A COMPLETE COURSE IN DRESSMAKING
Burn a sample of silk cloth. If it is heavily weighted, an ash retaining the original weave and form of the silk will remain. A pure silk leaves almost no ash when burned. Many soft silks are finished with gelatin, dextrin, or some gluelike substance. Such silks easily spot with water.
Cotton fabrics are frequently padded or filled with starch, clay, or other chemicals. If such a material is rubbed thoroughly between the fingers some of the filling will be removed.
Detecting Yarn Dyed and Piece Dyed Fabrics: The way in which materials are dyed makes a difference in their value. There are wool dyed, yarn dyed, and piece dyed fabrics. Have you ever noticed that a piece of woolen material may look like a solid color at a distance and when you examine it or put it under a magnifying glass that there are several colors in the yarn? This is a piece of wool dyed goods. The wool was dyed before it was spun into the yarn. Blue and red wool twisted into one piece of yarn will give a very pretty purple. You can tell wool dyed goods by raveling out and untwisting a piece of the yarn, Some of the very best worsted and coatings are wool dyed.
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