Textiles
- This page is about general textile techniques and tips. For the textiles area at the Maker Nexus makerspace in Sunnyvale, CA, see MN Textiles.
What are textiles?
Textiles are woven goods, where the threads are anything from natural fibers (i.e. cotton, hemp, silk) to synthetics (i.e. polyester, nylon, rayon). Threads are weak by themselves, but when strands are woven together we can make various thread sizes, stretchy fabric, yarns, and even include mixed materials like paper and metals!
Safety considerations
There are more safety considerations than what's listed here. But these are some things we have learned:
Hazards from the threads and fabrics
- Allergies to the material: some people may have skin sensitivity or breathing difficulties due to the dyes, natural fibers, or synthetic fibers. Polyesters and elastics are known to cause itching, as does the fuzziness of wool fibers.
- Sensitivity to dust: the thin fibers and threads tend to break off into tiny bits of dust, which can be irritating to breathe
- Sharp edges: The warp edges can be abrasive or sharp since these ends stick out
Hazards from needles, scissors, and blades
- Cutting hazards: News flash: sharp metal objects can cut you. Needles tend to end up in carpets because they are easy to not see when they roll off the table, or they fall out of pincushions. Scissors should be stored closed or hung on the racks when not in use. And, always retract blades so you don't inadvertently brush the blades.
- Needle exits: When hand sewing, always be mindful where the needs exits! Use a thimble or other protection for your hands.
- Keep your work area neat: Only have out needles and pins you need, stick them in a pincushion or closed tray when done. Keep tools off to the side where you can see them so they don't get stuck under your fabric. Be mindful of a tool that might get pulled into a machine!
Always check your material for extra pins or staples or even extra tags that could get caught in the machines or snagged.
Hazards from machines
- Slow is control. Rushing a job may lead to mistakes that ruin your materials or put your body in the path of a needle. Feed material only as fast as the machine wants to consume it.
- Don't force or pull the material hard. You can bend the needles or misalign the machine.
- Mind the entrance and exit: Always keep control of the fabric and watch where the needles are entering (and exiting!) as well as cutting blades (such as the sergers). Keep hands away from these zones and slow down your sewing.
- Watch the active sewing parts: If using a CNC like an embroidery machine, always be mindful of how the fabric and heads are moving, and know where the emergency stop button is. Watch out for the spinning handwheel, takeup levers.
- Remove obstructions from the pedals: Watch out for things like fabric or spools that could obstruct the pedals.
- Remove pins in the path of the needles: If using pins to baste or mark your fabrics, be mindful to remove the pins before the sewing machine runs over them!
- Don't wear loose clothing too close to the needles or other moving parts: Because you can get caught up in the machine ... or have your clothes sewn into the work.
- Report broken parts: Don't let a broken/bent part of a machine be unknown. Tell a MOD.
Hazards from long objects
Be mindful when holding long rolls of fabric not to turn around fast. These heavy rolls can hit people or fall onto your feet. Also store them properly so they don't tip over or mar their surface.
Long rolls may also fall off a table, so be aware to control the roll.
Hazards from hot irons
- Unplug when not in use: Prevent burns and fires!
- Don't put hot irons face down: Return the irons to an upright storage position and inform other people there is a hot iron.
- Move purposefully around hot irons: Don't rush! Always keep the iron in plain view and don't move too quickly to avoid touching a hot surface (instead of the handle).
Basics of fabrics
Fabrics are made from simple threads and yarns that form solid-looking sheets:
- Warp: Most fabrics are made with long threads that run from the start of a fabric towards the end (usually oriented vertically from you on a roll)
- Weft: These are the threads that run over and under the warp threads, and when these rows are pushed together the fabric appears to be solid (usually oriented horizontally from you on a roll)
- Selvage: these are the tightly woven edges running along with the warp to keep the warp threads from falling off the weft threads
Typically the warp and weft are perfectly 90-degrees perpendicular to each other, but you can make interesting fabrics that have different stretch and strength properties.
Stretching the fabric
Since pulling the warp threads doesn't easily make the fabric longer, unless the threads are synthetic or loosely-made, the fabric will resist stretching. However, pulling sideways will bend the warp threads so the material will tends to stretch more.
Pulling diagonally, aka on the bias, stretches even more because both the warp and weft threads move around.
Strength of a fabric
The tensile strength of the fabric is how much force you can put on it before it breaks apart. Some methods of testing the strength include:
- Strip method testing: A portion of the fabric is clamped into a machine that pulls it until it breaks, measured in Newtons
- Grab method testing: The whole fabric is clamped and typically a central part of the fabric is pulled until it breaks, measured in Newtons
- Ball burst method testing: A steel ball is forced through the fabric, measured in Newtons
Carbon fiber is an interesting fabric where weak carbon fibers are woven together and then set with hard epoxy resin to form very lightweight but stiff materials.
Sewing
Sewing is the process of cutting apart fabrics and then reconnecting them with thread, fasteners, or glues.
