Tuesday 29 December 2015

What is Pita or Pitta Work



Pitta work is an ancient work of embroidery in which first the filling is done with the help of metal wires and then it it beaten so that the texture becomes uniform.

Watch this video to understand Pitta work.



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Saturday 28 November 2015

Ahimsa Silk-Revisited



I have written several times earlier on this topic. Today's writing is prompted by watching a video on Ahimsa silk. Mr. Kusuma Rajaiah has patented this technology of getting silk from mulberry silk worm without having to boil them.

Basically he buys cocoons from the market, allows the worms to escape and then send the cocoons to mills for carding and combing process to obtain the spun yarn.

In the documentary, weavers told that the yarn made by this technique is much finer and smoother than the filament yarn.

As a lot of cocoon filament is damaged in the process of escape of silk moth, the production cost is almost double than is obtained by other filament yarn.

All this is good. However, my questions are more rhetorical in nature regarding this:

1. From the last thousands of years of domestication evolution has made these worms blind and incapable to defend. Also they are unable to eat anything once they come out of cocoon. Which means if they are not dying of stifling, they will die of starvation or will be eaten away by birds. Which death is more severe and longer, who is responsible for it, and which one is more "Ahinsak" that is the question.

2. As almost double the cocoons are required for making a garment, it means we are letting double the moths starve or eaten away. Also there is a resource requirement to get it processed in factories. We are also snatching the livelihood that is obtained when manual operations of reeling and spinning.

Don't know what is right. Any ways, a very interesting video.

You can watch it here





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Saturday 31 October 2015

What is TR Fabric



TR fabric refers to Terry Rayon, a fabric made with a polyester/viscose blend yarn. Generally it is used for suitings.

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Saturday 15 August 2015

Notes on Procion Printing



Notes on Procion Printing

1. Types of Procion Colors

Procion M

- Highest Reactivity
- very important
- Used for steaming as well as non steaming fixation
- Can be used for resist printing also.
- Doesn't Mix with H and Supra Types dyes.
- The stock is not very stable and has to be used immediately after it is prepared.

Procion H

- Lowest Reactivity
- Stable Stock
- Used only when fixation is done by steaming

Procion Supra
- More reactivity than H
- High color fastness.

THICKNER USED IS SODIUM ALGINATE

2.  TYPES OF PROCION PRINTING PROCESS

A. One stage process

1. Alkali present in the printing paste
2. Development is done by steaming or baking.

B. Two stage process

1. No alkali present in the printing paste.
2. Alkali used before or after printing

UREA IS USED IN CELLULOSIC PRINTING

In cotton it is 5-10%, in viscose it is 100-200 percent.

Urea has three purposes:

1. It increases the solubility of dye stuff with low water solubility.
2. Increases the formation of condensate necessary for allowing migration of the dyestuff from paste to the fiber.
3. Non constant operating conditions can negatively affect reproducibility if urea is not used.

Receipe
Stock Paste
Color-5%
Urea-10%
Water-46%
Thickner-40%
Resist Salt- 1%
Alkali ( Soda Bi carbor sod carb)- 1.5%

Resist salt is used to prevent back printing.

How to make it

1. 1st Method
a. Mix all chemicals except water.
b. Add color by using high speed stirrer

2nd Method

a. Heat water by adding urea
b. Add color
c. Add thickning paste using High Speed Stirrer.
d. Add Dissolved alkali.

How to develop Color

1. One stage process

a. Steaming: for procion H and Supra- 5-15 min, for procion M- 15 seconds. - Moist Steam
b. Baking- Dry after printing & Baking. Keep concentration of urea more.
Procion M- 110 deg C, for three minutes for cotton and 140 deg C for viscose 140 for 3 minutes.

2. Two Stage Process

1. Flush Aging: No Alkali in mixture, can be done at high speed.

a. Dried printed fabric is pad in cold alkali solution with salt
b. It is than steamed
c. Good printing as done as there is no alkali.
d. Fixation takes only 40 seconds.
e. Printed cloth can be kept in warehouse without developing.

2. Air Hanging Process- Not useful for procion H

1. First unprinted fabric is padded with 2% soda ash and dried.
2. Make printing solution without alkali
3. Print 1 and 2 and keep in air for several hours.

3. Vat Development

a. No alkali in the mixture.
b. The cloth is passed through hot alkali solution after printing.

4. Pad ( Alkali) - Batching

a. First cloth is printed without alkali in the stock solution.
b. Then cloth is padded with sodium silicate ( 100 Tw)
c. Cloth is then batched for 3 hours for H and 10 mintues for M.
d. It is then washed and dried


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Wednesday 12 August 2015

Is Art Silk a type of Silk ?



This term made popular by catalog-centric websites is a misnomer. Art Silk in the technical circles, is a synonym for rayon.

However, now art silk is a euphemism for the articles made in polyester, nylon or acrylic.It is also known as polysilk.

One can find out the difference between the real silk, rayon and the "art silk" ( nylon, polyester, and acrylic) by burning a small yarn from the fabric and identifying the bead and smell.

See Also

Fiber Identification of Man-made fibres

Fiber Identification of Natural Fibers



Tuesday 11 August 2015

Weaving Technique of Tangail Sarees



The following board describes the amazing technique of producing Tangail Sarees.


Source

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What is the difference between Faux Georgette and Georgette



Faux georgette is a nice way of saying that a fabric is made of polyester or nylon Georgette.

This term is used very frequently in e-commerce, where customers are normally get offended by the term "polyester" and marketers don't want to offend them.

"Faux"- as described by Google ( Search for the word "faux") means artificial or made in imitation.

Taking the above definition into account the word "faux" is more misleading as the Georgette is genuine.

In this sense calling a fabric faux Georgette, or faux Crepe or faux Chiffon is a faux pas in technical terms.

Conclusion: If you find "faux" written before a fabric, assume that it is synthetic ( polyester or nylon).

See Also:

Difference Among Chiffon, Crepe, Georgette

What is 8 Kg Georgette



Tuesday 16 June 2015

Simple Kameez Vs. A-Line



Draft of an A-line is the same as that of Simple Kameez. A line can be stitched with or without darts as there is no shaping at the waist.

Generally round hem has a two inch ease than than the round hip measurement for a garment without flare. 

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Uppada Jamdani Sari



In Uppada style of weaving, the design is two sided and when the surface of the cloth is touched, the design cannot be felt separately from the cloth.

The design is woven into the goods by using ada, jala and a number of Tilis.

There are no loose threads on either side and no dobbys or jacquards are used. 

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Thursday 21 May 2015

IMPROVING FABRIC AND GARMENT DURABILITY



Note: This article is contributed by Jahangeer Mengal, a student of B.E. Textile Engineering. Jahangir also writes a blog at textilewithme.blogspot.com

Please see the Facebook page related to this article here.

For consumers, durability or serviceability is one of the primary prerequisites for dressing, alongside ease-of-consideration, elegance (style) and comfort. Durability is a measure of the reasonable wear life of an item and is a mind boggling capacity of various variables that lessen the serviceability and adequacy of the item, including abrasion (flat and flex), tearing, rupturing, bowing, extending, changes in appearance, laundering and cleaning. For example, Stoll (1949) expressed that the wear of army uniforms included 30% plane (flat) abrasion, 20% edge and projection abrasion, 20% flexing and collapsing, 20% tear and 10% other mechanical activities. Due to this, wear variables need to be assessed inside of the connection of the necessities of the particular end use for the fabric and garment. As for dress, aspects identifying with the general appearance of the fabric and garment for the most part overwhelm. 

The durability of a garment relies on the properties of the fabric as well as the conditions it experiences amid wear (even the attack of a garment on account of apparel), and laundering. For apparel fabrics and garments, imperviousness to abrasion has a tendency to be more imperative than strength as a marker of durability. Abrasion amid utilization not just adds to the disappointment of the fabric and garment, yet all the more generally adds to changes in fabric appearance, for example, fuzzing, pilling, icing (color change) and "shine" (making it look old or ugly). Often, the purchaser will consider a fabric to have come to the end of its helpful life on the basis of appearance instead of mechanical disappointment, for example, tearing or rupturing. Then again, changes in fiber and fabric structure can gainfully affect certain segments of durability (e.g. flat abrasion resistance) while unfavorably affecting others (e.g. tear strength), requiring trade off and optimization. Fabric and garment durability and wear performance are dictated by the fiber sort and properties, yarn fabric and garment construction, and any chemical and/or mechanical treatment connected to the yarn, fabric or garment. By and by, mechanical damage or breakdown is by and large more imperative than chemical damage (counting damage because of laundering and light) in deciding wear life. On account of this, wear conditions – including the size, shape, occupation and exercises of the wearer, as well as laundering and drying – have a noteworthy impact on the wear life of a garment.

 It is frequently hard to recognize such components and fabric inadequacies when endeavoring to distinguish the reasons for garment disappointment amid utilization. Frequently, variations among wearers and wear conditions are more imperative than variations in the fabrics or garments themselves in deciding wear performance and durability. Such wear for the most part happens at limited locales of the garment, for example, at the seats of jeans, elbows of coats and pullovers, and collars and sleeves of shirts, dependent upon the rough powers (greatness, recurrence and length of time) forced on the garment by the wearer, and the wear conditions, including those overall amid laundering. The moisture and sweat substance of the garment can likewise affect the degree of wear and abrasion.

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Friday 1 May 2015

A few Notes about Pashmina



1. Pashmina is also knows as Cashmere.

2. China is the major producer of Pashmina with more than 70% of the world produce. India produces less than 1%

3. Price of Raw Pashmina is greater than 10-15 times than that of a find Merino cross bred wool. This hike goes more than 30-40 times for scoured Pashmina than that of Merino wool.

4. There are 25% outer hair that need to be removed before getting Pashmina.

5. Pashmina is spun by hand. It is also being now spun on machine by mixing 50/50 with Nylon which is than later dissolved using hydrogen chloride. The quality of machine spun Pashmina is slightly less than that of Handspun yarn. It is also spun using PVA- which is then dissolved using hot water.

6. Weight of Pashmina shawl is about 200 grams with EPI and PPI as 50-60 and 46-56 respecively.

7. Pashmina is dyed using acid or metal complex dyes.




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Sunday 8 March 2015

Measurement ( Specification) Sheet of a Typical Churidar Kameez ( SKD)





To know how better you can use this information, please go to the facebook page here. Read more to view the full excel sheet.

Sunday 1 March 2015

Mens Short Kurta Specification Sheet





Thursday 12 February 2015

What is Can-can Fabric



These fabrics are stiff and extensively used for giving  volume to base of  lehengas and suits. These normally are manufactured from nylon and polyester.





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Tuesday 10 February 2015

Vocabulary of Indian Traditional Design



Doriya

The simplest pattern is the stripe; when the stripes are longitudinal, the fabric is a Doria

Salaidar

when the stripes run along the  patterns. breadth, the fabric is Salaidar



Sunday 11 January 2015

Beautiful Blouses, Laces and Borders



The following video depicts one of the most beautiful blouses popular today.


This video depicts Laces and Borders. I wish I knew this language

Saturday 3 January 2015

What is Salma, Sitara, Mukaish, Badla, Gijai, Dabka and More



All these are the elements which are used in Zardozi Embroidery.

The basic element is the plain metal wire.

The plain wire is called badla, prepared from a flattened wire which is laid on surface of the fabric, and when wound round a thread, it is called kasab





Smaller spangles with hole in centre are called sitara, and tiny dots made of badla are called mukaish



Sequins or Sitara
Tilla is the flat wire which cannot be threaded and is stitched directly on to the material. 

Salma is very fine, soft unflattened wire wound spirally without a thread in the centre. 





Dabka is a light weight coiled wire which is soft, flexible, and light both in weight and colour. 





A heavier form of dabka known as kora





Nakshi is a flat metal wire coiled in angular way similar to dabka except that it is thicker. 





A round zari with a hole in the centre is called is called chakri


Gijai is circular thin stiff wire. 





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What is Zardozi - how it is different from Kamdani



Embroidery that uses pure gold and silver wire and zari is known as Zardozi. This work is also known as karchobi. Zardozi involves the use of gold threads, spangles, beads, seed pearls, wire, gota and kinari. The original embroidery of Zardozi was done with pure silver wires coated with real gold, and was known as Kalabatun.

Techniques of Zardozi Work

 there are two broad techniques of Zardozi work. These are karchobi and kamdani. Karchobi is done for heavy fabrics and furnishings eg. tent, hangings, cover, spreads, trappings, umbrella, parasols etc. The fabric is generally velvet or heavy satin with lining support underneath. The Kamdani technique on the other hand is more magnificently practiced on finer fabrics such as muslin, silk etc. which were more suitable for costumes and related accessories such as caps, veils, scarves, caps, bonnets, shoes, belts, purses, fans, jewellery etc. 



Difference of Zardozi than other stitches

Zardozi differs from other traditions of embroidery like Kantha, Phulkari, Kasuti etc. where the movement of threaded needle is guided by variety of stitches. In other embroideries silk, cotton or woollen thread are used, which are binding medium, whereas in zardozi, the body of the design is completed by laying varieties of metallic threads in several shapes and forms along with beads, stones , beetle wings, etc. The whole process is more indicative of appliqué, then embroidery. Thus it may be called metal appliqué. One can understand this from the fact that zardoz always get  payments for amount of wire stitched on the cloth by weight. They never use the word kadai, the hindi word for embroidery, instead refer to it as salme sitare ka kaam ka takna which means laying salma, sitara on the body of the fabric.


Zardozi and Aari are two classifications with a slight difference in needle holding. Zardozi is embroidered with simple hand needle thus involving more effort, while for the aari the needle is fixed in a stick, which makes the hole in the fabric and thread, can be pulled both ways. 

Zaminduzi and Gulduzi

When the embroidery completely covered the fabric the work is known as Zaminduzi or if single motifs were scattered across it was known is gulduzi. 

The stitches
The stitches used in Zardozi are laid-stitch, couching, stem stitch, running stitch and satin stitch. Raised effect is given in Zardozi by padding in soft thick cotton thread and cardboard or bukram.

Average income of Artisans
Zardozi- 10000 Rs. per month- 10/12 Hours per day- Monthly wage


Process of Zardozi Embroidery
Following are the steps in doing the embroidery:

Firstly the design is traced on to the tracing paper and then the design is perforated with the needle all over on the design. The fabric on which the embroidery is to be done is placed on a flat table and the tracing sheet is placed in position. A solution of kerosene and Robin Blue/zinc oxide is made. A wad of cloth is dipped into this solution and wiped against the tracing so that the ink seeps through the

holes to trace the design onto the fabric.




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