Fiber optic lighting

Traditional knitting and hi-tech materials come together in this lighting installations by British designer Fay McCaul. Electro-luminescent wire and UV fiber optics are used for these knitted lights.

Traditional knitting and hi-tech materials come together in these lighting installations by British designer, Fay McCaul. - See more at: http://www.pleatfarm.com/2010/08/24/fay-mccaul-lighting-textiles/#sthash.0CdoywOT.dpuf

Traditional knitting and hi-tech materials come together in these lighting installations by British designer, Fay McCaul. Electro-luminescent wire and UV fiber optics are used for these knitted lights. - See more at: http://www.pleatfarm.com/2010/08/24/fay-mccaul-lighting-textiles/#sthash.0CdoywOT.dpuf

Stretch Chair

 American designer, Jessica Carnevale

With her debut collection 'Stretch', Jessica wanted to bring some of the exuberance of the fashion world into her designs.  She experimented with a number of different materials and chose latex, bungee & rope for their bright colors plus wondrous elasticity.  Built by Jessica in her studio in Brooklyn she made a simple chair to better frame the compositions that she created which are similar to spirograph patternings. 

The result is a collection of three vivid pieces that is also in line with a microtrend The Trend Boutique has identified for 'grid pattern' effects in interiors & furniture.




 'Design should be beautiful & useful, but also fun!'  Jessica Carnevale

Silkworms


 The stages in the labour intensive process from hatchling to completed silk products are the moths lay the eggs that hatch into caterpillars.

 It takes 30 to 40 days for tiny hatchlings to grow into adult caterpillars, and they increase in weight by an incredible fourteen thousand times.

 When they are full grown they stop eating and spin their cocoons. Seven to ten days later the caterpillars will have completed their cocoons. 

 A cocoon is a casing spun of silk  by many moth caterpillars and numerous other insect larvae  as a protective covering for the pupa.

 Next step is the process of extracting the silk. The cocoons are heated to kill the pupae.

 Next the spinning stage: threads are unwound and reeled together, forming a single length of strong thread.

 

Natural Fibres

                                                                      

                                            Cotton

                                              Kapok

 

Banana

                                                                 

                                                Agave

                                        

                                                 Kenaf

                                                  Coconut

 

Bamboo

 

Synthetic Fibres

 

 

 

Metal Fiber

 

 Carbon Fiber

 

  Fiberglass

 

 

Textile Innovation

A textile is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn.