Session 2: Nylon Fabric Gallery

Welcome back. We're ready to talk about all the different forms of nylon that I was able to gather up. So, one of the more general forms of nylon out there is a ripstop nylon or just this sort of silky smooth version that you've probably seen. This is sometimes used in outerwear and tents and the like, and this particular one is a calendered nylon, which means that it cuts more stably on the bias, meaning that if you were to cut it on the bias, it would probably not unravel as much as other forms of nylon. But in general, nylon is actually considered softer than polyester, and we'll see that as we work with some of these fashion nylons out here. So I have right here this nylon that was woven with metallic threads, it is quite fraying, and I got it in the costume section. It was in a portion of the store that told me I should totally make a Cleopatra costume out of this, so I think that would be a great use. But it is a fashion nylon, so you could create a cape or a dress or anything that you might want out of it. It's not the softest because of the metallic thread in it, so you wanna take that into consideration and do a lining with it. There's also forms of organza made of nylon. This particular one is sort of this sea foam frothy version. And you could use this in any place that you use organza. There's all sorts of, you know, you could make a slip or like a fun crinoline underneath. Speaking of different types of mesh, tulle is actually made generally out of nylon. There are other forms of course that are mixes, but this one here we have is nylon. You can make a tutu out of this, anything fun out there that you like. And if you need mesh, it comes in wider segments. This is just a small roll of it. You could make yourself kind of a fun, frothy tent to put under your tree and keep the bugs out. So that's a great use of nylon right there, and readily available wherever you go. And you may have also seen tricot on the market. Tricot is generally actually made of nylon. It has stretch to it because it's a knit, if I pull it the right direction. So you can see that this stretches and it's a little bit shimmery and shiny. Tricot is perfect to use for undergarments such as slips or bras or panties. You could make boxers out of it if you wanted to. And it's sometimes used in linings, but in general it is usually used for things that go underneath and not for, you know, a dress or any other sort of outerwear formality. But that's another form of nylon. And you can tell it's soft and smooth as opposed to the scratchy surface of the metallic one or the slippery surface of the purple nylon we looked at. Now here is a nylon that just has a little bit of Lycra with it, and this is a swimsuit material, and it's very fun and stretchy. As nylon actually absorbs only a small amount of water, it's frequently used in swimming gear, and you could use it to make an umbrella. You might not wanna use this one. You might wanna use something more like this calendered nylon here, but it will repel water because it does not care for it. You should be forewarned, especially if you're using it for a swimming suit, that it can pill and sometimes it'll look shiny. This one actually has a nice matte finish, so it doesn't do that. It is strong and lightweight as you may have noticed, so it's perfect for things like parachutes, hammocks, tents, the like. Now we're gonna work through a lot of the outerwear forms of nylon. So in this class, we're actually gonna be talking about a lot of different types of ripstop nylon, because those are fun to work with and that's what we're gonna make that purse with towards the end of this class. So, ripstop nylon can come in a lot of different forms. Here you see it's got a very small grid to it, whereas these other versions have a larger grid. If you look really closely, you'll see. In this one, maybe the orange is easier to tell. But those grid marks that you see are actually very strong threads that are woven into the fabric, and that's why it's called ripstop. If you were to snag it on anything, say if you were in the woods and it snagged on a limb of a tree, it would stop right where those threads intersect, and then you could patch it quite easily. Because of that, this is readily used in outerwear or rucksacks, things along those lines that need to be tough and rough and tumble and ready to go out on fun adventures out in the wilderness. So we have lots of different types of nylon here. This is a Super K coated nylon. The coating is very shiny, as you can see, and this one would be great to use for say a kayaking jacket, because the coating that they put on it is incredibly waterproof. And so you could take this into a river and stay dry underneath. You could make a bag out of it and keep your important documents or food dry as you kayak down the river. These other forms of nylon here, this one is polyurethane coated, so it has kind of a shiny outer part and that makes it also waterproof. And you could use this for all sorts of things. You could make a poncho or anything you think would work well. A lot of these could be used for outerwear. These ones are all just different weights of ripstop. So we have this tiny, tiny grid and tiny, tiny grid that works up to a larger grid, similar to these here. Those ripstop ones are actually what we're gonna be working with today as we sew that purse, as I just mentioned, and you can get them all different types. You can get them uncoated, which is actually this one. Even though it looks the shiniest, it is uncoated. Or you can get them coated, which you can see kind of has a more plasticky finish to it. And when it's coated, those coatings are put in place for different reasons. It could be a waterproofing mechanism. It could be to make it slightly more slippery so that it does slip off things as opposed to catch. There's all different types. So, that's ripstop. There's also, if you don't like the grid pattern, you can get this sort of diamond pattern ripstop. Well, it's not even necessarily ripstop, but diamond pattern nylon, and it would be awesome to make a hammock out of this 'cause it's just a little bit thicker than the ripstop we were working with. If you wanted to take a hammock with you as you go camping and you're gonna be hiking through the woods, then yeah, ripstop might be best. But if you're gonna make a hammock that's gonna hang up in your backyard and kind of be stagnant, this would be an awesome version to use 'cause it's soft and it's very pretty with that diamond weave in it. All right, and then we have this heavy coated oxford. So oxford is sort of a form of of nylon that has all different... Oh, this is oxford. But this, yeah, okay. So, these are both oxford. It's a different weave and process of making the fabric. So as we were discussing with the spinneret, it might come out a different shape and then they would spin together different numbers of threads to weave these. These are all woven forms of nylon that I have. There are knit forms of nylon out there such as the tricot. You can actually get knit, you know, just a regular kind of jersey made of nylon, so there's lots of different types in the world. But these outerwear ones are great because oils and solvents and alcohols actually do not harm nylon in any way and they can protect your clothes. So you would wanna make maybe a jumpsuit out of it to wear if you're gonna be working on the car or something along those lines. However, bear in mind that iodine and other acids will in fact harm nylon, so if you will be working with lots of iodine and acids, maybe you don't wear a nylon jumpsuit. Anyways, this oxford is just another form of nylon and it's very thick. You can make bags out of it to take out and about in the world. There's all sorts of uses for that. And then we have this pack cloth, which would be an awesome stuff stack. A stuff sack is generally used if you're going camping, so you just stuff all your stuff in a sack and wear it on your backpack as you walk through the woods. Then we're gonna get into sort of these thicker versions here. Let's go with these first. So these are forms of pack cloth. Now, that's just a different weave than the ones we've seen previously and it may use different shaped threads. They have a lot more texture to the feel. They kind of feel like you're touching denim or duck with that sort of rough texture, whereas the other ones slightly are smoother. That may also have to do with their coatings. And with these, you could make a tarp, you could make a tent, you could make, because they're thicker and they're very waterproof, they're great to make outdoorsy gear with. Okay, and now we're getting into the thickest of the thick. This one is pretty heavy duty. We have this Cordura here, which you can hear that, right? It's pretty loud because it is very thick and very durable. This is what you're gonna be making like heavy duty luggage out of. And it's very strong as I mentioned. It can withstand being tossed around by the mightiest of baggage handlers. So if you're hoping to make your own piece of luggage, this is a great way to start is working with Cordura. It's very thick, so you need to bear that in mind as you sew with it. You're also gonna see that it comes in a variety of colors. These are both Cordura. And then you might get into even the heavier dutier versions of nylon, which move towards ballistic nylon. Ballistic nylon refers specifically to the weave of the nylon. It was originally discovered and created to make flak jackets for World War II soldiers. It can't necessarily stop a bullet, so definitely don't plan on that happening, but it can withstand, say, maybe some debris. It won't pierce as easily. Maybe if you were gonna get into a lot of knife fights, which probably you aren't, but just in case, it takes a glancing blow from those. So definitely don't get into knife fights. So as you can see, it comes in a variety of colors and different weights. These ones are much more lightweight than this one, which is very thick and it feels almost like a tire. It's just, it's rough. But if you needed to make something very heavy duty, that's the way to go. You're gonna wanna get your ballistic nylon and work from there. I've seen lots of people make sort of like gun holsters out of it, or fanny packs, things along those lines. So these are all the different types of nylon that I was able to get my hands on. There are lots of other types in the world and you might come across them when you're out and about shopping for nylon. You may need to look for specialty shops to buy nylon. I, for instance, had to order several of these off the internet just because I couldn't find them locally. So just search for whatever form of nylon you're looking for, be it, oxford or ripstop or ballistic, and I'm sure you'll find a source for it. You may check around locally, but if you don't see it there, definitely look online 'cause there are excellent people out there that are ready to educate you about the nylon and teach you what type you want. Another thing is you're gonna find that nylon comes in a lot of different weights. The higher the number in the weight, the more it'll be thick and stiff. So this would be like a two in comparison to a one, because one is thinner than this one. So bear that in mind. And if you ever have a question, don't hesitate to ask someone because they're touching the fabric every day and they know exactly what it's like. If you want, you can order a sample pack as I did from a couple of different sources and they'll send it out to you, and you can decide exactly which one you want. Now that we've seen all these different types of fabric, I think we're ready to start wondering about how to work with it. So up next, we're gonna talk about caring for your nylon fabric to make it last years and years Stay tuned.