When I hear paper dresses, my mind immediately wanders off to think of:
- 1. Paper dolls (you know those flimsy little things that you ‘tab’ paper clothes and shoes on
- 2. The Chinese paper effigies (sorry no insults are intended to the culture, it’s just that they do make fashionable paper clothes and shoes)
- 3. The drafting sheet used in sewing clothes
But never in my wildest dream did I come to think about the green fabric known as sasawahi -a hybrid fabric that uncannily resembles the “the soft touch” of cashmere and Egyptian cotton and “the dry touch” of linen without the little prickling touch which irritates the skin. Now before your mind goes hopping to are these’ disposable clothes’ just because I said it’s made with paper…bear in mind that it’s not ordinary paper that you and I both use to write on.
Sasawashi is the magical fabric born out of the unexpected blend of the Japanese Washi (paper) and Kumazasa (Japanese Bamboo). This unique fabric is woven with twisted Washi yarns that were prior blended with KUMAZASA.
The process of making Sasawashi is a simple yet delicate one. The process is first begun with Kumazasa flakes being blended into Washi to make a sheet of SASAWASHI paper. Next, comes the process of slitting – where a sheet of Sasawashi is cut straight to make long tapes. After that twisting can take place. Twisting is the process of literally twisting the Sasawashi tapes to make Sasawahi yarns (similar to how strings are made) Narrow paper makes a fine yarn while wide paper makes thick yarn, it’s as simple as that. The final step is simply to weave and knit the yarns into fabric with a Sasawahi weaving machine.
What’s uniquely about this fabric? Well it is the natural occurring (completely green) features that it posses (None of the features are the results of a chemical process):
- 1. It has an excellent absorbency because there’s washi in the fibre. Washi is the same paper used in making Japanese sliding doors. They are superb moisture absorbers and temperature keepers. Not only does Washi have an excellent absorbency qualities it also has the ability to keep the moisture within the fiber. Thus, Sasawahi fabric will not become sticky and is always kept dry unlike cotton which although absorbs moisture well, will still emit back the moisture resulting in a sticky clingy fabric.
- 2. It has natural antibiotic and deodorant effects thanks to the blend of Kumazasa (Japanese Bamboo). However unlike the synthetic chemically treated effects, this natural antibacterial and deodorant effects do not wear off with wash. They are maintained even after many uses and washes.
- 3. Sasawahi is gentle on the skin. Now if you’re taking about linen, surely you’ve realised that the fabric has a scratchy feeling and it irritates the skin. This is because it is made up of fine and short fibers with fine fuzz on the surface. Sasawahi on the other hand structurally has almost no fuzz because it is made with slit SASAWASHI paper that are twisted before weaved. SASAWASHI also has the ability to to block 80% to 90% of ultra violet rays without any processing. This is a feature that no other purely natural fabric has.
- 4. Sasawashi may be made of paper, but it is entirely washable. Why? Because WASHI just any paper, it is paper that is structurally water-repellent. Furthermore, the washi used in Sasawashi fabric is designed to have a maximum waterproof features. Sasawashi fabric will withstand normal home machine wash as long as no bleach is used (it’s naturally antibacterial, why still bother with bleach?)
Isn’t this an amazing fabric? I’m sure Linda Loudermilk agrees because she’s made an impressionable range of clothing collection with it.
