The Sewing Place

Bamboo Jersey

Elnnina

Bamboo Jersey
« on: April 15, 2018, 14:56:22 PM »
Please can anyone help me in my search for some Bamboo Jersey.  I like the sound of this especially as it is gentle on the skin, but I would like to find somewhere that will send a sample.  In particular I am after a white, ivory, cream and perhaps some other colours.  I am also hoping that this lovely sounding fabric will be a bit thicker than the normal single jersey.

If anyone can help in pointing me in the right direction I would be really grateful.  Thanks in advance.

Efemera

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2018, 15:47:37 PM »
If it’s anything like bamboo socks then it won’t wear very well....

sewmuchmore

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2018, 18:24:12 PM »
Ray Stitch has some and you can get a swatch of all colours for £3. BUT it is £15 a metre.
Fabric Land have beige and black at £3.33 a metre it is described ad bamboo polyester jersey, not sure if that refers to pattern or the fabric.
Organic Textile company have black white and natural, samples available.
Truro fabrics have 4 colours.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2018, 18:41:50 PM by sewmuchmore »
It's not easy being this perfekt

Janet

Bodgeitandscarper

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2018, 18:49:04 PM »
Viscose or rayon is also made from bamboo, I think that's what they are labelling as "bamboo" fabric these days.  I believe it is highly processed with lots of chemicals, so not any where near as natural as it sounds.
Or I could be wrong if someone else knows better...  -<
« Last Edit: April 15, 2018, 18:50:38 PM by Bodgeitandscarper »

Greybird

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2018, 20:04:41 PM »
Don't know if it's made from something different these days, But viscose rayon used to be made from spruce trees - same as traditional Christmas trees. The finely chopped wood was soaked in something called yellow xanthate which turned it into a viscous liquid (hence the name) which could be squirted through a spinaret (a thing like a watering can rose) - it then hardened in the air into a filament which could be spun and woven.

Marniesews

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2018, 20:34:36 PM »
Bamboo jersey, rayon and viscose are made from cellulose, most commonly from beech, pine and bamboo and fall somewhere between natural and synthetic fabrics. As Bodgeitandscarper suggests. they aren't as environmentally friendly and they sound but there is another of their ilk called lyocell (this includes Tencel®) which is much more environmentally friendly.

More information here.
Hopefully back more regularly! Ballroom sewing may be permanently paused but bag making is the current focus.

Catllar

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2018, 20:35:50 PM »
Be interested to hear how you get on with this. I had a bee in my bonnet about bamboo jersey being suitable for my minimal travel wardrobe so I bought some bamboo jersey knickers as a trial. I binned them. They are thick and took forever to dry  after washing. No place in my travel bag!
If life gives you lemons, add to gin and tonic !

BrendaP

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2018, 20:54:40 PM »
99%, or more, of bamboo fabric is a type of viscose/rayon, just that the raw material is bamboo rather than wood pulp, seaweed, etc.  (Lyocel is seaweed based).  There is a miniscule amount of bamboo which is processed in a similar way to linen, and the fibres are actually the orginal bast fibres from the bamboo stems, but that is a rarity and will almost certainly be prominently labelled as such.

Like all rayons it's a sort of half-way between natural fibres (cotton, wool, silk) and man-made fibres (polyester, nylon, acrylic).  It is absorbent but isn't particularly strong and doesn't have any natural elasticity.  It also creases very easily.
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

arrow

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2018, 21:31:01 PM »
I haven't managed to get to the bottom of this yes. For a while I thought bamboo was something new and eco friendly, I have towels and underwear in it. It might be viscose, I tend to like it if they don't put too much stretch in it (jersey can sag something terribly). Some eco enthusiast insist there is a bamboo fabric made differently than rayon, modal and viscose. It's listed as anti-bacterial, and all kinds of advantages. I tried to search up some info on it now, but it needs a bit more than a quick googeling.

rowe1311

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2018, 19:39:40 PM »
Bamboo jersey, rayon and viscose are made from cellulose, most commonly from beech, pine and bamboo and fall somewhere between natural and synthetic fabrics. As Bodgeitandscarper suggests. they aren't as environmentally friendly and they sound but there is another of their ilk called lyocell (this includes Tencel®) which is much more environmentally friendly.

More information here.

Thank you for the information.  I had heard modal was quite good, but not heard of tencel.  The cotton industry has pretty poor eco credentials and I always am looking for an alternative.  It is a pity that you can't buy this tencel as a fabric. 

crafter

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2018, 23:44:23 PM »
If it’s anything like bamboo socks then it won’t wear very well....

And one of them will still disappear when they go in the wash. :(

Peacocks for socks in this house.  They are on the regular monthly shopping list.

Kwaaked

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2018, 15:45:38 PM »
You also have the organic problem, too.  It takes something like 3 years of growing organically to be certified.  So some of the stuff we do get is "organic" but can't be labeled as such. 

You also have organic certs, GOTS and OCS.  GOTS addresses social and environmental issues white OCS doesn't, or doesn't claim it.  Of course, this is all cotton stuff, not bamboo.

There was a big hubabaloo a while back about how bamboo is rayon and some countries have to list it as "rayon made of bamboo fibers" or some such, and several studies have shown that the antibacterial and UV properties are pretty bunk (one is a Chinese study, but an Indian study showed the opposite so buyer beware).  The process that isn't rayon is "mechanically processed bamboo" and one of the trade names of that is Litrax (which is the one made like linen).  It will also be marked as such.

There's some benefits of rayon fabric, even made into rayon.  The growing of it is pretty eco friendly and it is sustainable, it's just processing it into rayon that is not as good as it could be.

(I can find sources for all of this if you guys want it, this was a huge part of the sustainability class I had to take for my fashion design degree.)

As far as the fabric goes, rayon jersey made of bamboo is soft, silky and looks awesome.  It also pills, has to be line dried and is as weak as any other rayon fabric in the world.  Now most people will put the bamboo in the washer and dryer, and indeed it can be done, but in my experience it shortens the lifespan of the garment and it still shrinks some (like 10% or less, at least the fabric I used for a project/paper in class).

Bamboo rayon is a huge thing to look into, lol.  I like the fabric, but I wear polyester, too.

wrenkins

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #12 on: April 20, 2018, 16:00:47 PM »
"Peacocks for socks in this house."
Bit rough on the peacock!  :ninja:
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Elnnina

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #13 on: April 20, 2018, 16:53:36 PM »
Thank you to all who have replied to my query regarding Bamboo Jersey.  I am even more bewildered about this fabric than before.

I am hoping that perhaps Datcat23 will read this at some stage, as I believe she has used this fabric many times,  and hopefully will pop up and say yes it is lovely and soft, or yes it is this particular type of Bamboo that I need to look for.


I certainly do not like the sound of fabric that has had all sorts of chemicals added to it during its manufacture, I have enough trouble with my itchy skin at the best of times.







datcat23

Re: Bamboo Jersey
« Reply #14 on: April 24, 2018, 23:28:35 PM »
I haven't actually used bamboo fabric all that much, except in modern cloth nappies, when I was making them for my sister's babies.  In that instance, I was using bamboo fleece from a dedicated MCN fabric seller, and I found it to be fantastic, with good wear, absorbency and easy to sew.  I have purchased bamboo knickers (my homemade knickers are based on purchased Jockey ones) and found the fabric stretched out and wore out very quickly.  But, that may be an indication of the quality of the fabric, and the lack of spandex in the fabric.

In the past I have linked to the Bamboo Fabric Store here in Australia, mainly because they make some fairly good looking ecological and ethical claims around the manufacture of their fabrics.  I think the last time I purchased from them was quite a few years ago, so I would recommend that you research a bit yourself, perhaps with an email to the store you choose, asking about their manufacturing process and suppliers.  I can't provide a direct recommendation on the fabrics, although you have reminded me that maybe I need to consider them again. 

I feel (and this is in no way an opinion based on fact) that where the source materials are grown ecologically, that the production process can't be any more chemical based than any other fabric.  I do know that cotton requires a very large amount of water, both in its growing and processing, but I have no idea if the same is true for bamboo.  One of the reasons I have pointed to the store in Australia, is that our consumer laws are such that if they make claims, they are required to be true, and therefore offer a level of confidence in their claims.  When dealing with an international producer, I have less confidence in the truth of their claims. 

While I haven't sewn with the fabric a lot, I love bamboo fabrics, especially the jersey.  They are soft, drapey, and can be luscious on the skin.  Yes, its likely they won't last years and years, and the price point will often reflect the nature of the growing and production methods (small scale), but if you can find a good source of fabric, its worth it to support smaller producers.   
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