OT word of the day

Flax

One of the oldest cultivated plant fibers, a bast fiber from the plant of the same name. Flax is the fiber linen is woven of. There are two basic types of flax, "long flax" is the variety that fiber and much of the oil crop is gotten from. Flax oil, linseed oil, is harvested from the fully mature seed, while the fiber is gotten from the slightly green stem. Since the seed is fully mature when the plant is completely dry and brown, you may only efficently harvest one or the other from a single plant.

Flax is the strongest of the common plant fibers. It is two to three times stronger than cotton. Because of the natural waxes in the fiber it is very smooth and lint free. When fabric is made of flax it may be stiff for the first several years of its life, but will soften with repeated laundering. Boiling or repeated laundering are often used to soften new linen, as this removes some of the natural waxes. However this stiffness is usually maintained in threads for specialty applications as the waxes will add years to the durabilty of it. Traditionally flax is the thread of choice for lacemaking, leatherworking, and a number of other skilled crafts.

In addition to linen and thread, flax fiber is made into a variety of products. It is used in rope, paper, packing materials, sculptural composites, and etc. Some of these products are made from the straw left over after the seed is harvested, however there is actually quite a demand for the superior quality fibers in many of these applications. Paper money in many countries for instance, contains quite a bit of cloth quality flax fiber.

The unspun fiber makes excellent doll hair, and has the advantage of being completely washable with no special steps. Since flax dyes extremely well and is _very_ colorfast after dying, the fiber both spun and unspun is useful in a number of crafts.

Reply to
NightMist
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Also the name of one of my favorite clothing companies.

Reply to
KJ

Linen

As flax is one of the oldest known cultivated textile fibers, it stands to reason that linen is one of the oldest known woven textiles.

A clothing standard for many years, the use of linen in garments fell steadily as the the use of cotton increased. Preparing flax for spinning is both labor and time intensive, and it is more difficult to weave than cotton because it is less elastic thus, making cotton a notably cheaper cloth. At some point in the 1970's linen reached an all time low in that of the fabric produced less than 10% was used by the garment industry. It was however still in much demand for bed and table linens, and by crafters as a ground for assorted needlecrafts. While there has been an apparent upsurge in the popularity of linen in clothing, much of this in the form of cheaper blends, and suspect imports from east and southeast Asia. Linen is still a standard of quality in household linens, as may be noted by the double meaning of the word.(G) It is also considered a superior support for paintings. Its archival qualities are without question, as there are perfectly preserved examples of linen from ancient tombs that have been dated as being several millennia old. It once was much used for assorted industrial applications, mostly due to its strength and durability. A minor example would be the timing belt on my Pfaff 130, it is nearly 60 years old and still in perfect condition. In heavier applications it was often layered with leather or rubber to make machine belts, or used in laminating surfaces that would come under stress.

"Linen weave" fabrics are fabrics made of fibers other than flax, that have been woven to resemble linen. Many different linen blends are cropping up these days, most likely a cost measure, though the standard 55-45 cotton-linen blend is still the most common.

Linen is highly absorbent, yet dries quickly, and conducts body heat well, making it an excellent choice for summer garments. It wears like iron, dyes well and is extremely colorfast.

The major drawback for most people is that it is better by far for the fabric to press it dry than to tumble it. Linen is rather well known for wrinkling easily, however it also presses easily particularly when damp. So not tossing it in the dryer and instead ironing it dry immediately after washing, or hanging it out and bringing it in to press when still damp is only logical. If one reads any of the plethora of books on household management from the latter nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, one will find a number of methods just for keeping linen damp so it may be ironed easily.

Repeated pressing of folds and creases in linen clothing may eventually break the fibers and cause them to fray. Fraying at the collar, cuffs, and hem are the commonest damage to well loved linen clothing. Thus it is advisable to make such garments using techniques that allow for easy replacement or mending of the weak points. When such repairs are possible, a linen garment will give many years of good wear.

Many people believe that flattened slubs in linen fabric are a sign that it is genuine. In actuality it is a sign that it was cheaply made. Good linen should be perfectly smooth with no slubs and evenly matched threads. Most of Europe, and Japan as well, have rules about linen and linen labeling, Ireland and Japan for example have trade guilds that regulate production in their respective countries quite firmly. Imports from other places are less regulated and more prone to adulteration.

Reply to
NightMist

I just had to put my .02 in here (sorry, couldn't figure out how to make it say 2 cents on my 'puter.)

Flax, is one of the new "must have" things in our diet. Flax seeds are ok but putting flax seed meal in your baking is really good for you. And, it can replace some of the fat you regularly use. Another thing, believe it or not, is hemp seeds. Unfortunately not the smoke-em kind, are good on cereal, yogurt etc.

Don't know if y'all want to know this stuff, but I believe in passing on good info... That said, I believe I'' have a piece of 854% cocoa chocolate, which isn't as bad as it sounds

Reply to
Judy Clarke

Shoulder Pads

Contrary to popular opinion, the object of shoulder pads is not to make you look like a football player. They actually have many purposes, to provide a smooth and even foundation for the garment to hang from if you have bumpy bony shoulders, to compensate for uneven shoulders, to camouflage sloping shoulders, to generally shape the shoulder area so a specific style of sleeve hangs properly, all in addition to their purpose of modifying the silhouette (giving you linebacker shoulders).

There are two basic types of shoulder pads, round and square. The round ones slope gently at the outside edge, while the square ones end sharply. They vary in size and thickness as appropriate to the garment and the current fashion. They by no means have to be an inch thick and made of foam rubber. I use them in almost every jacket or coat that I make just to provide a bit of support at the shoulder seams for both drape and seam, and often I make them no more than a few layers of fabric thick.

Reply to
NightMist

How true this all is. I had a coat made for me recently. I gave the lady some 'gentle' shoulder pads, with the fabric. She didn't put them in. I have worn the coat a few times, but I'm going to have to unpick the lining a bit and put some in - it doesn't look or feel right. . In message , NightMist writes

Reply to
Patti

On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:48:55 -0500, NightMist wrote (in article ):

Wow Nightmist.

I don't know where you find all this information. But it's fascinating!

I love the Word of the Day.

Maureen

Reply to
Maureen Wozniak

Buttonhole stitch Blanket stitch

Different stitches with similar and sometimes interchangeable purposes. The names of these stitches are often confused. Both are used for binding raw edges, lace making, embroidery, and buttonholes. There are strong similarities in appearance between the two stitches, and both have countless variations upon them. However upon closer examination they are clearly different stitches, and are made very differently.

Instructions for making both stitches, with some variations on the blanket stitch are here:

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Reply to
NightMist

Well, I never knew the 'groups of three' aspect of blanket stitch. I just thought blanket stitch had wider gaps between the 'legs'.

Thanks for this extra snippet of knowledge Nightmist. . In message , NightMist writes

Reply to
Patti

Jersey

A single knit cotton or cotton blend fabric, usually sold by the yard in tubes. It has a substantial crosswise stretch and much more limited lengthwise stretch. The original fabric from the isle of Jersey was wool, and sometimes lightly napped on the purl side. Heavier doubleknit jersey is available, though it has less stretch.

It is the fabric that isused to make T-shirts not the fabric used to make sport jerseys, at least in the US.

Reply to
NightMist

matelassage

Originally a variety of wholecloth quilting from Marseilles, the word has come to simply mean quilting in the modern sense that we are all familiar with. Pieced, applique, or wholecloth, this is the word most commonly used in french for making quilts. In the original work in France the top may have been a print, embroidered, or plain, most commonly in linen or cotton though silk was also much in use. The batting was usually of carded cotton or silk. For a while quilts of this variety were a much in demand trade good.

Reply to
NightMist

Hollow fiber

While they are used a lot in things like filtration systems and other industrial applications requireing a floating membrane, hollow fibers are also used in textiles.

As a stand alone term, hollow fiber usually refers to a manmade fiber that has been spun around a solid core of something like vinyl, the core is then slid out of the resultant yarn leaving the hollow shell. This yarn is an excellent insulator, but has very poor tensile strength. It is used in several brand name thermal products, where it is used as a fill or batt. Several companies are experimenting with blending various types of hollow fiber with other fibers in order to produce a textile retaining the excellent insulating properties of hollow fibers, and with sufficient strength to be used as a functional fabric.

Reply to
NightMist

I will be back to doing this sometime after I get back from the wedding. I was just going to take a day off to put the finishing touches on my dress, and then _everything_ went wrong.

NightMist thinking of writing a book called "When Good Sewing Machines Go Bad"

Reply to
NightMist

Block Printing

Block printing is the earliest printing technique known of imparting printed design to textiles, in fact the use of block printing on textiles may well predate its use on paper. Sources vary as to whether China or Egypt was the first civilization to play with the method.

In its earliest forms, pieces of wood were carved with the desired design, then dye was bushed on the blocks and stamped on the fabric. As the art evolved more interesting methods were tried, some successfully, some less so. Since vegetables dyes were the ones primarily is use, a lot of experimenting to get various colors on a single piece with a colored background took place. Some interesting results were achieved by stamping just the mordants, and then brush or tub dyeing. Of course stamping resists was not far behind stamping dyes in being thought of, and discharge methods came along after a while as well.

Through history blocks for printing have been made of a wide variety of materials and combinations of materials. Wood is not as common now, assorted metals, silicones, rubber, linoleum (like back in school art class), and various such things have been used and are still used today.

In the west block printing has largely been discarded in comercial application, but in the east it is still much in use as so much more industry there is home based. The recent rubber stamp craze in the west extended into clothing and textiles with designs being stamped on all sorts of things in fabric paint. Thickened dye can be used with rubber stamps, but the dye tends to degrade the rubber fairly quickly. There are however a large number of vegetable based resists that can be used with rubber stamps and cause them no damage whatsoever. Stamping these resists and then applying dye with a brush can yield very satisfactory results that last longer than paint.

Reply to
NightMist

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