Kathy Ceceri - Fabric and Fiber Inventions: Sew, Knit, Print, and Electrify Your Own Designs to Wear, Use, and Play with

Kathy Ceceri

Copyright 2017 Kathy Ceceri. All rights reserved.

Printed in Canada.

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Maker Media, Inc.
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Editor: Patrick DiJusto

Copy Editor: Rebecca Rider, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Proofreader: Elizabeth Welch, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Interior Designer and Compositor: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

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Indexer: Valerie Perry, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

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October 2017: First Edition

Revision History for the First Edition

2017-10-02 First Release

See oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781680452273 for release details.

Make:, Maker Shed, and Maker Faire are registered trademarks of Maker Media, Inc. The Maker Media logo is a trademark of Maker Media, Inc. Make: Fabric and Fiber Inventions and related trade dress are trademarks of Maker Media, Inc. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Maker Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. While the publisher and the author have used good faith efforts to ensure that the information and instructions contained in this work are accurate, the publisher and the author disclaim all responsibility for errors or omissions, including without limitation responsibility for damages resulting from the use of or reliance on this work. Use of the information and instructions contained in this work is at your own risk. If any code samples or other technology this work contains or describes is subject to open source licenses or the intellectual property rights of others, it is your responsibility to ensure that your use thereof complies with such licenses and/or rights.

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To my mom, Deb Gradner, who showed me how to make my first toothpick knit pinand how to teach a righty if youre a lefty. (You face each other, like in a mirroreasy!)

T hanks to the following people for their help and inspiration:

• Hanna, Carmen, and Eamon Heneghan and their mom Susie
• Rebecca Angel Maxwell (and a hearty shout-out to her nieces, Ayla and Thea Goldman)
• Jackie Reeve
• Beth Levine
• Julie Lewis
• Becky Stern
• Harriett Riddell
• Jesse Seay
• Hannah Perner-Wilson
• Leah Buechley
• The teams at Maker Media and Happenstance Type-O-Rama who help bring these books to life

The oldest sewing needles ever found date back more than 20,000 years. They were made of bone and were probably used to make animal skins into clothes. Since that time, fabric and fiber inventions have changed the world we live in.

Like our early ancestors, we still spin the hair from sheep, llamas, and rabbits (not to mention fibers from silkworm cocoons) into yarn. We use old-fashioned tools to weave plants like cotton and flax (for linen) into yards of material. But today, in the laboratory, we also create fabric from plastics like nylon, polyester, and acrylic that can stop bullets (Kevlar), keep rain off while letting our skin breathe (Gore-Tex), and hold our sneakers closed (Velcro).

Natural and human-made textiles are used to make every kind of wearable, from simple robes to the latest fashions, and from protective gear for firefighters to space suits used by astronauts. Very soon, you may be wearing clothing that generates enough electricity to power your phone from your movements or from the sun, or light-up jackets that trigger turn signals on your bicycle when you lean to the right or left.

Over thousands of years, we have gone from making heavy woolen tents to shelter us in the desert, and canvas sails to power ships across the sea, to lightweight fabrics to take camping that can fold up and fit in a pocket. And we use decorative fabric and fiber to make furnishings for the home and create spaces in which to live and work.

All these things are possible because of people who came up with new kinds of textiles and new ways to work with them. Whether you are an artist or designer trying to create something beautiful or interesting, or an engineer or scientist who wants to solve a problem or fill a need, the invention process is pretty much the same:

• Choose your challenge. Decide on your goal to begin to narrow down what you will work on.
• Brainstorm ideas. It doesnt matter how crazy they arewild ideas help you discover new angles to explore. Make sketches and write down notes. Then go through your ideas and pick one that looks promising.