Stitchin' in My Kitchen

This week's edition of Sewing Science we are Up Close with Wovens, Part II!  I snipped a bunch of tiny samples from my swatch collection to see how some of these fabrics compare to one another. Today we have denim, jacquard, and rayon. Denim: This is a heavier weight, non-stretch denim from Cali Fabrics. 31x. These fibers have a distinctive weave compared to a cotton canvas (see Wovens Part I). 74x 259x 1040x. I love the irregularity of natural fibers. Stretch Denim:  This is a medium-weight stretch denim from Cali Fabrics. Stretch Denim, far left  75x 167x 1200x There is no difference in the weave between the two, just the presence/absence of lycra. Jacquard: This one was really cool. You can obviously see that this is going to be interesting, but I didn't realize how many different weaves were involved until I put it in the microscope. Green and black jacquard, far left 25x  26x There are at le...

Welcome to another edition of Sewing Science! Today I am taking a very close look at some different types of non-stretch, cotton woven fabrics: canvas, corduroy, cotton flannel, and cotton muslin. First up, cotton canvas. This is a 12 oz. Carhartt canvas that I recently purchased from Califabrics.com. Canvas on the left 56x You can see the very dense weave. 95x Here is a close up of the individual fibers.  This week we're looking at natural cotton fibers, but in the future we'll look at synthetics, and you will be able to see the difference in the fibers at very high magnifications. 2290x 7790x As seen in the thread , natural fibers have a lot more texture, they are 'rougher' than synthetics. Next up - corduroy!! I have some awesome 8-wale corduroy from Califabrics that I've made into men's pants and shorts (because nothing says shorts weather like some fat wale corduroy). Corduroy, center and right (on edge) If you read Thr...

The next installment of Sewing Science is Up Close with Thread! By request(s).  I tried to find a wide variety of threads in my stash to image. First up is some Coats and Clark All Purpose Polyester Thread: 36x 101x 321x 3950x Next is some cotton quilting thread that I use for basting and tailor's tacks  (I tried to image all of the threads at a similar series of magnifications to best show the similarities and differences). 36x 99x 309x 2580x  The most obvious difference between the two is not only the thickness, which is visible to the naked eye, but the individual fibers themselves.  Natural fibers are not a smooth as synthetic fibers - the same is visible in fabrics as well (which I'll post eventually!). Now let's take a look at polyester topstitching thread: 36x 101x 607x 4050x Nothing too dramatic, similar to the others in terms of how the fibers are joined. Lets look at these side by side...