Denim Silk- Challenges in Production and Marketing

Silk denim, developed in India by CSTRI seems to have a lot of potential. With the market of denim in India growing by leaps and bounds, denim silk will give that niche in the minds of customer that can make a company profitable.

There are however lots of challenges that denim jeans made of silk will face in the market. First there is a problem/question of its production viability. Then there will be a question of its wearing performace.

Then of course care of this fabric will be a major challange. Even if this is overcome, cost will be a deciding factor in this recession hit economy. And of course, there will be always a challenge to fight from the spurious fabrics.

Lets talk about parameters. The warp in silk is made from 20/22 denier 6 and 12 ply organzine twisted(Organzine is a thread made by giving the raw-silk thread a preliminary twist in one direction and then twisting many of these threads together in the opposite direction at the rate of about 4 turns/cm ) mulberry silk fiber or eri silk of 2/60s, 2/80s and 2/120s is used. In weft 6 and 12 ply tram twisted (Tram is made by twisting in only one direction two or more raw-silk threads, with 8 to 12 turns/cm). Mulberry silk and eri silk of 2/60s, 2/80s and 2/12s greige yarn is used. All this is OK, the only concern is the avaliability of these fibers. It is then made on rapier looms with 44" width and 3/1 twill weighing 100-300 gsm. The only questions are the production challenges while handling such delicate fibers.

Functionally, twill weaves in silk are prone to slippage of yarn, particulary if two different fibers are used in warp and weft.which might affect the tear strength and seam slippage.

Also the faded look of denim comes from Indigo dye, which is a vat dye, and which is faded differentially as the denim is washed. In Silk Denim, Indigo colored acid dyes are used, which dont fade at all. This will maintain the consistency of shade for years, but surely will take away the joy of fading that is obtained with cotton denim.

Then of course there are issues for the care and maintainenace of these fabrics. These must be dry cleaned and taken care of properly. Also eri silk denim will behave like wool and more suitable in winter.

The biggest issue of all is the cost. Due to limited supply, the quality silk denim would be much much costlier than the normal indigo cotton denim.

Thus all the discussion above will point out to the a very specific market for silk denims. Target audience would be upper class young females in the age group of 25-40. It would be better if the bottoms were to sold with the matching printed or plain silk tops. It would be further beneficial for a marketer if the word 'denim' is taken out of this fabric, as customer will erroneously compare the properties of indigo denim with this fabric. Some surface emballishments can be done like printing or embroidery on these garments.

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/shanghai_china_silk.htm
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/11/1014/silk-denim1.asp

And then have a look at this.

News about Silk from India

Banarasi Saree to Receive GI registration

The Banaras Bunkar Samiti, an organisation of Banarasi handloom weavers and eight other organisations are making efforts to receive the IPR to the silk brocade and Banarasi saree.
The GI acts as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, or enjoys a certain reputation, due to its geographical origin.

Banana Shirts

Weavers of Anakaputhur, about 20 kms from Chennai have brought in this new product with technical support from the National Research Centre for Banana ( NRCB) Trichi.
At Rs. 450 a piece, such shirts keep the body cool. Banana fiber after processing, is odorless and can be dyed in any color. The shirts don't shrink, fade and keep the stiffness even without starch. However, a blend of 60% cotton with this fiber given maximum durability. Banana fiber is also cost effective with 40/- a kg and can yield two 100% banana shirts.
Other suppliers of banana fiber can be found here.

16 Things to ensure while Making Industrial Apparel Patterns

The following is a list of 16 things to ensure while making an industrial apparel pattern manually:

1. All the features of the style
   
2. Pattern count ( Number of pattern sections) according to the style 
   
3. Seam allowance based on style
   
4. Type of fixtures required on sewing machine in the manufacturing
   
5. Final drafting measurements based on the shrinkage value ( both warp and weft way) for garmens which are subject to further treatment such as washing or dyeing.
   
6. Grading the pattern based on the size specification.
   
7. Marking the grain lines by an arrow head.
   
8. Provide guide notcher for precision assembly, punch holes for positioning of components and darts.  
   
9. Use of white hard board paper for drafting.
   
10. Use of black color for drawing the original draft line.
    
11. Identify the pattern by its style number, customer's name, date of preparation and mention of its status as "sample"
    
12. On preparation of the sample garment, place all the pattern sections in a paper bag mentioning pattern count, style number, customer's name 
    
13. On receipt of customer's feed back on sample garment effect the changes, if any, by manipulating the draft with Blue color and endorse with signature and date.
    
14. On approval from the production manager, change the status of patterns from "sample" to "production"
    
15. On finalisation of drafting , prepare "ready patterns" on two tone paper for small components meant for cutting section, sewing section and for monitoring purpose.
    
16. In order to prevent curling and chipping of the edges of the pattern section, protect the edges by metal foils.  

Tags: Pattern+making, drafting, garment+manufacturing

Rapid Dyes

The Rapid dyes are stabilized azoic dyestuffs.

 They are applied to the fibers in one operation.

 Bright full colors are obtained with very good fastness properties.

 These are used for printing backgrounds so that the foreground becomes prominent. Hence these are suitable where large areas of ground need to be colored.

 Rapid dyes are mixed with water and boiled with caustic soda and a gum paste. A receipe for rapid dyes is given here.

The shades in rapid dyes are unpredictable since the color that is mixed is different from the final color.

True colors emerge only after the fabric has been printed and washed in a mild sulphuric acid solution.

Also these dyes should be used on the same day.

Some colors such as pure blacks are extremely sensitive to weather. Similarly red colors in rapid is vibrant in summers and mediocre in winter