ii. Fabric

First decision we had to make was fabric

Obviously, the choice for sustainable fabric is more limiting,

so we thought it would work best if we could settle on the

fabrication then build the design around that fabrication.

Our first preference would be sustainability, then we would move onto aspects like

comfort, hand feel, strength, etc.

We narrowed this down to two fabrications – Cotton and Recycled Polyester.

Cotton is chosen essentially for its biodegradable attributes and the nice hand feel.

While Recycled Polyester on the other hand, enables us to re-use waste and give it a second life.

Since fabric content is mapped out, we next had to decide what kind of fabric we liked in this blend.

Jersey, Interlock, Fleece, etc.

We locked into Jersey with a brushed finish quickly with a simple t-shirt in mind.

With Fabric content and type of fabric locked, we moved onto weight of the fabric next.

Choosing the right fabric weight has a direct impact on the hand feel and overall appearance of the garment..

Of course, there are also other limitations,

like the type of knit and machine it uses.

Which means there are limits to how heavy the fabric can be or how light it can be.

We ended up choosing the weight 170 gsm for our first fabrication.

This allowed the fabric to not feel very sheer and light, but also not heavy to the user.

With these three attributes locked in,

we had to have fabric mills order the specific yarns and knit up a sample yardage for final confirmation.

Normally the process to get yarn and knit up sample yardage takes roughly 3-4 weeks,

but due to the limited availability of the yarn we had to wait an extra 3 weeks or so.

Adjustments on fabric finish and weight were then discussed once we received the sample fabric.

All in all, a process that seems easy but in reality, consumes time and lots of research.

And this is just the beginning.