Showing posts with label Indian Handloom Fabric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian Handloom Fabric. Show all posts
July 17, 2012
Organic Fabric, Hemp Fabric collection: Folksmarket.com
June 26, 2012
Rich Indian handloom Silk Fabric collection: Folksmarket.com
77S7WS93BDQM The fabric made from the Protein fibre can be classified
into two:
- Keratin (hair/fur) fibres and
- Secreted (insects) fibres
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It is the Secreted fibres that we are dealing with today.
The Keratin fibre is already posted with the title Amazing fibres from animals.
One single filament of the
silk is the outcome of several process and hardship. Various steps involved
right from harvesting the mulberry plants to domestication of the Bombyx Mori
to reeling.
During the caterpillar stage the silkworm secretes a liquid
protein from two large glands to wrap itself. This liquid protein hardens with
the exposure in air. This resulting filament is bonded by new excretion of the
liquid protein Sericin which forms a solid sheath or cocoon. Normally the moth
breaks this cocoon to come out. But in sericulture the cocoon are boiled much
before the moth can come out. The boiling loosen the Sericin and then the
resultant filament is reeled into a reeling machine or charka.
The silk
industry is very specialized one. The entire process of silk reeling (that
includes batching, cooking, drying, mounting, segregating etc) can not be done
by the machine alone as lot of discretionary human intervention is required at
all stages.
The different varieties of the silk can be obtained
depending upon its feeding, reeling process, cocoon variety and human
intervention. In general, the silk fibre/fabric can be categorized into
following types:
It is one of the most widely available commercial silk
produced from Bombyx Mori variety of the silk that is fed mulberry leaves and
only mulberry leaves.
Muga Silk worm Antheraea assamensis is native to Assam, India. The larvae of
this moth feed on Som and Sualu leaves. Owing to its low porosity it can not be
dyed or bleached easily and hence its golden color is retained. The silk has a
glossy texture and very durable to use. It is said that if cared properly the silk
can outlive its owner!
Eri cocoon are open mouthed with discontinuous filament that
makes them suitable only for spinning. The silk worm feed on Caster oil plant.
As the moth come out of the cocoon and then the baves of cocoon collected for
further processing, this silk is also known as Ahimsa Silk or Non-violent Silk.
Like Muga, they are also reared in Assam. 90% of the Eri comes from Assam,
India
When silk fabric woven with satin weave (where the warp
cross over 3 or more weft threads). The satin finish give it a floating
appearance. It drapes well and the silk gives it a luster and rich look. This
is also a lightweight fabric. It makes stunning outfit. These days the
synthetic fibres are also used for different purpose. However original French Charmeuse
can’t be thought of without SILK!
Tassar cocoons have a compact structure different from the
mulberry cocoon. They are single shelled and oval in shape. They are
non-mulberry silk and do not produced from Bombyx Mori and as such not fed by
mulberry leaves. They breed on local tress like Sal, Arjun, Saja . The Tassar
silk worm also feed on any tree they live on. A high quality of Tassar will
have a count of approximate 42-60 denier. They are also referred, sometimes, Wild Silk
as they are not domesticated with mulberry leaves.
There is a natural adhesive present in the silk filament
which is degummed. If the silk is not degummed, it is called as Raw Silk.
The silkworm Antheraea mulitt , live on oak leaves and fed on oak leaves.
The oak leaves produce an irregular and coarse filament that is hard to bleach
and dye. Wild silk is less lustrous than cultivated silk as about 11% sericin
is removed in the degumming process. Standard wild silk filament is made from 8
cocoon and the count is 32-34 denier.
Floss Silk
Floss silk is processed from pierced, end-missing, and
double cocoons. Floss silk is beneficial as paddy against cold weather and as a
basis for hand spun yarns. The procedure to create floss silk involves
degumming, opening-up and finishing
There are many waste materials eliminated during
manufacturing of good quality silk. These wastes have commercial value. During
rearing, pierced cocoon and double cocoon are created. Double cocoons are
processed to make Dupion silk.
Silk reeling generates brushing waste, end missing cocoons
and pupae. The rejected cocoons are re-processed to make Spun Silk. The count
system of Spun Silk is same as Cotton with the slight difference for plied
yarns. While 2/120’s cotton means effectively a cotton staple of count 60’s,
the Spun Silk are generally represented as 60’s/2 that means the resultant
count is now 60’s made from two ply filament of 120’s each.
Noil and Gheecha are silk waste while brushing during the
reeling process. They are re-processed and used for less expensive silk fabric.
They have lower luster but still they are at par with 80’s cotton.
Organza
An informative post was posted few days back about this. Follow the following link: http://folksmarket.blogspot.in/2012/06/types-of-indian-fabric-ii.html
Chiffon
An informative post was posted few days back about this. Follow the following link: http://folksmarket.blogspot.in/2012/06/types-of-indian-fabric-ii.html
Satin
An informative post was posted few days back about this. Follow the following link: http://folksmarket.blogspot.in/2012/06/types-of-indian-fabric-ii.html
Taffeta Silk
An informative post was posted few days back about this. Follow the following link: http://folksmarket.blogspot.in/2012/06/types-of-indian-fabric-ii.html
June 23, 2012
Indian Handloom Silk Fabric: Folksmarket.com
Good Eve folks! Today we would like to touch the silk fabric briefly. Silk often rhyme with elegance, softness and handloom fabric. Lets see how it is evolved and a cursory look at its properties.
The Chinese legend says that silk was first reeled
by the Empress Hsi Ling She around 2700 BC. Archaeological evidence suggests
that silk is used since 5000 BC, that is more than 7000 years from now!
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Empress Hsi Ling She was sipping tea under the
mulberry tree when she discovered the silk filaments from the cocoon. So
fascinated was she that she started reeling silk all alone. She learnt to spin
the silk and made some luxurious fabric out of it.
Besides China, traces of silk has also been traced
in Indus Valley Civilization of India, Egyptian mummies, Middle East, Europe
and North Africa. The discovery at Harappa and Chanhu-daro suggest that ancient
people knew Sericulture (art of silk cultivation), employing wild silk threads from local silk worms. So
much was the popularity of the silk that major trade route from Europe to Asia
is known as Silk Route
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Silk is a natural protein fibre coming from the silk
worm (Bombyx Mori) who fed on
mulberry leaves. The silk fibre has a triangular prism like structure that
reflects light into various angles which results into the shimmering effect of
the silk fabric.
Though silk is produced by various insects, it is
only the silk worm that has been utilized so far by the textile industry.
Though research is on way for other insects.
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Silk are produced normally by two kind of worms. One
that feeds on mulberry silk and other that do not feeds on mulberry silk. The
first variety is known as Mulberry Silk and the other known as Wild Silk.
Before the domestication and cultivation of mulberry silk worms, the wild silk
was widely used. The silk produced from the wild silk is of lesser grade for
variety of reasons. Important among them are quality of the silk fibre and
other is the short filament as generally the worm tears the filament and comes
out.
The mulberry leaf is fed to the caterpillar and
after 35 days of continuing feeding, the silk worm spins a cocoon of silk. The length of the silk
filament from a single cocoon could be as long as a mile (1.6 kms)!
The cocoon are boiled and filament is identified
which then is reeled into silk threads.
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The length of the silk filament is very important in manufacturing
a high class fabric. Generally the more the length of the filament is, the
higher is the quality. Short fibres are also spun to create low quality
threads.
Silk is a strong fibre but it deteriorates with time
and become brittle. The number of process involved, high end skill required and
feeding expensive mulberry leaves make the silk fibre a costly but worthwhile
fabric.
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Today silk is used in virtually all the aspect of
the textile industry. Be it apparels, fashion, curtains, wedding gowns, other
home furnishing items, silk finds it use everywhere. The expensive fabric like
Georgette, Chiffon, Velvet, Satin, all use silk as their primary raw material.
The silk fabric is prized agricultural commodity, although its contribution in
global textile industry is around 1%.
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India is 2nd largest producer
of silk. In India, the best of the silk fibre are obtained from Bangalore,
Assam, Murshidabad, Varanasi, Bhagalpur etc. The Bhagalpur earlier was called
as Silk City but it is now replaced by Bhoodhan Pochampally (Andhra Pradesh). Assam produce
three varieties of the silk: Eri, Muga and Mulberry. Of these three, Eri and
Muga are native to Assam and North East of India. Muga is also known as Gold
Silk as the natural muga silk will be golden in color.
The southern India has the tradition of wearing
sarees made of silk and as such we see some heavily worked upon sarees like
Kanchipuram, Dharmavaram, Pochampally, Mysore silk sarees etc.
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Some
of the important characteristic of Silk Fibres and Fabric
·
- Silk filament is a continuous thread of 500-1500 mtrs in length
- It is stronger than cotton and linen
- Prolong exposure of sunlight can turn white silk into yellow and can also weaken the fibre
- It absorbs moisture easily making it valuable fabric for summer
- It retains heat during winter season, making it all weather fabric
- It is resilient and elastic
- Dries quickly
- Expensive due to process and raw material (mulberry leaves)
Types of Indian Fabric-II : Folksmarket.com
In our previous blog post we have discussed about the type of fabric with natural fibres. In continuation of that post here is the second part of types of fabric and discuss Man-made Fabric.
Types of Man-made fibre (in alphabetical order) by Folksmarket.com
(Please note that all the above images are taken from various sources. All credits to them)
Acetate Fibre
Acetate
fabrics are cellulose based fabric obtained clinically by wood or cotton pulp. It
is very valuable low cost fibre with good draping abilities. It was invented by
Swiss brothers, Camille and Henry in 1905. They have a good and luxurious luster
akin to the silk fabric. They are
resistant to the moth, mildew and shrinkage. Acetate
Fibres are used in brocades, satin etc but they are not suitable for the winter
season as they have poor heat retention property.
Acrylic Fibre
This synthetic fibre is made from polyacrylonitrile. It was Dupont
Corporation who created the first Acrylic fibre in 1941. The fibre is warm,
lightweight and popularly called as ‘imitation
of wool’. It is also a low cost alternative to Kashmiri fabric. It is resistant to the sun light, moth and
oils and can be used as apparels for the babies as it does not deteriorate
while machine washed. However it has also earned a bad reputation for being ‘cheap’ and squeaked while knitting.
Chiffon Fabric
Chiffon is a French word for cloth or rug. It’s a lightweight
plain woven sheer fabric with alternate S and Z twist. The twist puckers the
fabric in both directions giving it a slight stretch and rough feel. It is
manufactured by cotton, silk or synthetic fibres. Being a soft drape, Chiffon
finds it immense use in evening wear mostly as an overlay, bridal wardrobe and
blouse. It is soft so it must be washed gently with hand.
Denim Fabric
Denim fabric is a big hit in global world. Its vivid
texture and comfort makes it one of the must in everybody’s wardrobe across
North and South of the globe. Denim fabric is a rugged cotton plain twill woven
fabric. Like Chiffon it’s also borrowed from French word Nimes. While weaving
the weft passes from two or more warp threads giving it a diagonal ribbing. One
important weaving characteristic that is much evident in the Denim is the
selvedge. The selvedge forms a neat and natural edge that does not unravel.
Georgette Fabric
One of the most demanding fabric in the fashion
industry, the Georgette is made from the silk, rayon or synthetic filament yarns.
It is named after a French folk, Georgette
de la Plante. It’s a lightweight, dull finished crepe fabric which is highly twisted. Both
warp and weft are twisted in S and Z twist to give it a crinkly surface. Its
opaque and slightly heavy with Chiffon but it is liked for its uniqueness and
exquisiteness.
Nylon Fabric
The term Nylon is derived from New York and London.
This is a generic synthetic fibre manufactured from polyamides. It was the first synthetic commercially successful
fabric. It’s a silky material and became popular in 1940s with the increase
demand of Nylon stockings. Originally the Nylon was intended to replace silk
after silk become scarce in WW-2. It is used in fabrics, bridal veils, carpets,
musical instrument and rope for industry and household. It is preferred mostly
for its strength and strong flexibility. They are also wear and tear resistant
thus offer a low cost fabric for the general folks.
Rayon Fabric
Rayon fabric neither falls in Man Made fibres
altogether nor in Synthetic fibres. It lies somewhere in between. The reason
for that is it is produced from the naturally occurring polymers. It is a
versatile fabric that can be knitted or woven. Its soft texture makes it
loveable for apparels and furnishing use.
Spandex Fabric
Known for its exceptional elasticity this synthetic
fibre is also known as Elastane. Its
great shape retention quality makes it the darling of the fashion industry. The
spandex fibre can regain their shape even after stretched 500 times! Not only
it fits better but also feels better. It was invented by Sandquist and Shivers in
1959. It is also known as Lycra in
Britain. Today you will see a lot of sports-wear industry use Spandex as their
major fabric clothing. The quality of shape retention finds it use in female
undergarment as support hose.
Satin Fabric
Satin is a weaving technique. Normally silk, nylon
or polyester fabrics are satin woven to make it called as Satin Weave. The
satin weave has a glossy surface and dull back. With minimum number of
interlacing it is a warp-dominated weaving. The high number of floats on fabric
gives it a luster appearance. While “Satin”
is used for the filament yarns like silk and nylon but if short staple fibres
are used like cotton, it is known as “Sateen”.
Satin fabric are very lightweight owing to the weight of silk and nylon. The
glossiness of the fabric surely makes it a high class fibre and very popular in
fashion industry.
Taffeta Fabric
It is a crisp, plain woven fabric mostly made from
the silk or synthetic fibres. In Persian the word ‘Taffeta’ means ‘twisted woven’.
It is considered to be a high end fabric mostly designed for wedding and party
wears. Earlier it was produced by handlooms but now a days its production is
dominated by mills of Bangalore, India. There are two different types of Silk
Taffeta: Yarn-dyed and Piece-dyed. While Yarn-dyed Taffeta is stiffer and used
in dress materials, the Piece-dyed is very soft and used in linings. It has a
unique wavy or rippled pattern that looks like water stain and reflects like
differently. It is very popular for female apparels.
Velvet Fabric
The shear name sounds the smoothness and lustrous
quality in a fabric. Velvets are woven tufted fabric (tuft: fluffy threads that
are closed in bottom and spread out in top like a feather) with a short dense
pile. The velvets are woven in a special looms that weaves two thickness at the
same time. The two pieces are cut apart and to create the pile effect. The two
fabric are then wound on separate take-up rolls. Earlier it was difficult to
clean as it attracts dust very frequently but modern day drying machines have
made this job bit easier. Velvet can
be made from the silk (mostly for high end fabric) or cotton/lines or wool. It is one of the smoothest and softest amidst
all the fabric. It is used in curtains, beddings, covers and also the apparels.
For high class look and price viability, this fabric is very sought after
fabric.
Viscose Fabric
Viscose is a viscous organic liquid used to make
Rayon and Cellophane. It is increasingly become synonymous with rayon. It’s a soft
material that is widely used for women’s stocking and undergarments. These days
its also used for lining and furnishing.
These are some of the fabric type which informs our
consumers about man-made and natural fibres to a greater extent. The list can
not be claimed as complete as the textile industry is one of the oldest
industry of the civilization and folks have been celebrating the art of
clothing and furnishing since ages and are still doing. Still the list surely
brings out commonly used fabric.
Man-made fibres are being developed for the scarcity
of the natural fibres, experimenting to create something wow and more environment
resistant fabric. It however must kept in mind that many of these fabric are
being manufactured by polluting the environment to a greater extent. It is our responsibility
to balance this degradation. Many times these fabric are also not good for skin
and creates rashes and irritation while going in sunlight and exposed to UV
rays. For such persons specifically and every one in general, the natural fibreare great choice. And if it comes from the handloom of those bastions of
traditional folks then its just like icing in cake!!
Different types of Indian handloom fabric by Folksmarket.com
Hi Folks, how many different types of fabric you
have seen so far? I m sure many but its not always that you pay attention to
these different kinds of fabric which you use almost on a daily basis.
Before
coming into field, I have never paid attention while my mom used to sew any
clothes but as soon as I m introduced to this amazing world of fabric now
everything changes suddenly. One becomes more interested in knowing while
looking at any clothing as what kind of fabric is it? Is it a handmade or
machine made? Natural or Man Made and so on..
While visiting to any clothing shop you would have
heard the shopkeeper naming different fabric varieties, organza, muslin,
chiffon, denim and so on.
In this section of our conversation, we wish to briefly touch upon different types of fabric. This should come handy to you while you go to a shop for purchase or window shopping. You should be able to appreciate different fabric and choose the one that suits your need in best way.
Well fabric is any woven (hand or machine) finished
product from the yarns. It is complete in the sense of its ready to use after
cutting and stitching. The different stages for the handloom fabric from
natural fibres can be broadly categorized as
Cultivation
of fibres --> Spinning of the fibres into yarn -->
Dyeing --> Weaving -->
Cutting and Stitching (including embroidery, zari etc) -->
Washing --> Ready to use
Although in between any two stages, there are many
more steps involved and there are separate mills and industries involve even
for a single stage, yet in general it is suffice to know the above multi-stages
of fabric production
Fabrics are formed from various raw materials
available in nature or artificially made in labs or a mix of both.
Natural fabrics are those which are made from the
animal furs (wool), plant seeds (cotton), cocoons of silk worm (silk), leaves
and stems (jute and hemp). Synthetic fabrics are made from organic or inorganic
materials combined with chemicals.
Among natural fabric and synthetic, the clear winner
in totality is definitely Natural fabrics. It is breathable (due to presence of
air packets in wool for example) and very skin friendly. It hardly changes its
color from UV light and as long as the tensile strength of fabric is
maintained, it will never be warmed. Synthetic fabrics are made in most of the
cases for mass demand and more strength.
Lets take a look at important types of fabric
In this post we are publishing types of Natural
Fabric. The Synthetic Fabric varieties will be covered in our next blog post
Its an all season fabric and most widely used. From
apparels to home furnishing to the industrial purpose, cotton finds their place
almost everywhere. They are skin-friendly and possesses and amazing quality of
keeping your body cool in summer and warm in winter.
Silk Fabric
Contrary to the general perception, silk fabric is
one of the strongest natural fabric. It is known for its luster, beauty and affluent
look. It is one of the high grade fabric and provides comfort to its user. Like
cotton it too has the quality of keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer.
Silk maintenance is bit expensive as compared to other fabric
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| Silk Fabric by Folksmarket.com |
Linen Fabric
One of its striking characteristic is resistant to
allergies. Also known as King of all fabric, Linen is used for apparels, home
furnishing and automobile industry. Its very easy to maintain and can be hand-washed.
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| Linen Fabric by Folksmarket.com |
Wool Fabric
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| Wool Fabric by Folksmarket.com |
Leather Fabric
Most of the time, the Leather Fabric are not woven using handloom, therefore at Folksmarket.com, we do not deal in Leather Fabric.
Hemp Fabric
Environmentally they are called as Super Fibre, they are made from the herbaceous plant that has high yield. Hemp fabric are soft and most suitable for the apparels that withstand harsh conditions. They are used for clothing, curtains, draperies, upholstery, bed spreads, table linens etc.
Jute Fabric
Jute is very strong and durable fabric. Since ages
they are the preferred choice of sacks and bags. Now a days they are finding
enough popularity in fashion industry. Lots of fashion accessories, footwear
etc are made from the jute. India is the second largest producer of Jute after
Bangladesh.
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| Jute Fabric by Folksmarket.com |
Carpets, Linoleum, Cordages and Twines are made majorly from Jute. They are traditionally been important fibres for the industry. It is sometimes used as webbing to cover the inner springs of the auto seats.
To be continued for Synthetic Fabrics in our next blog...
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June 20, 2012
How to wash your Handloom Cotton Fabric - Folksmarket.com
Hey folks! In our last blog, we have briefly touched upon
the 4 ways to care cotton fabric and talked in depth about the cotton, its
evolution, its properties, types etc. The reason was to know your fabric before
you can start caring about them. Now this piece will briefly touch upon the
ways you can wash your cotton fabric.
Normally its not a science. Most of the manufacturers give
instructions as how to wash and care for the fabric. Yet they may not be
complete for wanting of the space! Its always a good idea to acquaint some basic
principles that can be selectively use for different kind of fabric(apparels and furnishing) rather than knowing each and every detail for each
and every kind of fabric!
Fabric often gets stained because of greases, oil,
waxes, polluted chemicals present in the atmosphere and dyes. The aim of the
fabric care, thus is two folds:
1-
Removing the pollutants
2-
Ironing to remove the wrinkles and bring
freshness to the fabric
Fabric care is the joint responsibility of you and your
cleaning agent.
Washing your Cotton Fabric
A - Spotting the spots
1-
Identify the area that needs special attention.
Usually its neck, underarms and cuffs that need bit more rubbing. So before
washing, check these spots.
2-
Check if the fabric has some embellished (beads,
graphics, zari, glitter etc). This area needs to pull inside out while washing.
3-
Categorize your cotton fabric as “All white
cotton” or “Dyed cotton”. Dyed cotton can also be thought as printed, graphed
etc. Aim is to wash all white cotton and rest of the clothes separately. You
can have multiple batching of the clothes depending upon the need.
B - Choose the detergent
1-
General purpose detergent works well for cotton
fabric and most of the fabric. We need to see of there is any scum or leftover
on the fabric.
2-
Check whether your detergent is mild or harsh.
One good domestic way is to dissolve the recommended (normally given on the
wrappers) quantity of detergent in 900 ml of cold water and allow the detergent
and water to sit for 24 hours. Note if there is a residue settled in the bottom
of the container. Now if it happens, then be sure that these residues are not
going to be washed easily and often they will leave the whitish stain on the fabric.
They are called as scum.
3-
Choose the detergent which leaves no such scum.
Don’t settle for low quality detergents.
C - Bleaching of white
stained Cotton Fabric
One of the important characteristic of cotton fabric is that
it can be bleached easily and retain that saints look for years. Hydrogen
peroxide is a great bleaching agent. But Chlorine bleach is normally
recommended for cotton fabric.
1- Take around 4 liters of semi hot water. Make
sure that water is hot enough to clean but not hot enough to damage the fabric.
Ideally you should be able to insert your finger to judge that temperature of
the water. Mix a cup of dry dishwasher soap and add 1/3 cup of bleaching agent.
Ensure that the mixing of this is not taking place in a metal container.
2- Put all the stained white clothes in small
batches in this mixture and allow the fabric to soak the bleaching water. Do
not agitate or rub at this moment, just allow them to soak.
3- Remove the clothes in 30-40 minutes depending
upon the intensity of the stained. In any way not more than 40 minutes.
4- After 30-40 minutes, put the fabric immediately
into washing machine without rinsing the bleached fabric. Add some washing
detergent, on your washing machine and when its about to reach the rinse cycle
add a 2/3rd of White vinegar (or distilled vinegar or virgin
vinegar). Let machine completes its washing. Dry the fabric after wash in
clothing lines or washing machine. But make sure that you still put the clothes
in clothing lines even if you dried in machine. Sun rays are so essential to
fabric! Allow them to breath in fresh air.
5- White vinegar is essentially a distilled form of
vinegar that is a mixture of acetic acid and water. It’s a common household,
economical liquid and environment friendly. It kills all the bacteria, fungi
and moulds from the fabric.
D - Other batch of CottonFabric
1- Wash
cotton fabric either in machine or hand wash. Use lukewarm water and laundry
detergent.
2- Irrespective
of the fact that you are washing in machine, soak the clothes for 30 minutes in
a non metallic container with the detergent.
3- Rub
those spotted stained parts after 30 minutes. It may not be clean but at least
you have agitated the dirt agents and they are more likely to adhere with the
detergent while washed in a machine.
4- While
soaking the embellished clothes and fabric pull them inside out. Don’t rub them
hard, either don’t rub or rub very very gently.
5- Make
sure that you rinse properly. This consumes more water than that required for
washing. So please make sure that you utilize the water. Rinsing is an act of
allowing the detergent to wash away taking dirt along.
6- Machine
dried clothes should also be dried under the sky for a while.
Cotton fabric are breathing fabric, the care as you have seen so far is not difficult. We all wish to care our fabric not only for its durable use but also to get a fresh feel away from pollution every time we wear. So why not we get more out of our efforts and make our fabric safe in our hands!!
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