All About Looks

 

Monday we all got the chance to visit the All About Looks fabric store located off of Buddy Holly, somewhere I had never been. When you first walk in, you see fabric and drapery accessories covering every inch of every wall (it is a very small place downtown), and tons of different types of upholstered furniture both to show off the fabric and to give us a place to sit while listening to one of the owners while she gives us tons of information on fabric. It was really nice to walk into an actual home decor fabric store for once, here in Lubbock its slim pickins for that market.

 

Here is one of the walls of the shop, thats displays some drapery trim and a few different fabris, I love the section of the exposed brick!

 

 

We learned tons of new stuff from one of the owners like how they got started, the kind of services they do and how they run everything. Then, she talked to us about different types of fabrics that are in style, motorized shades and things like that. She then took us to their sewing workroom that contained a big table to cut and sew fabrics and a board to hang them up and see how they look. After that we were directed into their upholstery room. It had half upholstered furniture everywhere, foam and batting and parts of furniture were scattered around the floor. Tons of really awesome vintage pieces that they had gotten in auctions or  at discount were awaiting to be reupholstered and made beautiful again.

 

 

Above is one shot of the upholstery room.

 

I really enjoyed my visit to All About Looks, I recieved a ton of information, got to look through some really awesome fabrics of great quality and even recieved some free samples that they gave out of discontinued fabrics for future projects. It is definitely a breath of fresh air for Interior Design in good ol' Lubbock!

 

 

 

 

Fiber and Biopolymer Research Insitute

 

 When I first learned that we were going to visit the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institution, I was a little overwhelmed, both by the name and because we were on our own finding this building that apparently lots of people get lost trying to find. The morning we were scheduled to go I woke up thinking thank god for modern technology, that I could just type the address into my GPS and get there no problem; I was so wrong. My GPS took me to the middle of an intersection of a highway and kept rerouting me, finally, after driving all around Lubbock for awhile and calling my just as equally confused friends, I looked up the directions online and found out I was on the complete opposite side of Lubbock that I was supposed to be. After following the directions I finally found the building and scrambled into where the rest of my class was, 20 minutes late, but better late than never. Not really sure what to expect, I was surprised at how interesting being there really was.

 

 

Our tour guide I guess you could call him (shown above) was extremely knowledgeable and took us step by step through the facility explaining exactly how they turned the fibers into actual fabrics. I knew it probably took some time to do this process but I was surprised at how many steps and different machines they really do have to turn out a quality product.

 

The fiber has to be cleaned

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and sorted out into long and short fibers,

 

 

 the long fibers are what make it to the fabric process, and the short fibers are not wasted but used for things such as q-tips and cotton balls, then they go into a room where they are spun into thread and yarn on all of these bobbins. (below and in very first picture)

 

 

 

All of the rooms were pretty loud when the machines were turned on, but when we walked into the final room where the yarn and thread becomes fabric, without warning he turned on the loom to start weaving the fabric and the noise was so loud it scared the living daylight out of me, especially that early in the morning. Luckily he turned it off pretty quickly, but it was the coolest part in my opinion, especially because we got to see a patterned fabric being woven, versus just a simple solid. He also showed us how socks and t-shirts are made on a totally different machine which I thought was really neat because I never knew they wove them differently. Although it was very difficult to find and I was a little on the late side, I really enjoyed my experience. 

Nylon in Interior Design

Nylon in Interior Design

                Stockings or tights is what comes to mind for most people when they hear the word nylon, but there are so many different uses for the fiber that does not include itchy pantyhose. Nylon was developed around the late 1930’s In the DuPont Lab by an organic chemist by the name of Wallace Carothers. Originally, it was to assist in the World War II effort and replace the silk that America had previously been receiving from Japan, but now was scarce and hard to find. It was one of the first synthetic fibers to be created and also one of the strongest and most durable, which made it become very popular for things like parachutes and other items needed for the war. All of a sudden, its popularity blew up in the market of ladies stockings because it was much less expensive than silk and didn’t tear as easily (NYfashioncenterfabrics.com). As time went on, scientists kept improving it in the lab and took all of the great qualities of the fiber and found many more uses for it when blended into other fibers to make them into a better product such as fabric, carpet, clothing, etc. (eHow).

                Nylon is derived from polymers coal, tar and petroleum (Interiordesignwiki), because of how widely available these products are, nylon is considered to be one of the most cost efficient fibers there is. It is extremely lightweight and is virtually water-proof making it great to use for tents, bathing suits, any athletic equipment, and outdoor/indoor fabric (eHow). It has excellent resiliency, upholds to wear, stretches but goes back to the original size and won’t shrink, doesn’t stain easily, has a soft silky texture, doesn’t mildew or mold, takes dye very well, and does not burst into flames, but rather melts slowly (carpetbuyershandbook.com). The fabric itself isn’t always the most attractive when it comes to Interior Design work, and that is why it is blended into other fibers to combine aesthetically pleasing items that are also very strong and durable.

                Nylon is used most often in carpets, making up about 65% of the carpet sold in the U.S. alone (carpetbuyershandbook). Because of its resistance to stains and wear it makes it a great option for carpet that will last a very long time even in high traffic areas of a home or business and is decently inexpensive. Coming in second, it is used as a replacement for silk still to this day in décor, because of the price difference and how easy it is to get your hands on now, as well as being ground up into a coating and then sprayed on fabric or other surfaces to give them a protective sheen. Nylon blends are found in tons of upholstery projects thanks to its durability, once again, as well as many curtains and window hangings because of how well it drapes, but the best part of using it in fabrics is that it is so low maintenance and extremely hard to wrinkle which is a major problem for a lot of fabrics like linen and cotton.

                Although not many think too much of Nylon, it is a very valuable fiber that we use so much of throughout our daily lives. Everything from: camping gear, clothing, fabrics, and flooring benefit from this synthetic fiber that was originally only invented for a war shortage.  As time has passed on, it has only improved and gotten stronger both in molecular form and in its various uses, especially in the world of Interior design.

References

Barker, L. (n.d.). What Is Nylon Used For?. eHow . Retrieved September 12, 2012, from http://www.ehow.com/about_4609375_what-nylon-used.html

Cooper, J. (n.d.). The Carpet Buyers Handbook - Carpet Fibers. The Carpet Buyers Handbook - Your Carpet and Flooring Resource. Retrieved September 12, 2012, from http://www.carpetbuyershandbook.com/carpet-basics/construction-fibers/pile-fibers.php

Nylon - Interior design. (2011, February 20). Interior Design WIKI. Retrieved September 12, 2012, from http://interiordesignwikis.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nylon

Nylon Fabric Information. (n.d.). Silk Fabric, Cotton Fabric, Online Fabric Store | NY Fashion Center Fabrics. Retrieved September 12, 2012, from http://www.nyfashioncenterfabrics.com/nylon-fabric-info.html