...........................91

Blends................................92

Chapter 2. Silkies....................94

Choosing volume............96

Silk instructions for use..........97

Choosing a scarf fabric..98

Wild silks............................99

Choosing a lining.........100

Artificial and synthetic silkies............101

Chapter 3. Cottons..................102

Choosing an outdoor cotton fabric.................104

Heavy cottons....................105

Jeanswear.........................106

Choosing a leisure shirt fabric............................107

Choosing a classic shirt fabric............................108

Lightweight cotons..............110

Chapter 4. Knits.....................112

Circular knitting............114

T-shirt industry....................115

Hosiery manufacturing.117

Flat-bed knitting............118

Jumper industry..................119

Making a jumper...............120

Openwork knit...................121

Warp knits...................122

Choosing a lingerie fabric...123

Chapter 5. Technical fabrics......124

Protection from the cold........................126

Choosing a fabric for a puffer jacket...............127

Choosing a filling...............127

Protection from the heat.......................128

Heat-regulation..................130

Protection against the sun’s rays..........................131

Fighting odors..............132

Ingredients........................132

Managing bad weather.......................134

Splatters and stains............135

Signalization visibility..136

E-textiles............................137

Resistance....................138

Chapter 6. Eco-Design...............140

Raw materials..............142

Plant fibers........................142

Animal fibers.....................143

chemical fibers..................144

Blends..............................145

ennoblissement............146

Regulations, labels, certifications......................148

Production....................149

Maintenance................150

Repairs.............................151

End of life.....................152

Index...........................154

4

hen a consumer purchases a garment, he has access to only a small amount of information on the processes which brought it to its current form. The label lists the composition of the raw mate-rials, the country it was manufactured in and the washing and care codes.

In reality, transforming the fleece of a sheep, the cocoon of a silkworm or even crude oil into a garment, requires a series of key operations involving many different jobs. These make up the fabric and garment industry. Each step plays a key role. The choice of raw material, how it

is spun into yarn, the way yarns are assembled into material, the finishing that modifies a fabric’s look, color or properties all define the quality, drape, suppleness, resistance, appeal and overall look of a garment.

Though the consumer may not be not aware of these transformations, he will be able to reco-gnize what has gone into a garment once he has learned what to look for.

The first part of this book will follow fabric deve-lopment from the raw material to its final form.

Steps for fabric production

Part 1

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Raw material…

is presented, depending on its qualities, in the form of loose fibers called stockfibers or in the form of a connecting filament.

Yarn…

is a one-dimensional structure used in making fabric. Its thickness, cleanness, regularity and twist all have key roles in a garment’s final look.

Finishing…

refers to all operations which modify a fabric by embellishing it or by giving it new properties.

Material…

is the assemblage of yarns in a two-dimentional structure. Different types of assemblages offer broadly diverse looks and reactions in terms of opacity, elasticity, stability, etc.

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The term “fiber” designates both the nature of a raw material and the tiniest unit of this material (like a sheep hair, for example). Fibers are the ingredients which make up a fabric and are listed on a fabric composition label.

There are two major fiber groups : those which are completely natural and those which are chemically produced from materials which cannot be spun in their original state.

Natural fibers have either an animal, vege-table or mineral origin*.

Chapter 1. Fibers

Chemical fibers are also divided in two groups - artificial and synthetic fibers - which have very different performances and properties.

Since chemical fibers are man made, man has the opportunity to choose their fineness, length and shape which is clearly not so for animal and vegetation fibers.

*Mineral fibers, rarely used for clothing, do not appear on the following chart, but are mentioned later in the chapter.

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Fiber charts

NATURAL

CHEMICAL

Animal

Wool, Silk…

Vegetation

Cotton, Linen…

Artificial

Viscose, Modal, Rayon…

Synthetic

Polyester, Polyamide, Acrylic…

INVARIABLES

VARIABLES

Wool:circular cross-section, fineness - 15 to 30 microns, length - 50 to 150 mm.

Silk:faceted cross-section, fineness - 10 microns, length - approximately 1000 meters.

Cotton:oval cross-section, fineness - 20 to 40 mi-crons, length - 20 to 40 mm.

Linen:polygonal cross-s ection, fineness - 20 to 40 microns, length - 10 to 100 mm.

Cross-section: in relation to the shape we give it, we can make a fiber insular, puffy, shiny or give it other properties.

Fineness:it is possible for fibers to be finer than silk, the finest natural fiber. The term microfiber refers to fibers thinner than silk.

Length:the length of chemical fibers can be much longer than silk fibers, by far the longest natural fiber.

STRONG

WEAK

Wool

35%

Silk

50%

Cotton

65%

Linen

65%

Rayon

80 à -120%

Polyester :

• from 0,5% to 1%

Polyamide : 4%

Polypropylene : 0,05%

COMBUSTION

FUSION

• When burned, re-leases an odor of burned horn with a black, crumbly.

• When burned, releases an odor of burned paper with a light, ash gray residue (except acetate and tri-acetate which melt residue.

• Melts and leaves a hard black residue.

SHAPE, FINENESS, LENGTH

FLAME RESISTANCE

ABSORPTION

ORIGIN

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INDEX

How can we know what a fabric is made of when we don’t have the composition label available  ?

Only a laboratory analysis can be extremely precise. However burning is a simple, easy method for recognizing in which group the fabric belongs.

Odor of burned horn, black, flaky residue:

This means the fabric has an animal origin. From this point, it is easy to recognize if it is wool or silk, since these fabrics look very different. Or it may be that the fabric is a wool and silk blend.

Odor of burned paper, light, ashy gray residue:

This means the fabric has a vegetation origin, it is either cotton, linen or an artificial fiber like rayon. Now we can examine it more closely. If it resembles silk (shiny and thin) it is probably an artificial fiber.. If it resembles cotton or linen, it may be cotton or linen or could be an artificial fiber since they sometimes imitate other fibers.

Odor of burned plastic with black, hard residue:

We have either a syntheticfiber or an acetate or tri-acetate.

NotE

If the result is unclear, it is probably a blend. We can try to find out more by burning one warp and one weft yarn, or else untwisting a yarn and burning each strand indivi-dually.

Recognize fibers by burning them

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Natural fibers

Natural fibers come from elements of nature that can be directly used in their natural state and turned into yarns and then fabrics. They therefore do not require any che-mical processing.

They are classified into two main families: plant fibers and animal fibers.

Plant fiberscome from the seed coat (cotton, kapok), the stem (flax, hemp, etc.), or the leaf (abaca, raffia). Whiche-ver part they come from, they are all made of mainly cellulose and share common properties: they are generally very absorbent, not very insulating, can be crumpled, and are very flammable. They react to the same dyeing and washing agents.

Animal fiberscome either from the fleece (wool, cash-mere, alpaca, etc.) or from the cocoon (silk, etc.). They are mainly made up of proteins. Despite their differences, they have many properties in common: they are insulating, absorbent, easily smoothed out, and can be damaged by moths. They react to the same types of dyestuffs and can be cleaned in the same way.

Until the end of the 19th century, we only knew of only natural fibers. The industry was set up based on natural fibers and there were indus-tries for wool, cotton, silk, and so on. Nowadays, manufactu-rers often work with all types of fibers, because many more blends are made now than in the past. Following a change in 1997, the NACE (Statis-tical Classification of Econo-mic Activities in the Euro-pean Community) classes all fibers together in the textile trades.

Nevertheless, people still talk about “wool” or “silk” or “cotton” industries due to the fact that this classification is still very much applicable: to make a suit, you need a wool maker. For an evening dress, you need a silk factory, for a shirt, a cotton producer (see Part 2).

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Wool is made from the fleece of sheep. Other animals furnish a wooly fleece which we call wool, but which is sometimes called hair (exa-mple : camel’s hair) or the name of the animal (ex.: alpaca).

After shearing, the fleece is washed to remove the wool grease (scouring), plant debris (charring), and overhair (overhair removal). Overhair is stiff hair, thicker than wool and more difficult to dye. It can be kept in varying quantities for certain effects.

Properties

Climatic:good insulation from cold but also from heat.

Absorbent:easily absorbs moisture, but retains its insulating power even when wet.

Crinkle-free: due to its natural elasticity and curl.

Feltable:because of its scales which, when subjected to chemicals and machines, cause fibers to tangle. For this reason, fabric care is delicate.

Flame resistant: prevents fire from spreading.

Qualities and labels

Virgin wool:wool used for the first time (unrecycled), taken from a live animal.

Combed wool: (see next page).

Super 100’s: light and very fluid drapery made of super-fine yarns of fibers with a diameter of less than 18.75 microns.

Before going to the spinning mill, wool is then classified according to the length of the hairs, which varies according to the area from which it was taken (the longest being on the chest and the flanks).

Main producers:Australia, New Zealand, Russia, China, South America and South Africa.

Wool

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Different appearances of wool

Kempy wool: a heathered, hairy wool.

Fulled wool (or boiled wool): a compact, covering, stiff look.

Carded wool: short fibers, a disheveled, blurry look (see p. 32). Note: recycled wools are always carded.

Brushed wool:a puffy, mellow look (see p. 73).

Combed wool:long fibers, a clean, regular look.

Let’s compare

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Angora goat

© pg images

Merino sheep

© Rublov

Animal producers

Strictly speaking, the term wool designates sheep hair. Hairs from other animals have different names.

Wool

A frizzy, fairly soft fiber, depending on the species.

Merinos

The finest sheep wool: soft, ideal for garments worn next to the skin.

Cashmere

The cashmere goat lives in the Himalayas. Its downy hair is collected with a comb: a fine, soft, mellow, light, insular hair. A rare, luxurious fiber.

Mohair

This goat furnishes a long, shiny, slightly frizzy hair. With its long-haired, puffy look, it doesn’t felt easily.

© Zanna

Cashmere goat

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Alpaca

© Patrice Bruyer

Angora rabbit

© Callalloo twisty

Camel

© K Gray

Angora

Soft, snowy, downy yet fragile hair. It tends to slip through the fingers and it is easily felted.

Camel’s hair

The camel supplies a mellow, frizzy, puffy wool. Its fur shade has given its name to the color camel.

Alpaga

The alpaca lives in the Andes. Its hair is fine, soft and warm. The lama, which lives in the same region, has rougher hair and the vicuna, whose hair is exceptionally soft, is even rarer and more expensive than cashmere.

Baby wools

The use of the term “baby” (baby alpaca, baby camel,etc.) or lambswoolfor sheep indicates that the wool comes from an animal’s first shearing. It is finer, softer, shinier and more fragile than adult wool.

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Silk

Silk comes from the caterpillar. When it me-tamorphosizes, it secretes a continual filament that makes up a cocoon.

Cocoons are harvested before the butterfly hatches to keep them intact. Silk yarn is com-posed of two, fine, shiny, white, supple filaments called fibroin which are wrapped in a mat, stiff, coarse, slightly tinted protein called sericin.

Degummingor boiling-offconsists of eliminating the sericin. Silk that is not degummed is called bave silk. Degummed silk can then be weighted. This means adding

Animal producers

The bombyx mori