The development and evaluation of a speciality hand knitting yarn using appropriate technology for the empowerment of women in rural India.

The study is based on developing a speciality hand knitting yarn using silk remnants collected from sari weaving handlooms in Vellanchery village, South India. The research was built upon observations in the village designed to identify an appropriate method for the manufacture of yarn that would be acceptable for the unpaid female labour in the handloom sector. The initial field study lead to more sustainable methods of production and quality analysis of the resultant yarn. The speciality yarn was tested against five market available hand knitting yarns, which were similar in terms of visual effect and handle. The objective measurements of the yarn were triangulated with subjective data to provide a complete quality analysis. Finally, a branding strategy was developed for labelling and packaging. The aim of this paper is the identification and proving of the appropriate technology and thorough evaluation of the properties of the yarn and fabric

Application of new method spinning Nu-TorqueTM yarn for weaving

2004-2005 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Silk hosiery industry

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University, 1933. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Curating Semi-Synthetic and Synthetic Fibres and Fabrics 2022

This is a peer reviewed resource to improve the documentation and interpretation of collections and make them accessible to the widest audience. It also is a stand-alone guide for basic synthetic textile identification. The guide focuses on garments made of fibres known as semi-synthetic and synthetic. All fibres have been classified as either 'natural' (e.g., cotton and silk), 'synthetic' (e.g., nylon and acrylic) or semi-synthetic (e.g., viscose rayon and acetate rayon). The guide is the result of a collaboration between the Dress and Textiles Specialists (DATS), led by the Victoria and Albert Museum and Glasgow Museums, and the Plastics Subject Specialist Network (PSSN), led by the Museum of Design in Plastics (MoDIP)

Numerical simulation of dynamic heat-moisture transfer within the human-clothing-environment system

2004-2005 > Academic research: not refereed > Publication in policy or professional journalVersion of RecordPublishe

A study of consumer research in clothing and textiles

It has been recognized from Adam Smith to Keynes that, "Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to only insofar as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer."1 This basic economic principle of production might well be considered the beginning of the consumer movement. The Consumer movement in the widest sense of the term consists of all the efforts, organized and unorganized, to make the consumer a wiser buyer and user of those products and services which she acquires in her capacity as a consumer.

Jacquard Weave for Interior Design: Valuing Arts and Crafts through Encoding Emotion and Information

This dissertation exists in relation to the exhibition of design practice at the RCA, November 7th 2014 (documented in photographs accompanying the text); it is structured according to my construction of the exhibition. It therefore integrates the question of describing my practice-based research methods along with the descriptions of my research context, and case studies of other contemporary designers; the history of the Arts and Crafts ethos, as a precursor of modernity, is also reconsidered as of potential use for a crafts approach to textile sustainability. The methods used are a compound of the workshop method of experiments at the desk, drawing board, computer screen, loom and print room, along with a search for existing cases of similar textile-weave practice in current production, some historical research and some autoethnography1, which documents the subjective experience of researching sustainability in one aspect of textile design. The thesis explores aspects of emotional durability through textile design. The meaning of emotionally durable textiles, particularly those using a Jacquard weave design, was encoded in the form of QR code (Quick Response code) patterns, which, when scanned by a smartphone, lead users through the digital portal to digital platforms which inform and network users. Considering the origins of the computer in the digital binary logic of weave and its mechanisation in the Jacquard loom, the use of the weave process as a medium for encoding the meaning of the material is especially interesting for the designer as a means of activating the agency of the maker and the user. The use of textiles in all aspects of everyday life ensures the proximity of textile as an interface between the familiarity and comfort of the material and the designer’s addition of the function of rationality in relation to others and to the world of knowledge, networking and activism. The research concludes with a range of prototype Jacquard designs, which activate the relationship between designer and user through the medium of encoded messages. Using the Jacquard code as a part of new digital media of twenty-first-century technology is a way for design practice to celebrate the industrial innovation of mechanised weave and to apply this to the challenges of sustainability. 1 Carolyn Ellis, The Ethnographic I: A Methodological Novel about Autoethnography. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press, 2004, p.3

A study on the thermophysiological and tactile comfort properties of silk/lyocell blended fabrics

Certain investigations on the thermophysiological and tactile comfort properties of silk/lyocell blended fabrics have been carried out. A series of yarns were produced as 100% silk (S 100), 75% silk and 25% lyocell (S/L 75:25), 50% silk and 50% lyocell (S/L 50:50), 25% silk and 75% lyocell (S/L 25:75) and 100% lyocell (L 100) and converted to woven fabrics keeping the same fabric set. FTIR study on silk, lyocell and silk/lyocell blended fabrics show the characteristic functional groups for the respective fabrics. The effects of blend compositions on thermophysiological and tactile comfort properties were examined and the results show that thermal resistance of the fabrics containing silk has a higher value in comparison with lyocell-rich blends. Water vapour permeability, absorbency and wickability for lyocell and lyocell-rich blends are found to be superior as compared to 100% silk fabrics. With respect to drape, bending length and crease recovery the lyocell rich fabrics are good in comparison with 100% silk fabrics. The results are discussed using one way ANOVA with 5% significant level.Keywords: silk, lyocell, blending, comfort, eco-friendly