Textile Archive/Sweater Selfmade (High Cotton %, High Elastane %)
Like every piece in the Textile Archive, this melange sweater came from a used-clothing container, not a donation box (Textile Archive, 2026, canvas 7). Someone knitted it by hand – the oldest way of making knitwear (Fashionary, 2021, p. 138). Cotton, grown for over 6,000 years, is soft and breathable, but conventional cotton uses a lot of water and chemicals (Fashionary, 2021, pp. 018–019).
A little elastane (Lycra, since 1959) adds stretch – it extends to over 500% of its length (Fashionary, 2021, p. 050). With no composition label, the NIR scanner (High Cotton %, High Elastane %) is our only clue to what it is made of – infrared spectroscopy can identify fibres without a label (Riba et al., 2020). It was set aside because of a stain – but its fabric could become something new (R7 Repurpose; Potting et al., 2017).
Care tip: Pre-treat stains with mild detergent (oxygen-based stain remover only) and wash gently at low temperature.
A strong example of why NIR matters when the label is missing. Invite visitors to share their own knitting or mending stories. Invite makers to propose a repurposing idea for it. Complete label language and 3D scan quality.
Manufacturing information
[edit | edit source]| Color | Melange |
| Product type | Sweater |
| Weight | 700 g |
| Target | Women |
| Brand | Selfmade |
Status quo
[edit | edit source]| Status Quo | Level |
|---|---|
| Material out stage | Waste |
| Exclusion | Staining |
| R strategy | Repurpose |
| Reuse | 0 |
| Recycle | 0 |
| Repair | 0 |
| Repurpose | 1 |
Graphics
[edit | edit source]
References
[edit | edit source]- Textile Archive (2026) Labels_Final – sample label sheets of the gesa measuring action, June 2026 [Canva design, 34 canvases]. Unpublished project data.
- Fashionary (2021) Textilepedia: The Complete Fabric Guide. Hong Kong: Fashionary International Ltd. ISBN 978-988-77110-9-4.
- Riba, J.-R., Cantero, R., Canals, T. & Puig, R. (2020) Circular economy of post-consumer textile waste: classification through infrared spectroscopy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 272, 123011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123011
- Potting, J., Hekkert, M., Worrell, E. & Hanemaaijer, A. (2017) Circular Economy: Measuring Innovation in the Product Chain. The Hague: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. https://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/circular-economy-measuring-innovation-in-product-chains
| Authors | Adriana Cabrera |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-4.0 |
| Location | Wuppertal, Germany |
| Cite as | Adriana Cabrera (2026). "Textile Archive/Sweater Selfmade (High Cotton %, High Elastane %)". Appropedia. Retrieved November 10, 2026. |