Textiles

fabric · fibers · clothing · crafts

Fibers form fabrics. Textiles start with tiny fibers or threads that are twisted together into yarn, then combined using weaving, knitting, or pressing to create the fabrics we wear and use every day.

Many ways to make them. While weaving was the original way to make textiles, today manufacturers also use knitting (like how sweaters are made) and non-woven methods (pressing fibers together) to create different types of fabric for different jobs.

Textiles are everywhere. You find textiles in obvious places like your clothes and blankets, but also in amazing ways like bulletproof vests that protect people, spacesuits for astronauts, and special fabrics that hold soil in place on hillsides.

Super specialized fabrics. Engineers design textiles for specific tasks, creating everything from doctor's gowns that keep germs away to technical fabrics called geotextiles that work in construction and environmental projects.

Ancient to modern. Humans have been making textiles for thousands of years, but today we have way more options and methods to create fabrics perfectly suited for almost any purpose you can imagine.