While natural fibres are preferred by many fibre artists, we can’t ignore the importance of synthetic fibres in our crafting. Synthetic fibres bring their own unique characteristics to the projects we make, whether they are standing alone or blended with natural fibres, giving a little sparkle to our yarn, drape to our cloth, and strength and washability to our sewn or knitted garments.
Synthetic textile fibres can be divided into two major categories: regenerated cellulose fibres and petroleum-based fibres. Each of the more common fibres has its own set of characteristics based on the chemicals and processes used to create them, but they are all regarded as extruded fibres. In most cases, one synthetic textile “recipe” can produce a huge variety of fibres by simply changing the diameter of the spinneret they are extruded through or the staple lengths of the fibres. Because of the broad range of processes and resulting fibres involved, I am only going to talk about these fibres in the broadest terms.
All photos by Michelle Boyd.
