Sustainable Fabric Manufacturing: The Crochet Experience

Abstract

When it comes to the sustainability of fabrics, the materials used in textile production are frequently given more consideration than the manufacturing procedures. But a fabric's sustainability is also determined by its production techniques. One of the sectors of the global economy that has been shown to have the greatest environmental damage is the textile manufacturing sector. As a result, fabrics produced using techniques that leaves little or no negative impacts to the environment are said to be sustainable or eco-friendly. The study’s aim is to promote environmental friendly method of fabric production through the crochet technique and to encourage its exploration in Nigeria. The aim was accomplished by focusing on crochet technique as a sustainable fabric manufacturing technique. The study highlighted ways crochet techniques agrees with sustainability as against the conventional methods of manufacturing fabric. Samples of successful sustainable fabric and other materials produced using the crochet technique were showcased. The economic feasibility and market potentials of sustainable crocheted fabrics were also examined. The study adopted mixture of exploratory and descriptive research methods. In conclusion the study advocated for the acquiring of crochet skill by local textile manufacturers as a way to minimize the negative impact of the production processes of conventional fabric on the environment and also a means of creating jobs for the unemployed youths in Nigeria.

Keywords

• Sustainable fabric
• Manufacturing
• Crotchet
• Technique
• Environment

References

1. ApparelMagic (2024). The 4 Most Common Sustainable Practices in Fashion Manufacturing Downloaded from https://apparelmagic.com/the-4-common-sustainable-practices-in-fashion-manufacturing 0n 16th march 2024
2. Araya, S.G., (2022). Exploring Opportunities and Challenges of Craft Making: The case of Knitting and crochet Crafts in Addis Ababa, Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol.10 (10) pp.37-53, 2022
3. Bjorkdahl, A., (2022). Sustainable and Circular Business Model: Textiles in West Africa Master’s Thesis, Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University
4. Burns, P. and Van Der Meer, R. (2020) Happy Hookers: findings from an international study exploring the effects of crotchet on wellbeing Sage Journals Vol.141(3) Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913920911961 12th June 12, 2024. Cary, K. (2018). Defining Crotchet, Textile History, Vol.49(2): 1-16 Retrieved from Doi:10.1080/00404969.2018.1491689 12th June 12, 2024
5. Erekaha, G. C. (2022). Production of Dinner Wears and Accessories for Ladies with Acrylic Yarn Exploring the Crochet Technique. Unpublished BA Thesis, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State.
6. Marks, R., (1997). History of Crochet downloaded from https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.crochet.org/resource/resmgr/pdf/history-of-crochet-rm.pdf on 19th of Feb.2024
7. Mildred, G.R., (1979). The Complete Encyclopedia of Stitchery, Book Club Edition Doubleday & Company, Inc. Gardens City, New York
8. Nayak, R., (2019). Sustainable Technologies for Fashion and Textiles. Woodhead Publishing; Cambridge, UK: 2019.

9. Nayak, R., Panwar, T., Grover, T., and Signh, A. (2024). Recent Trends in Sustainable Clothing and Textile Manufacturing. Part of the book Series: Sustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistry (STPPMC).
10. Patti, A., Cicala, G., Acierno, D., (2020). Eco-Sustainability of the Textile Production: Waste Recovery and Current Recycling in the Composites World. Polymers (Basel). 2020 Dec 30;13(1):134. doi: 10.3390/polym13010134. PMID: 33396936; PMCID: PMC7796070.
11. Patwary, S., (2020). Clothing and Textile Sustainability: Clothing and Textile Sustainability: Current State of Environmental Challenges and the Ways Forward TLR 3 (3) 2020 158-17 Chrome extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/file:///C:/Users/HP/ Downloads/Clothing_and_Textile_Sustainability_Current_State_.pdf
12. Swarna, P.M., (2023). The Importance of Sustainable Textile Manufacturing Micromasters at (Massachusetts institute of technology) downloaded from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-sustainable-textile-manufacturing-swarna-prabha-mohanty/ 28th of feb.2024
13. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (2015). Retrieved From https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/12/sustainable-development-goals-kick-off-with-start-of-new-year on 12th feb.2024
14. York, P., Zhang, S., Yang, M., and Muthukumar, V., (2022) Crochet: Engaging Secondary School Girls in Art for STEAM’s Sake. Science Education International Vol,33(4) 392-399