The World in Dots and Pixels
\r\nWorldscape is a printed pattern designed by textile designer Sara Gullman, who graduated from the Academy of Design and \r\n Crafts at Gothenburg University in 2010. The pattern is a re-shaping of the geographical map, inspired by the organization \r\n Doctors Without Borders. Like continental shelves, the organization moves in the directions needed. The design shows these \r\n movements in dots and pixels.
\r\nWe find Worldscape to be a both fascinating and relaxing pattern, making it ideal for bedding. The scale of the pattern has been adjusted and a new colorway, \r\n based on Arctic tones, has been created by Sara Gullman, exclusively for One Dear Thing.
\r\nWorldscape has been called a future classic. We are proud to have it on our bed linen.
\r\nThe Perfect Conditions for Cotton
\r\nCotton, the world’s most popular textile fiber, is questioned from an environmental perspective. \r\n The production of one kilogram requires at least seven thousand liters of water and cotton is bar none the crop that uses the most agricultural chemicals. At the same time, there are notable and succesful examples of sustainable cotton \r\n production that use innovative methods to obtain yields of consistent quality and volume.
\r\nThe organic cotton used for One Dear Thing comes from the Cañete and Chincha valleys, in southern Peru. \r\n Archeological finds show that cotton has been cultivated continuously here for three thousand years and irrigation channels \r\n built by the Incas six hundred years ago are still in use.
\r\nOrganized organic cotton production was established here in 1986, in a project founded by Stephan Bergman together with Orlando \r\n Rivera and a first group of cotton farmers. Today, some two hundred fifty farmers cooperate with Bergman/Rivera, a company that \r\n buys the cotton and arranges ginning, spinning and weaving, \r\n and also provides technical support to farmers and provides organic certification through GOTS, Global Organic Textile Standard.
\r\nCotton grows over a season of nine months. During the last month, it blooms in yellow flowers. The flowers turn to cotton bolls, \r\n and in Cañete and Chincha these are picked by hand. No fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides have been near the cotton and \r\n genetically modified seeds are never used. Given the perfect natural conditions for cotton that prevail here, the result is a \r\n yield characterized by long fibers and white color. The trademark, White Cotton, reflects this.
\r\nThe cotton used for One Dear Thing is Peruvian Pima. The fiber length is at least twice that of standard cotton, \r\n meaning that the final product will be both softer and more durable.
\r\nHard Work for Soft Fibers
\r\nGinning is the first industrial process following the cotton harvest. The purpose of ginning is to remove the seed from inside the cotton boll, as well as to remove any other materials than cotton fiber.
\r\nThe ginning machine consists of rotating knives to separate foreign material from the cotton fiber, leading many to conclude that ginning is cleaning of the cotton. In fact, the other materials are also used. For example, the cotton seeds are pressed into cotton seed oil, an ingredient in both foodstuffs and cosmetics. Well worth noting, we believe, as cotton production uses chemicals that we want to avoid in both food and near our bodies.
\r\nThe cotton for our products is ginned near the cotton fields in Cañete and Chincha.
\r\nCreating Quality
\r\nSpinning makes yarn from fibers. By arranging the fibers lengthwise and twisting them around each other, \r\n a continuous yarn is achieved. For thousands of years, this has been done by hand, using a spindle. Without spinning, \r\n there would be no yarn and no fabric.
\r\nSpinning is also the practice that sparked the industrial revolution. Weaving techniques had developed in the 18th century, \r\n making weaving considerably faster than before. \r\n Spinning, however, was a bottle neck, as only one yarn thread could be spun at a time.
\r\nWith James Hargreaves’ invention of “Spinning Jenny” in 1764, spinners could eventually spin up to a hundred threads at a time, \r\n and textile production changed forever. “Spinning Jenny” was eventually replaced by even more effective machines – leading to today’s practice, \r\n which is carried out in production lines where thousands of spindles operate at the same time.
\r\nIt is in the spinning process that the quality of the raw material becomes evident. The finest cotton is uniform in structure and is \r\n characterised by long fibers that effectively become strong, yet soft, yarns. Our yarn is spun at Creditex, a GOTS certified unit in the \r\n Peruvian capital, Lima.
\r\nDurability and Softness
\r\nWeaving is one of the world’s oldest crafts. Throughout history, fabrics have been of both practical and \r\n symbolic importance and the development of weaving skills and techniques has reflected this. Weaving has thus \r\n become a combination of arts and crafts, encompassing both mathematical and technical developments.
\r\nAll types of weaves are based on a warp and a weft. The warp is a series of threads, arranged \r\n length-wise and placed in the loom. The weft consists of threads that are shuttled through the warp, \r\n passing the warp threads in a systematic manner decided by the weaver. In handloom weaving, this is done \r\n slowly and by hand. In modern machine weaving, this is done at great speed, following a computerized program. \r\n In fact, the first digital machine was a weaving loom – Joseph Marie Jacquards invention from 1804 that used punched \r\n cards to create the pattern.
\r\nOur bed linen fabric is woven in a satin construction, one of the oldest weaving techniques, used when one wants to produce a durable, yet soft fabric.\r\n Most of the warp threads are visible on the front side of the fabric, creating a smooth and cool surface, ideal for bedding.
\r\nThe fabric is woven at Creditex in Lima. By using the same facility that spun our yarn we get a perfect match of yarn quality and fabric quality,\r\n providing us with a fabric that can be used and enjoyed for many years. Our lifetime guarantee reflects this.
\r\nArtistry Meets Technology
\r\nFabrics that come straight from the loom need to be washed to stabilize the size and prepared for softness or other desired properties. \r\n It is not uncommon for fabrics to go through six or seven steps in this phase of production. \r\n These can be chemical or mechanical processes. Obtaining the desired results requires skill and experience – \r\n there is no given formula for a fabric, so only a combination of artistic skill and technical know-how can result in a \r\n fabric that meets the highest demands.
\r\nThe strong artistic and technical traditions of Italy led us to choose to prepare our fabric outside of Bergamo. \r\n We have stabilized the fabric and chosen a light mechanical preparation, highlighting the natural shine of satin. \r\n Our ambition has been to achieve a fabric that feels both soft and cool to the touch and allowing the printed pattern to \r\n appear as crisp as the original design. We are very pleased with the result, and proud to see our fabric becoming even better \r\n with every production step.
\r\nOur fabric is singed, mercerized, bleached, dried and finished without optical whiteners. The facility is certified by GOTS.
\r\nInnovation in Details and Colors
\r\nThere used to be only two main methods of printing textiles – rotative printing or screen printing. \r\n But in the last decade, digital printing has emerged as a technique that has transformed the practice \r\n and provided new means of artistic expression. Rotative printing and screen printing both require patterns \r\n that can be repeated indefinitely across the length of the fabric, but digital printing is completely flexible.
\r\nDigital printing, however, used to have a \r\n drawback when it came to color saturation. Simply put, the color appeared to be on the outside of the fabric.
\r\nWhen we explored the options to print our fabric, we found a textile printing facility in \r\n Italy’s Varese region. Experiencing their digital printing process, our perceptions of digital textile \r\n printing completely changed. We saw clear, vivid, colors and detailing that would never be possible with \r\n any other printing method. And we saw colors that became part of the fabric.
\r\nDigital printing is more environmentally friendly than conventional printing, as \r\n the amount of dyestuff is reduced, as is energy use. Our printer is certified by GOTS.
\r\nWe believe customers will notice and appreciate the fine details in the pattern and enjoy the result of a \r\n technological and artistic process at the forefront of textile development.
\r\nMade by People – Not Robots
\r\nWe have chosen to have our bed sets manufactured by hand, at an entrepreneurial workshop in Narva, Estonia, \r\n that we came in contact with in the process of sourcing suppliers for One Dear Thing.
\r\nThe town of Narva is situated in easternmost Estonia. It is a true textile town, with deep history in \r\n weaving and confection. In the 19th century, the textile industrial complex of Narva was the largest industry in the \r\n Russian empire and Narva’s importance for textile production continued up until the fall of the Soviet Union – providing \r\n not only textiles to the Eastern bloc but also exporting high quality textile products to the West.
\r\nThe decline and closure of its major production facilities some ten years ago constitute a difficult period in the history of Narva. \r\n As natives of the textile town of Borås, we were touched to see that production in Narva is now picking up again, this time in the \r\n form of small workshops that offer high-quality production.
\r\nOne such industry is Starinar, owned by Sergei Nikitin, who manages a manufacturing facility with a workforce of forty women, \r\n specializing in the production of both garment manufacturing and home textiles. Starinar is keeping the methods and skills from \r\n old Narva, but offering production runs in volumes suited to specialized projects. We found them to be the ideal confectioners – \r\n cutters and sewers – for One Dear Thing.
\r\nWe see our project as a small example of how textile production is shifting to more localized production, \r\n allowing closer cooperation between customer and supplier, \r\n as well as greater possibilities of meeting specific design demands and quality requirements.
\r\nWe have been fortunate enough to be able to take part in production by being present during cutting and sewing. \r\n We are proud to have developed a close relationship to \r\n our supplier and to contribute to the future of specialized and ambitious textile production in Northern Europe.
\r\nPaper from Sustainable Forestry
\r\nHome textiles require packaging to be distributed and sold, which presents a design challenge in which aesthetics as well as environmental concerns need to be balanced.
\r\nAs every individual product is packaged, the total paper usage is considerable. Therefore, it has been important to us to ensure that the paper is from sustainably managed forests and produced in a responsible manner. The Swedish paper industry has made great progress in these aspects – and we have decided to use environmentally certified Swedish paper and have it printed locally. The packaging material for our products as well as this booklet have been printed at Eskils in Borås, Sweden.
\r\nOur ambition is that One Dear Thing customers will appreciate and value the information provided, making One Dear Thing a truly dear object.
\r\n