Sewing Machines

As you might have noticed my 'beauty blog' has been taken over by a few fashion and textiles posts! I've always wrote this blog, and a fashion blog alongside, which was meant for school, but I thought I'd make it fun and put them together! Just thought I should let you know :D 

Sewing machines are used to stitch fabric and other materials together with thread. They were invented during the first Industrial Revolution.

 Since the first working sewing machine, thanks to the work of Englishman Thomas Saint in 1790 the sewing machine has  improved the efficiency and productivity of clothing and needle industries. Saint's machine, which was designed to sew leather and canvas, mainly on boots, Instead of a needle, an awl was employed to pierce a hole through the material being sewed, it used only a single thread and formed a chain stitch.. Another mechanism placed the thread over the hole, and then a needle like rod with a forked point carried the thread through to the underside of the work, where a hook caught the thread and moved it forward for the next stitch. When the cycle was repeated, a second loop was formed on the underside of the cloth with the first loop, thus forming a chain and locking the stitch. Saint's machine, however, never progressed beyond the patent model stage.

In 1830 Barthélemy Thimonnier, a French tailor, patented a sewing machine that sewed straight seams using chain stitch. Thimonnier had a factory of 80 machines sewing uniforms for the French Army. It employed a hook-tipped needle, much like an embroidery needle, that was moved downward by a cord-connected foot treadle and returned by a spring. Like Thomas Saint's machine, it produced a chain stitch. By 1841, eighty of his machines were being used to sew uniforms for the French army.

(I absolutely love these sewing machine, they are gorgeous and show how elegant it was in that time period.)

Willcox and Gibbs founded the very first Chain stitch sewing machine, which now a-days are widely collected and are they eye-candy of sewign machines! Willcox and Gibbs chain stich machine went on to be one of the best selling sewing machine of all time. The chain wtich was created when Gibbs created a machien with a lower revolving hook to catch the top thread and twist it to loop and lock the fabric together! (Clever stuf)

Frister rossmann semi-automatic, with this machine you are able to change the stitch width, and length. It allows you to set the position of the needle. 

Thanks for reading my little post on sewing machines! Lots of love

Sophie 

♥♥♥

Tie Dye

What are the two best things in life? …Fashion and Hot chocolate!  BUT the second best things in life are studs and tie dye! I will never understand the people who turn their nose up at tie dye, are you crazy?! I mean I know it was big amongst the ‘Hippie’ fashion but come, haven’t we moved past that?

This is just a little post of pictures that I wanted to keep as inspiration for when I tie dye my shorts on Monday!!

I had so much fun making my samples of tie dye, and in the lesson we bought in garments from home to tie dye, and see how they'd turn out. It was scary adding dye to something so white! 

(Image from my instagram _sophiee01)

So I brought in my high-waisted white linen shorts, I never really wore these shorts just because of how light they were, you could ALWAYS see my pants. Even if they were white too! I used blue dye because I knew red would go pink and I just like blue more, haha! 

I dip dyed the bottom of the shorts, and that turned out awesome! I wrapped some string around 3 balls to make a pattern like in my samples post on tie dye. You can see where they were in the photo as I haven't ironed he shorts yet. Those turned out okay, but they didn't stand out as much as i wanted them too. Then i got a paint brush and splashed the top of the shorts to get the 'spotted' effect. 

I really enjoyed making these shorts! It was so fun and I really want to do this again, 

Thanks for reading, 

Sophie xx

Fashion through the eras

Grunge 

Grunge came from America, the basic overall look was that nothing matched, most items were old and the point was to look unkempt and like you had made no effort at all! This came about in the 1990’s, you could only really get away with this if you were under 20…this trend died within a year.

-          Ripped jeans

-          Unkempt look

-          Minimal effort

-          Old clothes

Style icons!

People who enjoyed this look were stars such as Johnny Depp, Julie Roberts who popularised the craze with their high movie star statuses  

I'm still unsure whether I like the look, it's edgy, I'll give it that but somehow I just can't understand it! Haha! well I hope it doesn't come back in trend again! 

Power Dressing!

Power dressing was about dressing to assert power…SHOULDER PADS AND SUITS! This was the time where woman stared to wear suits. They had padded shoulders and long skirts, to me, that shows business.

The whole look was clean cut; this is still popular on the high street as blazers are popular among young adults and adults. It’s casual yet a powerful piece of clothing to wear.  As woman in the workplace was coming less unusual they wanted to ‘power dress’ to shows how woman were just as good as men.

Fashion icons at the time were people such as Joan Collin and Linda Evans, as on TV they could show off their large shoulder pads

Power dressing was about dressing to assert power…SHOULDER PADS AND SUITS! This was the time where woman stared to wear suits. They had padded shoulders and long skirts, to me, that shows business.

The whole look was clean cut; this is still popular on the high street as blazers are popular among young adults and adults. It’s casual yet a powerful piece of clothing to wear.  As woman in the workplace was coming less unusual they wanted to ‘power dress’ to shows how woman were just as good as men.

Fashion icons at the time were people such as Joan Collin and Linda Evans, as on TV they could show off their large shoulder pads

New Romantics 

New romantics was a fashion trend influenced by Hollywood, fiction or history, and then adapted or changed to fit your style and make it personal. There was a lot of attention to detail, very dressy, dramatic and colourful. It was a very feminine look, and included frills and flamboyant clothing. The trend was set to show that women made an effort.

Style Icon…Princess Diana

Princess Diana  was a subtle version of the trend, she was as flamoyant as the trent could go.

- Attention to detail

- Colourful

- Flamboyant

- Effort’s been made

- Very Dressy

Extreme New Romantics!

New romantics was also a time when the streaky eye-liner, the bright make-up and generally being creative with colours and patterns in your wardrobe was popular. I’d say there was this side of the trend, which was rather heavily influenced by punk fashion and there was there was the classy side.

Disco Fever – 70′s Fashion!

The 70′s era was a fun loving time, with fun loving clothes!

The spice girls were huge icons!

• Flared trousers
• Bold prints and patterns
• High waisted
• Platform shoes

All the ‘common features’ of this trend has been back in fashion lately, many products on the high street have emerged with these characterises.

Flared trousers were back on trend with floral prints and in light fabrics. High waisted jeans are making their way back, most are skinny now rather than high waisted and flared (i’m sure there’s a few about though!) Platform shoes are back, as platform Creepers are popular among the high street fashion.

Roy Halston Frowick was well know in the 1970's for his draped jersey dresses, lean trouser suits and his suede fabrics!

Thanks for reading,
Lots of love,
Sophie xxx

Fabrics and Fibres

Natural fabrics are made from natural fibres’, which means that they come from plants or animals! (Crazy really)

A lot of the time natural fibres are not harmful to the environment, as they can decompose without leaving any harmful chemicals, and harmful chemicals are not used to manufacture them. However, when harmful pesticides are used to make the crops grow faster and to kill any bugs eating the plant, it can harm the surrounding environment and the people tending the crops.

COTTON!!

(http://info.fabrics.net/fabric-facts/cotton/)

Come from Animals and Plants!!

Most of them are staple fibers: Except Silk

Grow without the help of humans

No negative impact on the environment

Cotton is a stable fibre, it grows within the plant, in a protective capsule, e.g. a bud. The fibre it’s self is soft and fluffy. As cotton is a natural fibre it’s not, in so many words ‘bad for the environment  as it comes from a plant, and is not made by humans. Cotton is biodegradable so it’s not bad for the environment  it’s able to be reused, and recycled but if that’s not an option and it’s taken to a landfill site it will decompose not leaving behind and harmful chemicals.

WOOL!!!

(http://www.teeswaterwools.co.uk/images/IMG_1464.jpg)

Wool is still a natural fibre, however it comes from an animals rather than a plant, It comes from sheep and can come from other animals! Such as goats (that’s….Mohair, or Cashmere  Wool comes in stable fibres, and they come in clusters of them! Wool is spun into a fabric, and is not as flammable as other synaesthetic materials such as polyester. Also wool is biodegradable so it doesn't have a negative impact on the environment  Wool is quite a long lasting fibre so it’s able to be reused which is very good for the environment!

SYNTHETIC FIBER FACTS!

Synthetic fibers were created to improve on natural fibers! They use chemicals which are combined into polymers, they produce fibers such as : nylon, polyester and acrylic! As they are man-made they are able to improve and create a fibre with characteristics that are desirable to the consumer! They are NOT biodegradable!

The Fabrics…..

Nylon:

Nylon is Silky to touch,

 Commonly used in tights and stockings

Nylon is strong,

Very elasticated,

Dries very quickly.

Polyester:

Polymer fabrics are very strong and durable, and dry quick and easily. It’s made from a long chain of polymers and is also a continuous filament fibre.

Acrylic:

Acrylic is sometimes made to mimic other fibres, like cotton. 

It is also lightweight, soft and warm…it’s kind of feels like wool !:P 

Acrylic can be used  as a cheaper alternative to cashmere! 

However they can fuzz easily.

Regenerated Fibres! 

These are fibres that are made from cellulose a natural polymer,  but the  fibre structure has been chemically altered by man, therefore the original  fibres are reborn or regenerated, but are not totally man-made.”

… This a definition from www.miniknittingstuff.com ad it’s the most defined and accurate definition that i’ve found.

Regenerated fabrics are nearly enough the same at synthetic fabrics and fibres.

Blended fibres!

We blend them to improve their quality. They improve on such things as warmth, and creasing ect.

They are made from natural and/or synthetic fibres, overall they need to be made up of at least 2 or 3 different fibres that can be blended together.

Comfortable clothes? …. Natural blend is used. This is made of natural fibres, all natural fibres.

Natural and synthetic fibres ….can be used together to make a desirable quality for the use it’s needed for.

Common blends.

• cotton and polyester
• nylon and wool
• nylon and acetate
• wool and cotton

The blend of cotton and wool is also known as Viyella.

• Soft
• Dress weight
• Doesn't shrink as much as normal wool
• Viyella yarn available for knitting,

 Thanks for reading, lots of love,
Sophie xx