posted on September 16, 2000 10:29:27 PM new
I have some questions for the fabric-knowledgeable out there.
My main question is this: I have a piece of fabric which appears to be a cotton blend, kind of the type of stuff you'd see golf shirts made of, with a cute pattern on it. You can see the stitching for the pattern on the back of the fabric. When I was measuring it tonight I realized that it does not end! It's made in a big circle, 64" around, with no seam. I'm curious how -- and why! -- fabric would be made like that. Here's a picture of the pattern (I'm not sure if that will help, but just in case):
-- pic no longer needed, edited out --
My second question is: I have a fabric which is a very loose knit and has many different types of threads used in it. Some of the green ones are fuzzy. Is there a name for fabric like this? I'm not sure what the content is, but it kind of feels synthetic. (I haven't done a burn test on it.) Here's a picture:
-- pic no longer needed, edited out --
(Edited to remove part of my post which wasn't really a question.)
[ edited by RainyBear on Sep 16, 2000 10:49 PM ]
[ edited by RainyBear on Sep 17, 2000 09:40 PM ]
posted on September 17, 2000 05:39:22 AM new
Yup. A/k/a "tube knit".
The other doesn't look knitted at all to me. (If it were, I think it'd be called a "raschel" - not "rachel," but raSchel" - knit".) Looks like the ubiquitous 1970s woven drapery material - what scale is your picture to the actual fabric? Anyway, Most were cotton/rayon/poly with a little metallic thrown in. I don't know if there's an actual name for it other than "open weave," although if it actually is clothing fabric, "dobby weave" might be appropriate.
BTW, where are you two posting from? It's the crack of dawn here. I thought I was the only one awake!
posted on September 17, 2000 09:59:56 AM new
Hey RainyBear---
that's a cute pattern---the first one, I mean. Have to tell you that the second one looks awfully close to the drapes my mom had up in the rumpus room in 1973. But the nostalgia factor runs high so you may get tons of eager buyers anyway!! lol
to answer your question about *why* fabric was purposely made in tubular form, the answer lies in difference of intent on the part of the manufacturer.....most people think of fabrics as mainly being sold to the sewing/craft/home dec markets but the reality is that a huge percentage of all textiles made in the U.S. and elsewhere go into the much larger ready to wear market. Ready to wear manufacturers approach the cutting out and construction of garments far differently than the home sewing sector. For manufacturers everything is about cost. An extra inch of trim or an extra button on a potential design will in the long run end up costing thousands when this garment is manufactured x 10,000. So, everything is calculated before cutting to the last dime spent. Soooooooo, tubular fabrics make it possible to cut out some types of clothing more economically and in some cases require the assemblyperson to sew fewer seams, which translates into quicker construction and lower costs. A ready to wear company can order a tubular knit in a 30 inch width, for example, and if they make juniors' tops out of that length, the cutting out time and sewing up time is much less than if two pieces had to be cut out and seamed up the sides.
I;m sure this is much more than you wanted to know. But it makes me happy to feel like I am getting something out of that "Textile Technology" class I took years ago. lol
posted on September 17, 2000 10:26:12 AM newWoven, yes, I'm sure that's what the second one is, not knitted. Sorry, this is an area in which I'm still learning! Thanks for the information everyone, and Kim, thanks for the detailed explanation about the "why" of tubular knits. I'd thought it must be something like that, but reading the whole story was interesting.
Yes, the green fabric looks a lot like 70's draperies to me, too. I almost think I shoudn't even list it since it's, well, kind of ugly (but kind of appealing in a way, I don't know) and I've seen a lot of similar fabric -- invariably in shades of green and goldenrod -- since I picked that piece up. The piece is 4' x 8'. Here's a larger picture to see the scale:
-- pic no longer needed, edited out --
OK, and I just have to share a photo of a fabric which is think is just great - polyester with lions!!
-- pic no longer needed, edited out --
Sorry for the bad photos. I'm thinking I should retake them before listing.
BTW, I love the phrase rumpus room.
[ edited by RainyBear on Sep 17, 2000 09:39 PM ]
posted on September 18, 2000 07:30:36 AM new
if you are planning to sell the fabric, do you place a ruler or a coin to determine the size of the print?
posted on September 18, 2000 07:44:03 AM new
Oops, I didn't think anyone else was going to post to this thread... sorry to edit out the pics prematurely!
But to answer your question, no, I haven't used a ruler or a coin in the pictures but I've seen that done in other fabric auctions. That's a good idea. I did list one piece of fabric last night, though, and I used my image editing software to add information about the scale of the pattern (a double-sided arrow with the width between two pattern elements noted).
