Cotton

This year one of my goals was to learn more about sewing.  Since I have a very large fabric stash, I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to learn a little more about the fabric!

So today I thought I'd start with cotton. The most popular and best selling fabric in the world.

  History tells us that cotton has been cultivated and used to make clothing for thousands of years in places like Egypt, Mexico and South Asia.

Nowadays some of the largest cotton exporters are in the USA, India, Brazil, Uzbekistan and Australia. It is also grown in many other countries too.

Cotton is not just used for making fabric. It is also used in fishnets, coffee filters, tents and book binding.

Also - most bank notes in the world today are made using some cotton!

• Cotton is absorbent and also lets heat pass through it easily, making it a comfortable fabric to use for warm weather clothing.

• It is also quite a strong and durable fabric. It is also stronger when wet - so making it an ideal fabric for things like baby wipes!

• Cotton is also easy to clean- particularly since it can withstand high temperatures. It can be boiled and so sterilized making it a suitable fabric for hospital bedding for example!

• Cotton fabric does shrink, so it's definitely a good idea to pre-wash it before you make anything with it! Particularly clothing!

• Cotton can be both knit and woven into cloth. 

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about cotton! I was most surprised to learn it's used in banknotes! I even found an interesting video showing how bank note paper is made using cotton!