Friday, June 14, 2013

Fabrics

In 2011 I had access to a photographing microscope, so of course I had to take pictures of fabric. The first is cotton sateen, and I think it’s very interesting. The rest are cool, too. My descriptions are not at all technical, and might be wrong. It’s just what I’ve picked up over time. I dye, I don’t weave.

SateenFront2Sateen front – selvedge is on the right. A sateen weave is ‘over several, under one, (or fewer than it went over.)’

SateenBack2

Sateen back – selvedge on the left.

Broadcloth1

Broadcloth – the basic over 1 – under 1 plain weave we learned making potholders.NuSuedeBack

NuSuede polyester microfiber – the smooth back.NuSuedeFrint

NuSuede frontRadianceBack

Radiance cotton-silk sateen. This is the back cotton side.

RadianceFront

Radiance – the front / silk / warp side.

Saturday, June 08, 2013

Results from washout

Here's the result of my wash-out test. Everything had a cold rinse, and some were hung to dry. When all the fabric was dyed and rinsed, we filled the washing machine with the hottest water available, added Metaphos (water softener) and Synthrapol. Once it was full and had started agitating, we added the fabric. I ran the washer extra long - 25 minutes, then let it finish its cycle and dried. No backstaining -yay!