We've started the class with two busy days. On monday we introduced ourselves and learned about textiles. We ginned cotton and learned about the history of the cotton industry. Did you know that our dollar bills are made form cotton? We learned that it takes over 700 gallons of water to produce enough cotton for one t-shirt. That's a lot. In fact, cotton is the world's thirstiest crop. We also learned about how silk is produced. We boiled silk cacoons until we could brush away silk threads with tooth brushes and find the one true thread. After we made cotton and silk threads, we looked at the difference between weaving and knitting. In addition to cotton and silk, we learned about wool and synthetic fibers. We tested the fabrics that we will use in class over the next few weeks by burning them and noting how they burned in order to determine which fabrics were made from which fibers. We also made yarn by cutting up used clothing and decorated our scetchbooks that were made by for our class from recycled cardboard.
-Ginning Cotton-
-The Silk Cacoon and The Worm Inside-
-Burn Tests (This One Was Polyester)-
-Our Recycled Sketchbooks-
Today, Tuesday, June 16th, we learned about dyeing clothes. Did you know that dyeing in the fashion indstry is one of the world's largest water pollutants? It doesn't need to involve toxic pollutans though. We made purple and red dye with cochineal, which is a bug. We practiced different techniques to apply dye to the fabric, including using batik wax to make fun designs. We made a bunch of swatches, or small test strips of fabric. We experimented with some dyes that react in different ways to the sun. We also made dye out of food scraps from community businesses, such as Serg's and Andy's Sandwich's in Manoa, and we peeled grapes and oranges (and ate them) to make dyes. So many colors from food!
-Getting Messy with Cochineal and Things We Found Outside-
-A Little Bit of Everything-