Some general information……..

What is a room without soft furnishings? We all use fabric and textiles every day and, if considered, fabrics are a vitally important part of our everyday lives. The study of textiles goes back to nomadic times, its fascinating history can tell us a huge amount about how people lived. In the 21st century, as with most of mans creations, technology has taken the textile process to an exiting level where we are now creating cloth with thermo-conductive qualities.
Feather and Black have used the medium of textiles to bring you a vast collection of soft furnishings for the home. We have compiled this document to help you to understand the processes in which our products are made and how they will perform in the home. The subject is vast and exiting, and I can only hope to touch the surface in this document. Please do not hesitate to contact Molly should there be anything else that you need help with.She loves to talk about linen!

DESIGN

The process in which a collection of soft stuff is created is long and considered .We think about colour, performance the competition, price and what the customer wants. Colour is the very first stage of the design process. We visit international textile shows and are aware of what the world is doing. Colours are predicted each season, we are aware of trends for the future but are also careful that we listen to the customers, they tell us a great deal simply by their choices. We decide on colours and styles and create a collection from there. The process begins with paper and paint. Inspiration can be anything from flowers and leaves to lampposts and road signs. We use the mediums of print, embroidery and weaving to decorate fabrics. Each design has options for mixing and matching sheets, pillowcases and throws. Mood boards are created for each design .We aim to be innovative in design and process and hope that our designs will enhance the home. Quality is also very important to us and our range is built up of different quality’s , which will effect the prices. We hope that customers will enjoy looking as much as touching!


THREAD COUNTS & QUALITY

The thread count is a term that is sometimes used to denote the quality of a cloth. Mainly associated with cotton.
To create cloth, fibres are woven. Woven fabrics consist of a warp (threads running horizontally) and a weft (threads running vertically). The yarn count is the quality of the yarns used (warp and weft). 30 is a normal yarn count, 50 is very fine, high quality. The thread count is the number of threads per square inch; this is obtained by adding the number of threads per square inch in the warp and weft together. high thread count, usually means a superior the quality , However, sometime clever construction of cloth can achieve superb handle with lower thread counts. Fabrics with a high thread count will perform well over time, drape well and feel softer to touch. We have worked really hard to ensure that we have great quality fabrics, from the right parts of the world, at competitive prices.


BASE FABRICS

Our Linen collection is made up of two main types of fabric Fibre. Cotton, Linen. The way in which these fibres are woven and embellished can be quite different, all design processes can be applied to these fabrics making the outcome quite different. All are natural; we do not use synthetic fibres for our bed linen. Throws may be filled with synthetic fibres, but all of our duvet covers and pillowcases are 100% cotton or cotton/ linen. We believe that natural fibres breathe better, help to maintain your body’s natural temperature and perform better over time.
We also use Silk and Wool in our soft stuff range.


COTTON

Cotton is the most important non-food commodity in the world. Cotton cloth is made from the masses of unicellular hairs that grow from the tropical cotton plant. Cotton is rarely used in its bulk form, occasionally as wadding or insulation, but is spun into yarns, which are then woven into cloth. Cotton is widely used for bedding as it washes well, is affordable and is versatile for pattern application.


COTTON PERCALE

This is the name given to cloth that is made up of combed yarns and with a quality of over 180 threads per square inch. Smooth combed yarns , once woven will create a crisp and cool fabric. Percale also launders well.


COTTON/LINEN

Fabrics that are created from fibres spun from the flax plant are named Linen. The flax plant creates a slightly heavier and stronger fibre than the cotton plant. Linen is a far smoother fabric than cotton; it has a unique drape and is smoother than cotton. Linen is an excellent conductor of heat and will not retain moisture like cotton. Our Elise range uses a 20% content of linen, This creates the look and feel of linen whilst keeping the price down. The cotton Content of this fabric also means that it will be easier to care for and will retain its crisp look on the bed.


COTTON SATEEN

Sateen is the name given to a technique in weaving. The way in which the yarns are passed under and over each other is different, and a slightly more expensive process than normal cotton cloth. This technique creates a fabric with an incredibly soft handle and a fabulous sheen. Our Annabel sheets and covers, along with the plain red and plain lilac are made of cotton Sateen.


CHAMBRAY

Chambray is a cloth that is constructed of a warp and weft of different colours. This is often also called a yarn dye. We have a selection of CHAMBRAY duvet covers, sheets and pillowcases. Chambray is a process, which adds a smart sophisticated look to cotton without adding pattern or cost. Our chambrays are 100% cotton.


SILK

The luxurious fabric that is Silk is created from the caterpillars of the mulberry silk moth. Silk originates from China. It is created from a continuous fibre that is produced by the caterpillar to cocoon itself during its transformation into a moth. Fibres are wound from several cocoons to form a strand; strands are then woven together to make a yarn that is a suitable thickness for weaving. The complicated process in which silk is made is what gives it its price. Silk has superb dying qualities and is lower in density than cotton. It is highly water absorbent and will decompose if not stored properly. It will fade in direct sunlight.


WOOL

Wool is made from the fibres that grow naturally on the sheep. Unlike hair, wool grows as a mass of overlapping scales, which form an entangled coat. The coat is removed from live animal by shearing. Wool in this natural state contains salts and wax, which is removed by cleaning. The fibres are then dried, blended, carded and woven into fibres that are suitable for weaving. The characteristics of wool are that it is warm, light and springy. We use wool in Throws.


PATTERN APPLICATION

There are two main types of pattern application. Designs can be created by either weaving techniques or by the further application of dyes or fibres onto woven cloth.


EMBROIDERY

The word embroidery means to decorate cloth with needlework. Patterns are created using continuous threads that are passed through fabric using needles. This process began by hand, a craft that is still widely used for decoration. Hand embroidery is extremely time consuming, we there fore use machines in the manufacture of our bedding. Some of our embroidered designs are created on a single sewing machine that is operated by a single person, this way we can create patterns that do not repeat. The fabric is cut to size and the design is applied, each piece is treated as an individual. We are also then able to cut away at parts of the embroidery and add layers of other fabrics. Our designs ORLA, BERTY combine 1