Saturday, August 31, 2013

A Smidgen of Saturday School

Gosh, I'd forgotten how much I absolutely LOVE learning. We had our second textiles class a couple days ago and I'm just eating up all the information; I've already read waaaay ahead in our textbook because it's so fascinating, not to mention doing extra research on the details that the textbook doesn't include.

We've been learning about the different categories of natural textiles: cellulosic fibers (plant-based, like cotton and linen) and protein fibers (animal-based, like wool and silk). I find it so interesting how the chemical structure of these macromolecules can affect all the fabric qualities that I already know about from sewing, like strength, abrasion resistance, elasticity, resilience, and lustre. I'm just sad that our professor isn't actually a chemistry person, because I want to know more about the stuff that she and our textbook just gloss over, like the polymers' side chain interactions and the importance of hydrogen bonding! I really think that if I were to redo my undergrad, I'd want to change my major from bio/psych to fiber science. Doesn't this blurb from Cornell sound so fascinating? Oh, whoops, excuse me, my nerd is showing.

Because I don't have any sewing to show, I thought I'd share my notes from class instead:



In order to keep from being bored in class (like most teachers, I'm a terrible student -- easily bored and distracted and always thinking about how I could teach something better), I ended up illustrating my notes. Actually, when I was bored in undergrad, I used to take notes in Elvish (i.e. transliterating by using the Quenya alphabet), but that ended up being a problem when I tried to look back at my notes a few years later, but had forgotten my Elvish.

We talked about how the orientation of the fibrils can affect the strength, elasticity, and wickability of various fibers. Also, wool requires a combination of water, heat, and agitation to compact the amorphous fibers (hence the tendency of wool sweaters to shrink in the wash)...so if you were to soak a sheep, get it very warm, and then roll it around a lot, its coat would shrink? 
Besides talking about where cellulosic fibers can originate on a plant, we also talked about their general properties. Natural cellulosic fibers wrinkle easily, are denser than protein fibers, absorb moisture readily (which means they're comfortable in hot weather and conduct electricity well, so less static cling, but can also be susceptible to mildew), have poor elasticity so high-stress area tend to stretch out (think knees and butts), have decent UV resistance, and burn quickly. They are moth-resistant but can attract silverfish, especially when heavily starched. 
We also discussed the process of making linen from flax -- it's pretty intense! Even today, there's no decent "quick" substitute for retting, which means linen will probably stay a luxury fiber. 

If you're interested in following along with me in my studies, these websites do a decent job of teaching the same information that I've been learning about cellulosic fibers. What say you, am I a nerd or am I a nerd? Would you ever want to learn about the chemistry of fibers? I'm already brainstorming about how I can add in a unit of fiber science for my chem class after the AP exam is over...

21 comments:

  1. Love your notes! We learned about the fiber science/human ecology studies at Cornell this summer when we visited on our college tour. Cornell was awesome, btw, and DD's #1 pick at the moment. I can definitely see why you are liking the class. A bit of fiber science after the AP exam would be great. Where else would kids get a taste of that type of thing? Maybe some of your students will want to go to the program at Cornell after that!

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  2. Even if I wasn't interested in what you were learning I'd be interested in your notes. Love all the illustrations. Thanks for the links. I think all this fiber knowledge can only help one's sewing skills since you have a better handle on what the fabric itself is doing and can do.

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  3. Wow! This is so cool! Thanks for sharing your notes so we can learn alongside you! And dude, you have great handwriting!

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  4. If you want some more extracurricular geekery—about wools in particular—the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook is fantastic. It delves into the differences between over 200 fleece-bearing animals and uses for each breed's wool. It's maybe less useful to someone who sews, as most fabrics can't be narrowed down to particular wools, with the exception of merino and shetland. I'm a spinner, though, and have been making a study of different wools. I love knowing all these little details!

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  5. What a brilliant way of learning! Love those piccies, so much more interesting than just words!

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  6. Oh my goodness, I do my notes with cartoons too! Such an awesome way of remembering things.

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  7. I love your notes! I bet you are an awesome science teacher.

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  8. Ha, that's certainly geeky, but writing your notes in Elvish tops it all for me :-) The sheep look lovely, thanks for sharing your learning and illustrations!

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  9. Love this post! One things about wool though. I can see why they might not use soap when making wool thread then fabric (I was never taught to when spinning or weaving). But it you wanted that sheepskin coat to good & truly shrink (felt) you'd have to add soap. I suppose you might be able to heat the wool hot enough that the bonds in the lanolin would break down, but I don't think your sheep would survive! Soap disperses the lanolin which water alone won't do. It would also help to comb the sheep so the fibers are going in multiple directions (at least two) so the little hair scales can grab onto eachother from more angles to get really dense. Then you'd want to douse the sheep in cold water to get its hair scales to clamp down after opening up from the hot water. A nice dip in vinegar would harden its felted coat.

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  10. your notes are making me notesick. i want a college ruled notebook and a nice pen!!!!!

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  11. This is SO interesting! Love the intersection of science and textiles! Who knew!

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  12. I love your "Why sheep don't shrink" illustration.

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  13. You could publish your notes as a fun illustrated science book! So fun!

    I was never very good with note-taking in school because I'm more of an auditory learner. I'd get hung up on spelling (one of my worse subjects) and miss half the lecture, so I only wrote down a few things and just listened. I was really good at absorbing most of what I needed if the teacher didn't put me to sleep with delivery style. And if the lecture was sleep-inducing, I could just read the text book.

    Thanks for sharing some of your cool textile classes with us! =)

    ~ Brooke

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  14. Ah, I miss learning and doodling in my notebook! Nice notes!

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  15. Love love LOVE your notes! And I wish I were with you in your classes - have fun!

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  16. This is FASCINATING! Wow! I would love to learn more about this and I hope you can find the time to share some of your discoveries with us here! How about a "textile science" regular feature on your blog?

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  17. Hee hee hee. Nice doodles. I think I am going to take a textiles course at my local college as well. I was going to take the second patternmaking course, but found that it really was so much work that it started to become stressful instead of fun and informative.

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  18. So reminiscent of what was covered in my Introduction to Clothing & Textiles class as a college freshman, ( still have the books) with 3 more semesters of chemistry added for a Home Ec degree. Nerdiness understood, and wish I could have taken notes like that.!

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  19. Ok, the sheep notes were like, the funniest thing ever. Nerd humor is the best humor.

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  20. This is so interesting! Thank you for sharing it with us. The detail about taking your note in Elivish made me laugh, especially because it meant that you didn't understand them later on. Well, you should refresh your Elvish, I would say ;)

    The felting properties of wool also made me think what happens to the sheep if you do those things to it. In the old days, after shearing the sheep they to washed the woollen fleece carefully in the river, trying not to stir it to much to prevent felting. I've discussed this with my boyfriend (we are a nerd couple) and he guesses that when the wool is in the sheep it's maybe ok because the wool is attached on one end. Does it make sense? Anyway, if you get the answer one day, please share it with us!

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  21. I think you should consider using these notes and turning them into perhaps a small but illustrated book about fiber. Your drawings take the "science intimidation" factor out of learning the science. Love it!

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