Here we are talking
Fibres
Fabrics
Clothing
Shoes

Textiles and ultimately clothing start with fibres

Know Your Fibres

Textiles and ultimately clothing start with fibres
Know Your Fibres
Fibres are short fine hairs that can be twisted or spun into longer thread or yarn. This may be woven or knitted into fabric. Fibres (and then yarns and ultimately fabrics) can be can be natural, synthetic or chemically produced hybrid called regenerated fibres.
Natural fibres Are derived from plants like cotton or animals like wool and silk, Coarse Fibres Are used for rope, string, sacking and industrial uses.
Fibres used for finer fabrics and yarn include cotton, wool and silk.
Synthetic fibres are man-made from chemicals many of which are petroleum derived. Most don’t biodegrade.
Regenerated Fibres The base material is cellulose that can be obtained from a range of sources. It is then converted through a chemical process into fibres.
Read more HERE

Yarns and threads

Fibres are SPUN into yarns and threads that are then used as string for tying, thread for sewing or yarn for knitting or weaving to make fabric

Fabrics

Threads can be woven or knitted into fabric.
The fabric often takes the name of the fibre such as cotton or wool or go under a trade name such as nylon.Or it can be called something else completely like denim or crepe de chine.

Kinds Of fabric – my ongoing experiences with cloth.
Read about why I prefer natural fabrics over synthetics here.

Clothing

Clothes are then made out of woven/knitted fabrics or knitted yarn.

Shop Bought
I have strict rules ( surprise) applied to buying of clothes.
I mostly buy natural fibres Read about why I prefer natural fabrics over synthetics here.
Sustainable Clothes Find our sustainable criteria for buying or making clothes in the clothing manifesto
Buying Plastic Free You might be buying cotton but you still get some plastic. The cotton to sew them will be plastic as will the buttons and other fixings. even the labels. and those beastly coat hangers. Its a minefield I tell you.
Read more about plastic Involved when buying ready made clothes

See my shop bought clothes here

Home MadeClothes
The only way I can buy plastic-free and afford fair trade,organic clothes is make them myself.
And I get to support local fabric shops which is very important to me. As is buying U.K. made fabrics.
Read all about it here.
How to sew plastic free
See The clothes I have made here

How Much? The Fair Share Fabric Project
Ones mans sustainable amount is anothers nothing to wear. So I have decided to use only my global share of fibres and they have to be sustainably sourced. Whats a global share? Share out all that is made by all the people on the planet and it works out, (very roughly), at 11.74 kg per person of which 3.8 kg is natural fibres. As I don’t like synthetics I try to stick to 3.8 kg of natural fibres.
Introduction and yearly synopsis

Statistics

Lots of outrageous statistics HERE