All About Looks



            Last week my classmates and I went to a local store called All About Looks. This is a fabric shop that does just about everything. They help clients and customers choose the right fabrics and the right materials for just about every project. They even have and upholsterer in the back who is the best in town and can do just about anything you throw at him.

            This fabulous store started with a woman named Nancy and her two daughters. Nancy’s two daughters grew up to going to different fabric shops with their mother who decorated the houses that her husband built. After Lindsey and Paige grew up, Nancy and her daughters opened the store. They started with just baby fabrics and helping clients and other designers choose the right kind of fabrics for children’s rooms.

            Nancy, Lindsey, and Paige told us interior design students a few “need to know” things about the fabric world, including what’s hot and what’s not.

            The interior design world is going toward natural fibers. Linens are starting to replace silk, mainly because silk fades so fast especially in the sun so it’s not very durable. Mohair has come back because it lasts forever. Silk usually needs to have a knit backing for upholstery. A lot of wool is coming back. Leathers are very popular. An interesting fact is that real leather is sold by the hide and fake leather is sold by the yard. How tightly woven the fabric is determines the durability not how heavy the fabric is. Wallpaper is coming back. They even have wallpaper that has texture so after you put it on the wall and paint it you have this really cool design and texture on the walls.

            Nancy also told us that it is very important to know that codes before picking out a fabric. One also needs to know whether or not a fabric is flame retardant or flame resistant. If not it usually can be treated so that it is. When buying fabrics for bedding, one needs to know that it is 54” wide.

            Polyesters are taking over the silks, chenilles, and other lighter fabrics. Recycled polyester is also starting to come about. Digital printing is pretty popular these days. With digital printing you can take any ground cloth and print on it any kind of pattern. You can have as many yarns as you like. All you have to do is send them the artwork you want printed on the fabric.

            All About Looks also has many different kinds of window treatment, including curtains, blinds, screening, and others.

            A customer can find just about anything for their interiors at All About Looks and end up with a fabulous new and improved look.

Field Trip, FBRI, Fiber Testing



            Before fibers can be made into yarn, they must go through a series of tests first to see if the fibers are the right quality and strength to be made into yarn. Different types of tests include the “mic”, the color light flash test, the hairiness test, the tax techno test, the abrasion tester, the advanced fiber information system, and several more. The fiber that was presented to these series of tests was cotton.

            Small tufts of cotton fibers are used to do the tests. One of the first tests is the mic which is a high volume instrument. This instrument is a low chamber where 10 grams of cotton is put in and a gives a reading of the fibers. The color light flash test determines what kind of cotton it is and what the pricing of the cotton would be. Other tests, such as using the Statement DS machine, are done to determine how strong the cotton fiber is, as well as the evenness and how thick or how thin the fiber is. The hairiness tester tests the “fuzzies” on the fiber or yarn. The Advanced Fiber Information System gives a trash reading and a lint sensor of the cotton fiber.

            The Martindale Abrasion Tester determines the abrasion resistance of textile fabrics, or the wear ability of textile fabrics. This test is used with a machine called ASTM D 4966. An abrading fabric made up of a plain weave, crossbred, or worsted wool fabric is used for the abrasion along with a felt fabric.

The Tearing Strength Elemendorf Method used with an instrument called ASTM D 1424. This instrument computes the average tearing force of a cut specimen from the energy of a falling pendulum.

The shrinkage test is done using a little washing machine. This test is called Dimensional Changes of Fabric Accelerated (Quickwash). First a piece of fabric is conditioned to the indoor climate settings, and then one measures how far apart the dots are on the fabric. Then the fabric is washed and dried. Afterward the dots are measured again and the difference between the first and second measurement is the shrinkage of the fabric.

Another test measures how much UV rays penetrate through the fabric. Other tests determine the strength of the fabric and how thick or how thin it is. The pilling tester is another one that shows how much lint comes off the fabric.

All these tests listed helps to ensure that the fabric we use everyday for different reasons are durable and of quality. 

Cotton: The Fabric For Interiors

           

Cotton has been around for centuries, millennia even. Cotton fiber has properties of strength, durability, and absorbency. It is a natural fiber that is biodegradable and accounts for about forty percent of total world fiber production. It is used for not only clothing but also for interiors and it is widely used in the design world.

            Cotton is usually grown in tropical climates such as Egypt. This plant based fiber is widely used across the United States, especially in the south. Growing cotton in the United States was one of the leading occupations of slaves. The Indian cotton processing industry really grew during the British Industrial Revolution with the help of the inventions of the Spinning Jenny in 1764 and the Spinning frame in 1769. Years later the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 by Eli Whitney made processing cotton easier in the United States. In northern Europe during the late medieval period, cotton became an imported fiber. And by the end of the 16^th century BC, cotton was cultivated throughout the warmer regions in Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. Today cotton is produced in many parts of the world using cotton plants that have been bred so that each plant grows more fiber.

            After cultivation, processing, and weaving, cotton goes through several stages such as singeing, desizing, scouring, bleaching, mercerizing, dyeing, and finishing.  Cotton is not only used in the textile industry for clothing and interiors, but it has many uses and is in our everyday products that we use. Some examples include fishnets, coffee filters, tents, bookbinding, and the modern US dollar bill.

            Cotton is widely used in the world of interior design. It is used in bedding, pillows, sheets, curtains for windows, placemats and napkins for dining tables, towels for bathrooms, fabrics used to cover cushions, chairs and sofas for the living room, and much more. One reason why cotton is used in the interior design world is because it is resistant to fading and other signs of wear and tear. However, cotton does tend to get stained and soiled easily. So if one chooses to use cotton in one’s home a cotton blend should be used instead of pure cotton. Some main cotton fabrics that are used in interior decoration are damask, drill, velvet, and chintz. Cotton fabrics are one of the most preferred fabrics of buyers for homes and cotton will probably increase in popularity as the years go by.

(2005-2011). Facts about cotton; choosing organic cotton. Organic-Nature-News.com. September 7, 2011. http://www.organic-nature-news.com/facts-about-cotton.html

(2010). Facts and Figures: The Cotton Trade. PBS.com. September 7, 2011. http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/310/cotton-trade.html

(2007-2011). Understanding Fabrics in your Interior Decorating. Freshome.com. http://freshome.com/2009/01/26/understanding-fabrics-in-your-interior-decorating/

September 7, 2011. http://www.interiorguru.com/article/home_furnishing_ideas/3102-types_of_furnishing_fabrics.html