Textile Types and Fabrics

Textile Types and Fabrics

Textiles/fabrics are made from different fibers. The main kinds of fiber materials include the natural fibers and the man made fibers. Natural fibers are made from animal and plant materials. The fabric’s quality and texture usually depends on how the different fibers are treated and processed, be it natural or synthetic.

There are a great number of animal fibers that are commonly used in textile production. Most animal fibers are light in weight, fine, extremely soft and also very warm.

Angora wool is got from the different breeds of Angora rabbits and goats. The wool that is harvested is usually very little and cannot be used to produce mass amounts of textile and is therefore at times mixed with other kinds of fibers to help reduce on the cost.

Camel hair is harvested from the Alpaca, Llama, Vicuna and particular breeds of camels. The wool got from the Vicuna is some of the finest and most expensive fibers available.

Cashmere is produced from the undercoat of the Kashmir goat that is popular in China, Mongolia and Tibet.

Wool is got from the fleece of sheep. Wool tends to vary according to different grades. This is because sheep produce their wool according to the way in which they have adopted with a particular environment and its conditions. Because of the varying grades of wool, the fibers can be put to various uses for instance the coarse fibers can be used in production of blankets, carpets while the softer and finer fibers can be used for baby’s clothes, undergarments or any other product that the producer may desire.

Silk has the finest quality in animal fibers. Silk contains fiber fibroin that is secreted form silkworm larva and sericin that holds the fibers together. It is obtained from the silkworm’s unwound cocoon. It is very absorbent and therefore dyes easily.

The most common plant fibers are cotton and linen
Cotton is a soft plant fiber and can be used in the production of materials for any use. The materials produced from cotton are extremely comfortable, smooth, with the best absorbing qualities. For these reasons, cotton is commonly used in the production of garments.

Linen has the same properties as cotton. However, it is found to be much stronger than cotton and is made from flax plant’s stalk and also isn’t as elastic as cotton. It is also able to dye easily.

The synthetic fibers that are usually produced include nylon and polyester. They are both strong and able to stretch better than the natural fibers. To help improve on quality of fabrics, the synthetic fibers are usually mixed with the natural fibers.
Designing textiles
Textiles go through very long production processes before they are even ready to be printed. Textiles are designed in number of ways that help add colors, patterns and designs to the fabric. These include including use of dyes and colors, embroidery.

Embroidery consists adding stitching of threads onto the fabric. This can be done using various colors of threads and other materials such as embellishments, sequins in order to make the material look more beautiful and attractive.

Designing textiles can also be done by individuals, especially those who are in the fashion industry. To be able to capture the best designs on textiles, one can either sketch out designs from personal inspiration or even make these designs using the computer using graphic design techniques. The designs are then sent to the mill where the designs can be added to fabric. If the print needs corrections, then the designer can work on it further before sending it back to the mill. Once you have got the print as perfectly as you want it, then you can finally have the printed fabric mass produced.
Fibers can be woven, knitted, laced or even braided depending on what its end use will be. The design of the fabric produced also widely depends on the materials end use.