Absolutely!! Â One of our students has used her love of sewing to get an A on a science project!! Â Check out her pictures and learn a little about fabric composition.
It all started when we were chatting about the fibers in fabric and how can you tell if you have a 100% wool piece of fabric. Â This has also been used to do a quick check of the wool if you are entering the Make It With Wool contest this fall in Concord, NC. Â (This contest REQUIRES you to send a swatch of fabric in for testing.) Â Please take the time to do this BEFORE making your garment!
Start with a fireproof dish, grill lighter and a pair of tongs. Â This is preferably done outside since you will be burning fabric. Â A natural fiber will burn to ash. Â A fiber that has polyester in it will have a bit of hard plastic in it. Â And a fiber that is all polyester should shrink up to a hard plastic ball.
It really is that quick and fun to find out if you are working with an all natural fiber. Â If you are a purist for heirloom sewing, this comes in handy also to check your fabrics that you have on hand and may not of labeled as soon as you purchased them. Â Not that any of us have an unlabeled stash!