Fabric Friday -- Cotton

I am dedicating each Friday to posting interesting facts about the fibers that make up today’s fabrics. These are the fibers that we sew with, so it seems reasonable to learn about them and how to best handle and care for them. Let's start off with...

COTTON

Interesting Facts:

• Know as “white gold”
• In the 1700s it was illegal in England to import and manufacture cotton into fabric in order to protect their sheep and wool industry and ultimately to keep it away from the American Colonies.
• An experienced laborer could pick about 450 lbs of cotton by hand in one day. 
• With the advent of the cotton picker in the 1930s by the Rust Brothers from Mississippi, cotton could be picked at a rate of 8000 lbs a day. 
• The US produces 3/4 of the world’s cotton.   
• More clothing is made from cotton than any other fiber in the world. 
• Annually textile mills produce over 8 billion square yards of woven cotton fabric and 3 billion square yards of knit fabric.  
• It absorbs 27 times its weight in moisture.
• It is durable and strong, comfortable to wear and easy to launder making it a popular clothing choice. 
• Cotton clothing washed in cold water keep their colors longer. 
• Resists abrasion, pilling and moths. 
• Woven cotton fabric is an excellent choice for the beginning seamstress because it is so easy to cut and sew. 
• For more information on Cotton check out the National Cotton Council of America’s website at http://www.cotton.org/

Sew Happy,

Suzie