Cotton, Cotton and more Cotton

"Cotton continues to be the basic resource for thousands of useful products manufactured in the U.S. and overseas. U.S. textile manufacturers use an annual average of 7.6 million bales of cotton. A bale is about 500 pounds of cotton. More than half of this quantity (57%) goes into apparel, 36% into home furnishings and 7% into industrial products. If all the cotton produced annually in the U.S. were used in making a single product, such as blue jeans or men’s dress shirts, it would make more than 3 billion pairs of jeans and more than 13 billion men’s dress shirts."

How amazing is that?
Here is a useful glossary of the many different types of cotton fabrics available.

TERRY CLOTH A cotton fabric with moisture-absorbing loop pile covering the entire surface on one or both sides. Used for home fashions, as well as summer apparel.
PLISSÉ Fabric treated with a solution that shrinks parts of the goods to create a crinkle or pleated effect. Used for both home and apparel.
COTTON SHEERS Batiste, lawn, organdy, and voile are all cotton sheers. Used for both home and apparel products.
JERSEY A single-knit, plain-stitched fabric with a face side that is distinctly different from the back side. Used for both home and apparel consumer products. Recently, American manufacturers have introduced cotton jersey for bed linens.
PERCALE A smooth, finely combed woven sheeting with a minimum thread count of 180 threads per square inch.
CHINTZ Glazed cotton fabric, often printed. Used widely in upholstery fabric.
SATEEN A satin weave fabric with a smooth, lustrous surface. Used for both home and apparel.
SHEETING Plain-woven, carded yarn cloth in medium and heavy weights. When the thread count is low, sheeting is defined as muslin. When the thread count is high and the yarn is combed, sheeting is defined as percale.
DOUBLE KNIT A circular, knit fabric of double thickness.
JACQUARD The jacquard loom produces elaborate cloth weaves that are very important for decorative fabrics, such as tapestries, brocade, and damask.
BROADCLOTH A tightly woven lustrous cotton cloth with fine embedded crosswide ribs. It resembles poplin and is used extensively in shirts and blouses, as well as home decorating.
DAMASK A patterned cotton fabric made on a jacquard loom. It is used for decorative fabrics and fine apparel.
VELVET A warp-pile fabric with short, densely woven cut pile, giving the fabric a soft, rich texture.
CHENILLE A fuzzy cotton yarn or fabric that has pile protruding around it. Chenille is the French word for “caterpillar.”
MATELASSÉ A dobby or jacquard cotton fabric. The pattern stands out to give a quilted look for bedspreads and other home fabrics, or fine apparel fabrics.
TWILL Identified by the diagonal lines on its face. It is an incredibly versatile fabric.
INTERLOCK A double-knit, plain-stitched fabric that looks the same on both sides. Used for home and apparel.
GREIGE GOODS (pronounced “gray”) Loom-state cloth that has not received dry and wet finishing.
CHAMBRAY A plain-weave fabric made of color warp yarn and white fill yarn.
DUCK Also known as canvas. A rugged plain-weave cloth.
STRIPED SATEEN A woven-in weave of section-striped pattern. (see Sateen)
OXFORD A group of cotton fabrics, including pinpoint, made with a modified plain or basket weave. Used primarily for shirting.
SEERSUCKER A lightweight cotton fabric with a woven crinkle achieved by altering tension in the warp yarns. Seersucker is synonymous with the classic summer suit.
POPLIN A fabric with a fine horizontal rib effect on the surface because of a warp yarn finer than the filling yarn; usually a high-thread-count cloth. Poplin is used for high-quality shirting.
FLANNEL A plain-weave cloth heavily brushed for softness. Often used in apparel and sheets.
CORDUROY A ribbed, pile fabric. Comes in various weights and weaves. Used widely for both apparel and home furnishings.
DENIM A rugged, durable twill fabric that is most popular in indigo blue. Denim rules the casual apparel world, but it has also become popular in decorative fabrics for the home.
VELOUR A term applied to cut pile cloths in general. Velour is soft, luxurious and widely used.

This concludes our fabric lesson for today.

FALL ACCESSORIES

Fall accessories what fun-


Belts are the ultimate accessory. They are more fun now than ever. You can cinch a cotton tunic, wear a belt loose around your hips or wear them high up to create an empire waist.

Belt a cardigan sweater to play up a solid color. Aren’t you tired of the same ol’ leather belts?

Make this unique belt the focal point of your outfit. This shell belt has intricate designs of cowrie shells, beadwork, wood beads made out palm wood creating an intricate design. All handmade by women artisans.

Wear it with style and be prepared for the compliments!

Enjoy

Now you know - high tides and low tides

I am fascinated by the tides. The intense power of the high tides washing away the sandy coastline and then the things and sealife you can discover during low tide when the tidal pools are exposed. It is a constant in our daily lives. Below is an overview of the daily journey of tides. For more information go to http://www.physicalgeography.net/home.html This is the type of website that contains validated and fact checked information.



"An ocean tide efers to the cyclic rise and fall of seawater. Tides are caused by slight variations in gravitational attraction between the Earth and the moon and the Sun in geometric relationship with locations on the Earth's surface. Tides are periodic primarily because of the cyclical influence of the Earth's rotation.
The moon is the primary factor controlling the temporal rhythm and height of tides. The moon produces two tidal bulges somewhere on the Earth through the effects of gravitational attraction. The height of these tidal bulges is controlled by the moon's gravitational force and the Earth's gravity pulling the water back toward the Earth. At the location on the Earth closest to the moon, seawater is drawn toward the moon because of the greater strength of gravitational attraction. On the opposite side of the Earth, another tidal bulge is produced away from the moon. However, this bulge is due to the fact that at this point on the Earth the force of the moon's gravity is at its weakest. Considering this information, any given point on the Earth's surface should experience two tidal crests and two tidal troughs during each tidal period.
Figure 8r-1: The moon's gravitational pull is the primary force responsible for the tides on the Earth.

The timing of tidal events is related to the Earth's rotation and the revolution of the moon around the Earth. If the moon was stationary in space, the tidal cycle would be 24 hours long. However, the moon is in motion revolving around the Earth. One revolution takes about 27 days and adds about 50 minutes to the tidal cycle. As a result, the tidal period is 24 hours and 50 minutes in length.
The second factor controlling tides on the Earth's surface is the Sun's gravity. The height of the average solar tide is about 50% the average lunar tide. At certain times during the moon's revolution around the Earth, the direction of its gravitational attraction is aligned with the Sun's. During these times the two tide producing bodies act together to create the highest and lowest tides of the year. These spring tides occur every 14-15 days during full and new moons."

Cashmere is so soft and feminine

Be Bold Be Beautiful Be Authentic

This is the mantra for Fall/Winter 2008.

Be Bold Be Beautiful Be Authentic.

Let us use texture to mix it up a little bit. Wear that maroon velvet blazer with a pink tee underneath. Let your hair hang wild under a wool cap or beret….pair with your fave jeans and a soft cashmere scarf. It is all about you and your style. You can definitely mix it up with this great selection of cashmere scarves from Macys. You don’t have to live in a snowy climate to wear these and flaunt your femininity.

Our wintertime in the South is so short that we have to glam it up!
Gravitate to things that are beautiful, just like you.

Enjoy your windy days with some feminine color and soft textures.