What can I make for my GCSE textiles project?

Textiles project help?!?

• I have this insane textiles project to do... I have some questions (lack of guidance from teacher... ) we have to analyze garments and discuss fiber, fabric, finishes, dye/printing, etc. my question is this: a plain white cardigan and beige blazer with polyester lining do not really appear to have any dyes or prints applied.. not everything does, correct? I mean to say, a garment does not necessarily need to be dyed or printed? I know this sounds obvious but I just want to make sure, I've been working on this project since 2 am and by know I've lost all knowledge previously held on wovens, knits, yarns, and the like.. so any help is appreciated!! Basically I jsut want to confirm my suspicion that a plain beige blazer and white cardigan had no dyes applied? Same for corduroy pants and silk scarf? but the scarf I'm assuming was screen printed... thanks in advance!

• Answer:

  These fabrics are undoubtedly dyed, but "flat dyed"/vat dyed/tub dyed, not printed.... in other words, they're solid colors. And yes, white fabrics are often treated with a dye -- typically one to make it a different shade of white from what the bleached fiber is, and an "optic whitener", which is a clear dye that absorbs UV light and re-emits it in the blue visible wavelengths to give that "whiter than white" look. Unless a fabric is labeled "unbleached", PFD (prepared for dyeing) or greige goods (pronounce "grey goods"), assume the fabric has been dyed. If the scarf has a pattern on it, yes, it was probably screen printed, but it may have been hand painted or resist-dyed. Dharma Trading has a nice section on various techniques of getting color on fabrics by hand: http://www.dharmatrading.com/topnav/techniques/ but it sounds like you really need a basic textiles textbook or three. EDITED TO ADD: Yes, your blouse, almost assuredly, has been dyed. Also check out "optical brightener" here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_brightener