Andrea Schewe Design
  • Home
  • Costumes
    • Reader's Gallery
    • Fantasy Costumes
    • Theatrical
    • Historic >
      • Easier to make
    • International
    • Costumes for Kid's and Babies
  • Crafts
    • Home Decor >
      • Pillows
    • Fashion Accessories
    • Doll Clothes
    • For Kids and Babies
  • Blog
    • Past Blogs by subject >
      • My patterns by number
      • Sewing basics
      • Personal sewing Projects
      • Fashion History
      • Fun and funny stuff
      • Guest Bloggers
      • Crafts and Home Dec
  • Links
  • Contact

Chintz - more than just printed cotton

10/29/2013

4 Comments

 
As I said yesterday, I was in New York over the weekend.  And those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, won't be surprised that I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where there is a fabulous exhibit about the world textile trade from 1500 - 1800 called Interwoven Globe. It runs through January 5th.
Picture
There are a number of neat things I found out visiting that show. The first being how Chintz was actually made.
Picture
Since the Met never allows photos to be taken in special exhibits, this photo is from Wikipedia.  It is a photo of Chintz made in India from the coromandel Coast, c. 1710 - 25. 

It's hard to appreciate how complicated it was to get a print with so many different colors before modern fabric printing techniques were invented.

Ikat was another technique in use at that time and still today to make a complex and colorful print.  Here is a link to the blog I wrote about visiting an Ikat factory this summer.
Picture
Chintz was a popular fabric for lady's dresses in the 18th C.
Picture
As well as men's morning coats called Banyans.
This description of how to make Chintz is from the Innovateus website.  My favorite part of the process is bleaching it in cow dung, which usually happened more than once.  How DO you get the smell out??? Maybe that's why people wore lots of perfume.


There are many processes that go towards making an elaborately patterned and many colored chintz fabric could take several weeks to complete. First the fabric is seeped with a preparation of fatty milk and extracts of plant which contain tannic acid. The fabric is dried thoroughly. The design outline that is painted on the fabric turns black because of the tannic acid on the fabric. When you want paint red take the mixture of alum and Brazil wood. Then the fabric is dyed in hot water, which contains madder root, or another red dye called chay. The fabric is then cleaned to remove the tanning agent. Usually, it was done with cow dung. After this process, it is again dyed in indigo. The portion, which should not be dyed blue, is covered with wax resist. The fabric is then dipped in hot water to remove wax resist. It is then washed, dried, and sized.
Wikipedia has some very interesting information about the history of Chintz.

Tomorrow ... my pants muslin fitting report!
4 Comments
Embroidered Fabrics link
1/8/2014 09:03:10 pm

Samyakk online fabric store to buy a wide variety of silk fabric, cotton fabric, lace fabric, jacquard fabric, brocade fabric, velvet fabric, chiffon fabric, woven fabric, polka dot fabric and striped fabric. Buy fabrics online at best price and get free shipping worldwide.

Reply
kanchipuram sarees link
4/4/2017 12:19:07 pm

Superb

Reply
Kanchipuram Sarees wholesale link
4/16/2017 03:28:07 am

nice

Reply
Jessy Sharma link
8/22/2018 12:53:51 am

Thanks for sharing fabulous collection of dresses. Keep uploading more

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    From Andrea 

    I am a commercial pattern maker who is now "sewing over 50"!
    I love to sew and hope to encourage others to come back to sewing.
    The water is fine!!

    Archives

    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Archives by Subject

    To search for blog posts in specific categories, use the drop down menu above by hovering over the word "Blog"

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Andrea Schewe participates in Amazon's associates program.