Textiles
Brown Recluse Silk Is Stronger Than Steel Because It's Constructed Like a Cable
Thousands of nanotendrils come together to form the flat, super-strong spider silk
Jerusalem Museum Untangles History of the Color Blue, From Biblical Hue to Ancient Royalty
The show inks out the history of the enigmatic sky blue dye known as ‘tekhelet’
A Brief History of the One-Size-Fits-All Tube Sock
Originally marketed as sportswear, the tube sock became a stylish accessory thanks to Farrah Fawcett and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
What Knitting Can Teach You About Math
In this professor's class, there are no calculators. Instead, students learn advanced math by drawing pictures, playing with beach balls—and knitting
The Age-Old Tradition of Armenian Carpet Making Refuses to Be Swept Under the Rug
A new generation is emerging to craft the ancient rugs
Two Florence Museums Are Tracing the City's 500-Year Connection to Islamic Art
The Uffizi explores East-West interactions between the 15th and 17th centuries; the Bargello features donations from 19th- and 20th-century collectors
Amelia Bloomer Didn’t Mean to Start a Fashion Revolution, But Her Name Became Synonymous With Trousers
In the 1850s, women’s rights activists briefly adopted a new style in an effort to liberate themselves from heavy dresses
When Paper Clothing Was the Perfect Fit
A war-weary world needed a new wardrobe, and this cheap, washable attire seemed to rise to the occasion
Artist's Quilts Pay Tribute to African-American Women
Artist Stephen Towns' first museum exhibition showcases his painterly skill through traditional textile art
How the Technicolor Ikat Designs of Central Asia Thread Into Textile History
A new Smithsonian exhibition sheds light on the rich backstory of an oft-imitated tradition
Embroidering Electronics Into the Next Generation of 'Smart' Fabrics
Is an archaic sewing skill a key to connected, sensing, communicating fabrics of the future?
Exhibition Cuts Into the Fascinating History of Scissors
Fashion and Textile Museum traces scissors’ role in life and death, fairy tales, crime and punk
Have Scientists Found a Greener Way to Make Blue Jeans?
An engineered strain of <em>E. coli</em> bacteria can produce a precursor to synthetic indigo using fewer nasty chemicals than traditional methods
Thank(?) Joseph Shivers For Spandex
From Spanx to space suits, spandex has shaped modern garments
These Light-Emitting Pajamas Could Help Treat Newborns With Jaundice
The method has an advantage over traditional phototherapy in that it allows babies to receive treatment in the comfort of their parents' arms
Did Vikings Bury Their Dead in Clothing Bearing the Arabic Word for "Allah"?
While contact between Vikings and Muslim cultures is well documented, the interpretation of the 10th-century burial cloth has been called into question
These Origami Clothes Grow With Your Child
Designer Ryan Yasin is creating pleated garments that could save on money and waste
How the Nauga and its Fictional Friends Helped Make Synthetic Fabric Cuddly
What started out as an advertising ploy turned into a low-key cultural phenomenon
New Artificial Spider Silk: Stronger Than Steel and 98 Percent Water
Researchers at Cambridge University have developed a process for making strong, stretchy threads in an environmentally friendly way
Model Looms Are Missing Link in China's Textile History
Four miniature pattern looms found in a burial in Chengdu show how the Han Dynasty produced cloth to trade on the Silk Road
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