Tuesday 2 March 2010

Uchishiki Lining

 


I have done some more research on the lining of the orange uchishiki and think that it is probably rayon. Wikipedia says the diameter of cotton is 12 to 20 microns. I have looked at the fibre using a much better microscope with an accurate graticule and the diameter of each filament is between 5 and 10 microns and is most likely 6 to 7 microns. The filament has a high sheen and is very uniform. I have shown it to a textile expert using the microscope and he was convinced it was man-made and not cotton. The filaments look very uniform in diameter and there are between 40 and 60 to a thread. The thread is definitely spun/twisted. The burn test also fits with a man-made fibre and Ichiroya thinks it is most likely to be rayon.

I managed to get a side light onto it and took the photo above. What is shown is about three inches square and you can see several fans and some flowers. In the 1930s rayon was very new and it would have been very grand to have a kimono made of this new material.

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I am weaver and - -. I dye my yarns with acid dyes, I paint my warps, put fabric collages and stencils on my weaving. I have three looms, a 12 inch wide, 12 shaft Meyer for demos and courses, a 30 inch Louet Kombo which is nominally portable but has a stand, two extra beams and a home-made device containing a fan reed. And last a 32 shaft Louet Megado which is computer controlled, has a sectional warp and a second warp beam and I am the proud owner of an AVL warping wheel which I love to bits and started by drilling holes in. I inserted a device for putting a cross in. I have just acquired an inkle loom and had a lesson from an expert so I can watch TV and weave at the same time. I am interested in weaving with silk mostly 60/2 although I do quite a bit with 90/2 silk. I also count myself as a bookbinder with a special interest in Coptic binding.