I have been disappointed every holiday season when I want to get one
of the over-the-top sparkly Xmas sweaters, but 99.9% of them contain
either wool or ramie - usually ramie. It makes me itch just like
wool does. Even if I put a turtleneck under it - it still drives me
crazy, besides, then, I'm too warm... :(
Sandy
At 02:45 PM 3/12/2013, you wrote:
Ramie was "trendy" in the 1980s because it was not limited by the
then-current textile import quotas. The Chinese, having a history of
growing and producing it, saw this as an opportunity to get more
products exported to the US. Because of its crystalline structure,
it is hard to dye--even harder than linen (flax), IIRC.
Ann Wass
-----Original Message-----
From: Lavolta Press <f...@lavoltapress.com>
To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com>
Sent: Tue, Mar 12, 2013 2:13 pm
Subject: Re: [h-cost] Fabrics Medieval vs Modern
Ramie was trendy in the 1980s. I had a couple of 100% ramie blouses.
They were like a slightly bristly linen, less shiny after ironing, and
did not wear quite as well as linen. They retained dye at about the
same level as linen, that is, less well than cotton.
Then again, some of that may have been due to the quality of the
blouses, which although not rock bottom quality/label/price were not
high end, either.
Fran
Lavolta Press
Books of historic clothing patterns
www.lavoltapress.com
www.facebook.com/LavoltaPress
On 3/12/2013 7:40 AM, Kate Bunting wrote:
> I once had a cardigan which included ramie fibre. According to
Wikipedia this
is the same plant as the "Chinese grass" that Fran mentioned, a kind
of nettle.
Apparently it is difficult to use alone as it doesn't stretch and has many
projecting "hairs". I can vouch that this is true of stinging nettle fibre,
which I once had a try at hand-spinning.
>
> Kate Bunting
> Librarian & 17th century reenactor
> Derby, UK
International Costumers' Guild Archivist
http://www.costume.org/gallery2/main.php
"Those Who Fail to Learn History
Are Doomed to Repeat It;
Those Who Fail To Learn History Correctly -
Why They Are Simply Doomed."
Achemdro'hm
"The Illusion of Historical Fact"
-- C. Y. 4971
Andromeda
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