Friday, March 6, 2015

Fabrics under the microscope.



 I was checking out some fabrics with my microscope and found it really fascinating, more than I expected. The shape of the fibers and the way they are woven together varied greatly between fabric types and helped me understand why different fabrics behave they way they do. I took some photos and paired each one with a photo of the fabric and a brief description.

warm, fluffy fleece has even, thickly packed fibers


Shiny, thick brocade has tightly woven flat fibers


cotton organza has a very stiff, structured feel and is very breathable.


silk organza is also stiff and airy 



Black and white print cotton, soft feeling and has a fuzzy-looking fiber.


cotton jersey, soft and stretchy, loosely woven soft, dense fibers

velveteen is just a mess of soft furry fibers

satin is made of tightly woven smooth fibers

                               
chiffon is light and breezy and the fibers are thin and flexible


shiny smooth silk has tightly woven, perfectly even and smooth fibers


this is a thicker, rougher silk, and the fibers are thicker and more uneven.

silk dupioni is usually made of two colors of silk fiber. Most of it is evenly woven, except for the slubs which are patches of thicker fibers.
This iridescent green silk flashes red because it's woven with red fibers


shantung is a little more evenly woven


the fibers of this silk mesh look like wires, thin and translucent

knit fabrics are loosely woven so they can stretch

linen fibers are softly twisted

Tulle is actually composed of very thin smooth plastic fibers

                                        
shiny slip fabric is made from softly twisted fibers
Fusible interfacing (which fuses to fabric with heat activated glue) has thin fibers that can melt when heated
stitch witchery is similar and also composed of thin, easily melted fibers


nylon lace is formed of knotted fibers
Thread is made of many tightly twisted thin fibers