PatternReview.com online sewing community
Online Sewing Class: Beyond the BoatNeck
Register Today!
Join our community of 579,264 sewists!
SIGNUP Membership is free and includes 1 free lesson
Login |
Join our community of 579,264 sewists!
Signup | Login
To participate in the PatternReview.com forums please Login or Join PatternReview
12 
Member since 10/9/05
Posts: 1411
Body Type:
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 11:54 AM ET
I found a piece of fabric in my stash that is a complete mystery to me.

It is black, so a picture would not be very helpful.

It is a very fine knit, very drapey, about 10% stretch, has a slight sheen, and feels alot like polyester.

Burn test, however, shows that it burns, not melts, and smells alot like cigarette smoke. It becomes brittle when heated, and leaves behind ash. The fire when burn testing wants to go out pretty quickly, though, not like with cotton/lycra that wants to keep burning until all the fuel is used up.

Anybody have a guess what this stuff is?
------
Trinity

I probably have too many sewing machines, but how am I supposed to resist when they're either free by the side of the road or people give them to me?

http://thimblesthreadsandneedles.blogspot.com/
  
Member since 10/27/05
Posts: 5976
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 11:57 AM ET
In reply to Trinity.

Acrylic maybe?

  
Member since 1/26/03
Posts: 3678
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 11:58 AM ET
In reply to Trinity.
Without knowing anything about burn tests I guess rayon. Is there a prize?
------
Buy the best and you only cry once.

  
Member since 10/9/05
Posts: 1411
Body Type:
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 12:13 PM ET
I don't think it's rayon, my experience with rayon is that it wrinkles terribly. This stuff was wadded up in the bottom of a box and is barely wrinkled, not a crease to be seen. I suspect if I hung it up it would be smooth in a matter of hours.

I'm going to try nail polish remover on it to see if it's acetate.
------
Trinity

I probably have too many sewing machines, but how am I supposed to resist when they're either free by the side of the road or people give them to me?

http://thimblesthreadsandneedles.blogspot.com/
  
Member since 10/9/05
Posts: 1411
Body Type:
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 12:15 PM ET
In reply to Stitchology
You get a bunch of smilies for guessing at all.



------
Trinity

I probably have too many sewing machines, but how am I supposed to resist when they're either free by the side of the road or people give them to me?

http://thimblesthreadsandneedles.blogspot.com/
  
Member since 8/24/02
Posts: 947
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 12:15 PM ET
I was going to guess acetate too, although I think that should smell like vinegar when it burns.
------
Tessa
  
Member since 10/27/05
Posts: 5976
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 12:46 PM ET

Hey Zeno, you must have missed my post. I guessed acrylic. Maybe even an acrylic blend as I think plain old acrylic wrinkles.

  
Member since 4/23/02
Posts: 2678
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 1:31 PM ET
could it be a rayon/poly lycra blend? or cotton/rayon lycra blend. ?
  
Member since 7/2/04
Posts: 1725
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 2:24 PM ET
In reply to Trinity.
I agree with Linda that it's a blend. Rayon leaves darn near no ash and it burns readily, like the cottons.

here is a handy flow chart/burn chart: Burn chart

Sounds like it burns, but is self-extinguishing...
------
Mary Lynn (Who's finally sitting up and taking nourishment)

Design Degree??? I prefer my artistic license

"A woman who works with her hands is a laborer; a woman who works with her hands and her mind is a craftsman; but a woman who works with her hands and her brain and her heart is an artist." (St. Thomas Aquinas, modified)

  
Member since 11/6/04
Posts: 234
Send Message
Posted on: 5/30/06 2:30 PM ET
The fact that it becomes brittle suggests some melting to me and therefore sounds as though it has some polyester in it.
The smell (burning leaves?) sounds like a vegetable fibre - cotton or rayon.

I vote for a poly/cotton knit. I have had fine polycotton knit with not much stretch and made t-shirts with it.
  
12 
* Advertising and soliciting is strictly prohibited on PatternReview.com. If you find a post which is not in agreement with our Terms and Conditions, please click on the Report Post button to report it.
Selected Reviews, Classes & Patterns
Fancy Frocks Fabrics
Fine Designer Fabrics
Elliott Berman Textiles
High-end Fashion Fabrics
Specials!
Nature's Fabrics
Natural & Organic Fabrics
Specials!