Choosing the best fibers that can be used as is , on a weaving or knitting loom is challenging today because of so many man made fibers used in fabrics today. As a designer you will be required to know the type of yarn fibers used and , how you want them woven. As a novice designer you need to experiment with assorted fabrics made up of the right  fibers yarns. You should have knowledge of how the yarns will make up in  a fabric.If you already are a seamstress you have shopped in many fabric stores. You can check the fabric by feeling them first, thinking about the garment you want to make. Here is a list of various fibers that can be woven to your design. What kind of fibers, do you say?. Let us start with fibers from nature, that have been used through history; ever since ancient man wore the pelts of animals they have tracked for the dinner table. They do not waste anything from animals they have tracked and caught. The fibers (hair) of the animal is used to make fabric for clothing. From historic drawings, you can see vertical looms used by natives of an area that forms a small town, or gathering place.

In the birth of civilization , where people settled in gatherings, they began growing product to cook with over fires. One much grown product is what we call wheat and rice today. LINEN is grown in marshy fields like rice. Today LINEN , is still loved for its appearance and some now have fabric woven the act against the wrinkling . In the 70.s and some of the 80.s   people used to loved the wrinkles and want to prove they owned this wonderful wrinkled garment. including men with their summer jackets. Thankfully no more

STRAWS from nature  are made into baskets, for humans to use. Today in some southern US states, plant fibers  are especially woven into baskets  that people collect. They are sturdy and last a long time, as well as  being beautiful. They become collectors items. My illustration here shows a simple soft garment that seems light weight. You can tell that by the garments hangs and shows some of the body contour. This garment could be COTTON ,possibly LINEN.  You need to learn how illustrate your fabric choice  well enough for a pattern-maker to make a pattern that works for this style fabric. Or you can make the pattern yourself or drape the pattern on a mannequin, You need to remember that you will need to take the drape off the mannequin and turn it  into a garment that can be sewn up.

Lets start with a list of some fibers, fabrics, we know today as naturally grown.LINEN fibers ,as we know them were grown in Egypt and other civilizations in the beginning of settled civilizations,finally like Greece and Italy. They were used to construct garments for much of the civilization.Here is a list of fabrics from nature that we still use today.COTTON, from the cotton plant grown in America on plantations in the south and in other parts of the world. LINEN grown in a marshy area like rice; SILK made by the silk worm, mostly from Asian countries, BAMBOO from the Bamboo plant that has been used a lot nowadays,WOOL from various animal fir,like from sheep, that are shaved off today,CAMELS HAIR, used for outer wear because of its capability to create warmth.

Next  post will discuss synthetic fabrics that are made of man made fibers. A lot of them are petroleum based, just like soda bottles. Some creators today suggest that their fabrics are made of soda bottles thus recycling , Some of those fibers are usually mixed with some cotton fibers. or Bamboo, which we now use a lot as a blend with other man made fibers. Some simple man made fibers that are at least 50 years old are NYLON,POLYESTER,ACRYLIC..