Designing textiles with 3D surfaces using hemp fiber and natural dyes

This design-oriented experimental study focused on developing a collection of woven fabrics made from hemp and hemp-blended yarns, dyed with natural dyes (turmeric, sage, pomegranate peel, walnut shell, and madder) to highlight the value of hemp fiber and contribute to sustainable textile design. The collection included fabrics made from hemp and hemp blends, Tencel™, and elastane, using various weaving structures, including dobby weaving, single- and double-layer structures, extra-weft weaving, and pleating, to create visually rich fabric surfaces with three-dimensional effects on both a handloom and an automatic sample weaving machine. Two pre-mordanting natural dyeing methods were applied: dyeing hemp-cotton blend yarns and fabrics woven from hemp and hemp-blended yarns. Yarns were dyed before weaving for four of the six designs, whereas for the other two, the fabrics were dyed after weaving. Two designs were selected for production on the automatic sample weaving machine. Notably, some designs exhibited striped patterns with varying dye absorption across fibers. The findings revealed that the three-dimensional effect was less pronounced in 100% hemp sections than in blends. Various combinations, elastane yarn, and the hot-water shrinkage process contributed to the desired effects. In Designs 5 and 6, pleated structures were pulled by hand after weaving and took on a wavy form due to the stiff nature of the hemp yarn. This enhanced the visual impact of the designs. The study concluded that the appropriate combination of yarns and techniques is essential for creating innovative fabric designs.