All About Looks Field Trip

All About Looks Field Trip

Fabric today has a much higher standard than it did 10 years ago. Fabric can be a statement piece in a room, inspire a room, and even bring a room together. Today, our class went on a field trip to All About Looks, a high-end fabric store in Lubbock, Texas.  The store is managed and run by a mother and her two daughters. They opened this store with hopes to provide all of their customers with a full service fabric store, as well as making sure their customers walk away with a custom look. The owners felt that there were no other stores like this in Lubbock. This resulted in the creation of All About Looks. However, do not let the size of the store fool you. All About Looks constantly brings in the latest and greatest fabrics.

When entering the store, you come face to face with walls and walls of fabric, in a very shabby chic kind of building. The space makes you want to dive in and look at all of the fabrics that are lined on the wall. Not only are there fabrics all along the walls, there was a section of window treatment hardware, and examples of pieces of furniture that have been reupholstered in some of the fabric that the store carries. The two items that I had never seen before were rhinestone nail heads and fabric that was made of cork. The first thing that we learned in the presentation was about all the different kinds of fabrics that were out on the markets. Some of fabrics were juke, polyester, cotton, and silk. Not only are these fabrics out in the market, those were just some of the fabrics that All About Looks Carried. The store even carries fabrics that are more than 500 dollars a yard. Can you imagine spending that much of fabric?

Interior Designers are constantly faced with the challenge of stores not carrying fabrics that are trendy and durable. However, when walking into All About Looks I instantly got the feeling that this store was different from most stores. All About Looks, carries a wide variety of fabrics that meet the many different needs of Interior Designers and homeowners. I feel that it is the only store in Lubbock that really caters their business towards Interior Designers. Not only does All About Looks cater to Interior Designers, it also meets the needs of someone who is not as well informed on all the different kinds of fabrics.

I was a little skeptical about going to All About Looks. I felt that the store might not be very informative. However, I was proved wrong. The mother and her two daughters really knew all the information needed for a fabric store. The owners knew about all the latest trends in fabric. For example how fabric was now being made out of bamboo. Bamboo is very eco-friendly and sustainable, which goes toward the trend of “going green”. Not only were they very knowledgeable about fabric, they also knew a lot about a resurfacing popular trend. Wallpaper is slowly starting to make its way back into the design world. However, wallpaper isn’t so generic anymore. You can have raised texture on the wallpaper that can be painted with interior paints, or you can have wallpaper that is made out of cork.  I felt that if I were to come in as an Interior Designer that I would be extremely pleased with the store and would continue to use the services that they offered. Not only is All About Looks a fabric store, they also provide the service of upholstery.  The store can take any piece of furniture and revamp it. Not only is this a great way of keeping a beloved piece of furniture it allows the customer a customized look.

When thinking of high-end fabric stores, you think of a store that you could spend hours upon hours in. You think of employees that are extremely knowledgeable in the latest and greatest fabrics, as well as the ones that are not trendy. It is a store that offers a wide variety of customized looks. All of these things are present in All About Looks. It is truly the only store in Lubbock that really caters to Interior Designers and homeowners. 

Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute Field Trip

Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute

Before cotton can be made into fabric for a shirt, pants, or socks it has to go through many different testing processes. In the field trip to the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute our class learned about the different processes.  In the following blog post the reader will be informed about the following process work.

The first process that will be talked about is the Martindale Abrasion Tester. The purpose of this process is to test the “Abrasion Resistance” of textile fabric, or the wear and tear of a fabric. If the fabric has a pile depth of higher that 0.08” the machine will have a hard time testing the wear and tear. The machine tests the fabric by rubbing samples in different motions. The motions are either in a geometric figure or in a straight line. When the motion of a straight line is used, it eventually turns into an eclipse, which into turn becomes a straight line again that rubs in a new direction.  In addition to testing the wear and tear of fabric, the machine can also test fabric for pilling. The machine does this by rubbing two of the same patterns together.  These tests can provide information that is essential when wanting to make something out of these fabrics.

Another testing process that cotton must go through is the Breaking Force and Elongation of Textile Fabric.  This machine is used to establish how much force a strip of fabric can handle before breaking as well as how far the fabric actually stretches before it does break. The machine can also test the “bursting strength” of fabrics. For each strip of fabric tested strip fabric there are two different procedures. They are called the cut strip test and the raveled strip test. The raveled strip test is used for woven fabrics, while the cut strip test is use for non-woven fabrics, felted fabrics and dipped or coated fabrics.  The Grab test is used to test the strength of the fabrics, meaning “the strength of the yarns in a specific width together with the fabric assistance form the adjacent yarns”.

  The next fabric process that the class learned about was the “Tearing Strength Elmendorf Method”. The purpose of this test computes the average tearing force of a sample of fabric. The test can stimulate a situation when a piece of fabric is exposed to an unexpected heavy load. There are five examples taken from each fabric and tested. These specimens are from wrap and filling. The test begins once the fabric is enclosed in the sample jaws while the pendulum is released. If the first test did not result in a ripped fabric, the following tests will apply more weight. If the light in the machine turns green, that means the test was acceptable, but if the light turns yellow or red the test was not acceptable.

 The last test method is the method of “Dimensional Changes of Fabrics Accelerated (Quick wash).” The purpose of the test is to find out the amount of shrinkage in fabrics. The changes are “determined by comparing the distance between length and width direction bench marks before and after the test”. The template used for this test is 71/2x71/2. Each benchmark is spaced five inches apart at every angle of the sample. This fabric sample then goes through a washing machine with three different agitation times. The amount of water used to wash the fabric is three liters. Before each sample is put in the wash it is scanned to measure the distance between the markings. After it is washed the sample is scanned again to find a difference in the distance between the markings, and the results are recorded. 

As you can see there are many different test that cotton fabrics must go through. Each test is different, and comes up with different results. All procedures are important, and get the cotton a little closer to becoming a shirt, pants, or a pair of socks. If the cotton did not go through these tests, then we would have no clothes! 

Silk

          

            Silk

When thinking of silk, the first thought that comes to mind is a fabric that is luxurious and elegant. Silk is valued for its many different properties. Silk is very lustrous, lightweight and hardwearing. It is even said “that one filament of silk is stronger then a comparable filament of steel”.  The shine and shimmer in silk comes from its structure, a triangular prism that reflects light at varying angles. Not only is silk valued for its many different properties, it can be used in many different ways. Silk can be used in art, decorations, clothing, as well as fabric.

The origins of silk can be traced back to Ancient China. According to literature, silk became popular around 2600 b.c due to the Chinese Empress Si-Ling. Si-Ling raised her own silk worms and created a loom for creating silk.  Silk became increasingly popular due to the influence of Christians who wore the rich fabrics and adorned their altars with them. In addition, the noble began to wear the rich fabric. The Chinese were very protective about their ability to make silk. Exposing the secret would make a person subject to torture. The torture would often result in death. However, the secret was eventually exposed. Japan, India, and Italy started to dabble in the silk industry. The material was not ushered into America until the 17^th century. 

The cultivation of silkworms for the purpose of making silk is called sericulture. The caterpillar of a silk moth is what creates silk. The silk is created when the caterpillar goes into it cocoon.  In the cocoon the caterpillar can create 1,000-2,000 feet of silk filament. Silk is made up of two elements. The first element is fibroin, which makes up to 70-90% of the silk. The second element is sericin. Sericin is the gum that is emitted from the caterpillar to glue the fiber to the cocoon. It forms about 10-25% of the silk. The other elements that are needed are fats, waxes and salts. To make one yard of silk, roughly 3,000 cocoons are used.

            Silk may be a sought after fabric, but the fabric comes at a hefty price. The high price of silk is due to the complex and time-consuming process that goes into to making silk. Japan was the first country to apply scientific techniques to raising silk worms. As a result, Japan is one of the world’s finest raw silk producers. Other major raw silk producers are China, India, Spain and France.  In the 1990’s China was the world’s largest silk producer. They produced about 85% of the world’s silk, which is the equivalent to 3 billion dollars in revenue.

            Silk is known for its luxury. Silk is known as being a fabric that falls like water. Even though silk is a fabric that is very delicate, the fabric will make a huge statement in any room.  Silk is a fabric that is timeless and elegant, durable and lightweight Silk is a fabric that is going to make anyone breathless.

Works Citied

The History of Silk. (2000). History of Silk. Retrieved December 5, 2011

http://www.silk-road.com/artl/silkhistory.shtml