National Sewing Month is September: This is the second article celebrating that topic.
One cannot sew without fabric!! Fabric that sewers use today, has come a long way from the original pieces recorded in history, circa 9000 to 3000 BC. The origins of fabrics are found in Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Assyria with China being a late comer about 3400 BC. Woven materials made into cloth can be found in oldest history coming from the cradle of civilization. Recorded specimens of wool with pieces of mohair and hemp are some of the oldest. I can image that those were heavy SCRATCHY fabrics! Fragments (not unlike our own remnants of today) of blue and purple dyed cloths were also found in ancient Phrygia and Israel. Of course these were solid colors, not the printed design types that we know today, although solids are still available:
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| modern purple Bella Solid by Moda |
Linen fabric began to appear more commonly from Egypt to Turkey that seemed to be made from flax seed, although spun and plied-thread garments used other plant derivatives. Silk and brightly dyed and beaded specimens later began to appear in Asia as cloth trading started to be recorded.
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| present day Hand dyed silk scarf by SplendidLittleStars |
Today's fabrics, textiles, are much more pleasantly tactile than those early fabrics, obviously. I guess that is what draws me and other sewers to fabrics in the stores--not only being able to touch and feel their texture, but enjoy modern print design!
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| Lark (Floral) by Amy Butler |
I have offered a few modern fabrics for you to see, but--sorry, you cannot feel them!
5 comments:
Great idea for a sewing month post! It's amazing to think how far we've come with fabric. I don't do a lot of sewing, but I still enjoy the textures, patterns, and colors in fabric stores.
I like touching fabrics. Darn! Great lesson on textiles! {:-D
I bet Margaret's scarf is super soft! And I love Amy Butler's fabrics!
Fascinating information! Thanks for sharing =)
Fabrics HAVE become more and more lovely. Pure silk has been around for a long time, but its production has improved. I love the feel, colors, and patterns of fabrics. Such a variety exist today!
Thanks for showing off my silk scarf!
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