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Sewing best 3D printer files・Cults

Needle Plate - Singer 367

Free

Mate Imperial flower guard leather stitching

€3.22

Singer yoknaz series under pulleys (alt kasnaklar)

€8.06 -25% €6.04

Perforated sewing machine bobbins

€1.09

Sewing machine bobbins with one-side perforation

€1.09

Smooth sewing machine bobbins

€1.09

CROSS-STITCH THREAD ORGANIZER HOLDER

€2

BUTTONS

€1

Bias Tape Tool 1.

5in (38mm) - Covid Mask

Free

Thread holder for sewing machine

€1

TOOL FOR ZIPPER CURSORS #SEWING #SEWING #SEWING #TOOLS

€0.50

christmas bauble sewing profession

€0.50

Texture Rollers — Art Deco Patterns

€2.89

10cm hoop for embroidery

Free

Presser Foot Height Compensation (Hebamme)

Free

5cm bias with support

Free

Plug pedal sewing machines

Free

sewing machine brother

Free

coil holder (cone)

Free

5cm bias machine with seam support

Free

bias machine 5cm sewing

Free

bias machine 4cm sewing

Free

Sewing machine pot

€1. 07

sewing machine gear

€5

Leatherwork Pointed and rounded strap end templates

€1.72

Brother SE 425 large thread spool adapter

Free

Quilt Binding Holder

Free

Quilting Ruler Holder

Free

Proper Bias Tape maker 1/2 " for sewing machine, hem

Free

Knobs for chinese cobbler patcher shoe repair machine

Free

Replacement cap for seam ripper

Free

Singer Replacement Spool Retaining Ring

Free

frame 100x100 for bernette chicago7

Free

frame 40x40 for bernette chicago7

Free

Cap brim

€0. 61

Husqvarna sewing machine wheel

Free

Sewing Machine Spool Pin, Simlicity #730010012

Free

Spulenhalter für Spule und Unterspule

Free

Bobbin Topper

Free

Lever reverse Singer sewing machine

€1

Pompon making guide

€4.76

Button

Free

2 organizer boxes for sewing

€2

Bernina Chicago 7 40x40mm frame 40x40mm

€6.25

Bernina Chicago 7 100x100mm frame 100x100mm

€6.25

Wall Mounted Thread Holder

€0. 61

Thread Tower

€0.71

box box

€1

Custom-Designed, 3D Printed Tools For Sewing and Quilting

Using the power of 3D printing, our October Hacker of the Month creates custom-designed tools to make sewing and quilting easier for everyone.

Posted on September 19, 2019

by

Chris Morgan

Our October 2019 Hacker of the Month is a northern California resident who has taken her desire to create cookie cutters and turned it into a full-time product design and 3D printing manufacturing business for custom sewing and quilting accessories.

Heather Snow, of purplehobbies.com, first caught the 3D printing bug back in 2014, “I first learned about 3D printing from Make magazine. I read their 3D printer review articles that encouraged me to purchase my first 3D printer.”

Heather's Snowflake Cookie Stamps and some finished cookies

But Heather’s initial urge to pursue 3D printing came from the need to create custom cookie cutters. “You’re going to laugh—I wanted to make cookie cutters and pasta extruder discs. I was using free 3D software online to make what I thought were simple daisy-shaped flower cookie cutters. The software kept crashing and it was driving me crazy. A friend at work recommended SolidWorks, so I bought a copy (I was working at a high tech company at the time and this was my way of relaxing—at least that’s how I justified the purchase at the time.) Several years of trying to learn SolidWorks on my own left me frustrated but still determined.”

“But a few years ago I was fortunate enough to be able to quit my day job and enrolled full time in SolidWorks classes at DeAnza Community College.  The professor started the class saying “We build things that don’t fall out of the sky”, referring to designs for airplanes and helicopters. I sat there thinking, “I just want to make cookie cutters!"  I took several SolidWorks classes at De Anza Community College and this made a tremendous difference in the quality of my designs and my understanding of 3D modeling. I still have lots to learn of course, but De Anza Community College continues to be an excellent source of the latest in industry news for 3D printing and classes for all of the most popular CAD software.”

Heather's 3D printed Jelly Roll Rug Binding Tool

With all her design experience and education, Heather creates her prints with an overriding principle that we can all get behind: No Supports. “I spend a tremendous amount of time designing my objects so there are no supports needed.  I do have to do a little bit of sanding rough edges on some of the parts, but my goal is to be as close to zero post-processing as possible! The most extensive post-processing I do is with the Dinosaur TacoBuddy—I bake them to anneal them which also makes them dishwasher safe!”

Heather currently has a small print-farm consisting of several Ultimaker 3s, a Raise3D Pro2, a Dremel 3D40 (her favorite for printing TPU) and a Dremel Digilab 3D45. She sticks with the native slicers for each of the printers; Cura for the Ultimakers, Dremel’s Cloud software, and IdeaMaker for the Raise3D. She still uses SolidWorks to create all her designs, even though it was not easy to learn, she says the time she invested into SolidWorks was well worth it.

Heather and her family are always ready for something to break in the house and use 3D printing to come up with a quick, cost-effective solution, as well as going through the iterative process to create the perfect print. “We use 3D printing for EVERYTHING at my house. If something is broken, we create a replacement part. If we need a tool, we create and print one. 3D printing is awesome, but the real magic comes when you combine it with the ability to create your own designs. Now, whatever we can imagine we can hold in our hands in a matter of hours (OK, sometimes days) and that’s still totally amazing to me. I love solving problems, and the more I learned about 3D modeling, the more things I saw that I could “fix” with 3D printing. From dinosaur-shaped taco holders to custom-designed quilt tools I’ve been having a blast with 3D printing. ”

Clever mason jar lids to protect water from pesky cats!

“My son’s cat loves to drink water from anywhere but his water bowl. Whenever I set down a glass of water the cat would immediately appear and stick his head in the glass to start drinking.  YUK! I created lids with straw holes for mason jars to keep the cat out. The first ones I made were out of PLA and they would leak if I tilted the jar so I started to print them using TPU and they work great! They are also dishwasher safe which is an added benefit.”

“I’m also a fan of giant coffee mugs and mine was leaving rings on our new wood table. There aren’t coasters on the market large enough for my coffee mug so I designed my own and now it’s a place for us to decorate for the holidays: flowers in the spring, snowflakes in the winter, etc.”

Heather has taken all of her education, experience, and design-savvy to create a business producing tools for another industry; sewing and quilting. “I have created lots of quilting tools that have helped keep people safer and more efficient. I was taking a quilt class one day and the woman next to me kept stabbing herself with pins every time she tried to pick one up. I thought that there had to be a better way to hold the pins so she wouldn’t keep getting hurt and the Magnetic Pin Cup was born. It’s a cup that holds the pins sharp side down with magnets, but it also has a telescoping carrying case and lid that twist shut to securely transport the pins. There are several other quilting tools I created to make things either safer or easier. My BladeSaver Thread Cutter allows people to reuse a 45mm rotary blade that they would have otherwise thrown away. The design safely holds the blade and allows threads to be cut but doesn’t allow fingers anywhere near the blade. There are several other tools that help quilters when a third hand would come in handy.”

A 3D printed Bladesaver Thread Cutter

Heather primarily uses PLA in her 3D prints, “ I’m concerned about the particles emitted from printing with other filaments. I use a lot of Matterhackers MHBuild and PRO Series filament because it’s so consistent (no, I wasn’t told to say this!). I also use TPU for mason jar lids and a few other gadgets I’m currently designing.”

Heather is also a fan of how 3D printing allows her to be flexible in her business model when the need arises, “3D printing allows me to offer many colors and scale production to create whatever is in demand at the moment. A friend blogged about my products and I had a run on a special color that she mentioned. It was great to be able to immediately ramp up production of that color for a few days and then return to the regular set of colors afterward.”

“I was also lucky enough to get a distributor interested in selling my products. This meant more volume was needed quickly.  It was great to be able to order a few more Ultimakers from MatterHackers and have them busy producing products just two days later, and at a fraction of the cost of injection mold tooling!”

3D printed Magnetic Pin Cups

Most of Heather’s passion for creating these products comes from her love of baking, sewing, and quilting - another level of Making that pairs extremely well with 3D printing and vacuum forming. “Quilting and cooking are my two favorite hobbies. Every time I struggle and wish there was a simpler way to do something I think about how I could solve the problem with 3D printing.

“My grandmother used to cut a hole in the top of her Morton salt containers so she could stick a measuring spoon inside. I took that idea one step further and created a swiveling lid for the salt container. I love to make cookies but I’m terrible at decorating them so I create combination cookie cutters and stamps. The cutters obviously cut out the shapes and the stamps provide the lines for the designs. Easy!"

Dinosaur Tacobuddies!

“Chocolates are one of our favorite things to make. I use a combination of 3D printing and the Mayku vacuum forming machine to make custom chocolate designs. We created special 80th birthday chocolate discs for my father’s birthday.”

“Someone stole one of the round tow covers from the bumper of my car. This left an ugly hole in the bumper so my son designed and 3D printed a set of flowers to fill the hole (and replaced the remaining tow cover so it’s symmetrical). Yes, 3D printing is contagious. Both of my sons create and 3D print things regularly.”

3D printed Pinnable Quilt Block Markers

Heather hopes to see many of the things that the community is looking for in the future for 3D printing; accessibility, and sustainability. “I want to see 3D printers in every home so people can purchase and download designs to print in whatever color and material they want. I would love to see 3D modeling offered to all students as a basic skill. It took me a while to rewire my brain to think about how to design things in 3D, but now that I can create whatever I can dream up I’m having a blast! I would also like to see recycling for filaments and printed parts. PLA is labeled as biodegradable, but if we could get it recycled that would be awesome for users and for the earth.”

Finally, pulling from personal experience, Heather knows that education surrounding digital fabrication methods like 3D printing is paramount. “I’m a huge believer in hands-on learning.  I would love to see more programs like DeAnza Community College has where they teach 3D modeling as well as how to use 3D printers, how to choose the correct 3D printing process, etc. The challenge is that programs like this focus on professional 3D printing—I would like to see more training for home use. I enjoy the YouTube videos that MatterHackers publishes as well as those published by many 3D printing enthusiasts, but nothing beats real, hands-on experience.  It would be great if there were multi-day boot camps to teach people how to use 3D printers and how to maintain and troubleshoot them. We also need 3D printing superstores where you can go in and get help from a 3D printing expert with either troubleshooting a printing problem or help with creating a design for 3D printing.”

A measuring-spoon friendly salt lid.

We can’t wait to see how Purple Hobbies continues to be successful with Heather’s creative drive and spirit! If you would like to learn more about Heather and Purple Hobbies, you can visit her website here:

https://www. purplehobbies.com/

Are you a 3D printing Hacker or know someone that is? We would love to share their stories with the 3D printing community! Please email [email protected] with information, and you or your friend could be our featured Hacker of the Month.

3D printed clothes: 3D printed clothes and dresses

The idea of ​​printing rather than sewing clothes has been on the minds of minds for many years. And for good reason: 3D printing has many advantages over traditional manufacturing. The lack of suitable materials slows down the process. Often printed clothes are inconvenient in everyday use. But over the past 10 years, a big step forward has been made.

Application history

3D printing is what almost everyone is talking about today. We hear about 3D printed houses, food, and even human organs. So the fashion industry could not stay away from the opportunities that 3D printing technology promises. nine0003

2010

Dutch designer Iris van Herpen is the first to use a 3D printer to create clothes. In 2010, van Herpen presented her first creation using additive technologies at the International Fashion Week in Amsterdam. It was a white "Crystallization" polyamide top.

The process of turning liquid into crystals - that same crystallization - inspired Iris to create such an unusual shape. The model caused a sensation, and other creative designers turned their attention towards 3D printing. nine0003

2011

A year later, the innovative brand Continuum Fashion tried to take 3D printing beyond the haute couture world by creating a prototype bikini that can be worn not only on the catwalk, but also for its intended purpose. The model is made of nylon, ideal for this piece of clothing. All details of the swimsuit, including the clasp, are 3D printed and have no seams. You can’t find this model in offline stores, but you can order it on the company’s website. It is worth noting that the price will unpleasantly surprise you. Pleasure is not cheap. But this is kind of the first step towards using 3D printing for mass production of clothing. nine0003

2013

Additive technologies have made it possible to embody the most daring fantasies of designers. In February 2013, the famous dancer Dita Von Teese appeared at a conference held in New York at the Ace Hotel. The chic dress she wore was 3D printed and embellished with Swarovski crystals. This outfit differed from its predecessors in that it was quite flexible with 3,000 moving joints. It could be taken off and put on like a normal dress sewn in the traditional way. nine0003

Designers - Francis Bitonti (Francis Bitonti) and Michael Schmidt (Michael Schmidt), who created this futuristic attire, managed to completely surprise the audience. The drawings of the 12 pieces of the dress were computer generated and subsequently printed by New York-based Shapeways. In production, the method of selective laser sintering (SLS) was used.

2015

After that, fashion designers were unstoppable. Three-dimensional technologies have firmly entered the world of fashion, which is still only high. In 2015, Dutch designer Anouk Wipprecht introduced the amazing Spider Dress. It is easy to guess by the name that the image of a spider (from the English spider - a spider) became the source of inspiration. The dress is an exoskeleton equipped with 20 sensors. "Spider legs" will rise and "protect" the owner's personal space if the sensors detect an increase in stress. nine0003

Present

But some designers have not abandoned the idea of ​​using 3D printing for more than extravagant haute couture models. Among them is Danit Peleg, who has been professionally engaged in 3D printing of clothes for everyday life for many years. Despite the fact that the cost of models from her collections is still quite high for the average buyer, the clothes are comfortable to wear, practical and look spectacular.

Modern clothing designers use additive technologies not only for self-expression, but also as a means to make this world a better place, and clothes more practical. Julia Daviy is a designer and environmental technologist who lives by the idea of ​​biodegradable materials. 3D printing for her is primarily an opportunity to reduce production costs and waste.

How are clothes made with a 3D printer?

Printing clothes on a 3D printer can be divided into three stages:

  1. Create a sketch. It can be done both on paper with subsequent transfer to a special program for 3D modeling, or immediately in this program. Rarely is the entire article printed. Therefore, the outfit will be divided into several elements, which then will need to be connected.
  2. Print file or files.

Important: material selection is key to ensure that the finished product is not too stiff and uncomfortable to wear. Soft, stretchy materials based on polyamide are well suited for these purposes. nine0003

  1. Final assembly and other finishing work.

Advantages of 3D printed clothing

Production of clothing using additive technologies has a number of advantages over traditional ones.

Reducing production waste

The large amount of waste generated in the production of clothing is a huge global problem. And we are talking not only about production costs, but also about environmental pollution. Therefore, many elements of the production process require rethinking. nine0003

Reference: 2700 liters of water are required to produce one cotton T-shirt. This is how much one person will drink in 900 days.

The production and dyeing of fabrics uses a huge amount of water. Along with this, the cutting process itself is impossible without scraps that replenish landfills. The use of 3D printing will reduce the amount of waste: only the amount of material that is needed to create a project will be used.

Easy disposal of finished products

Ability to recycle unwanted clothing for reuse in the production process. Already, Adidas is using recycled plastic found in the ocean to produce the midsole of its sneakers. Creating new materials from old ones and using plastic more responsibly is a big advantage of 3D printing over traditional production.

Availability of individual designs

3D printing will give everyone the opportunity to get a dress like a catwalk model, which, in turn, will fit perfectly on the figure. Moreover, with the development and widespread use of 3D printing, anyone can feel like a designer by developing their own model. nine0003

Reduced logistics costs

With the development of 3D printed clothing, there will be no need for complex logistics chains when fabric is produced in one country, models are made in another, which are then sent around the world.

Applied 3D printing technologies for clothing

Although printed clothing is a relatively new phenomenon, 3D printing technology itself has been used for many years to make accessories: bags, shoes, jewelry. The main problem is that the materials used for 3D printing are more rigid than regular fabric. We have to find a compromise between rigidity and strength. Therefore, this direction is not developing as fast as others. nine0003

The most commonly used technologies for garments are:

  • FDM (Fusion Fused Modeling). Low print resolution, possible defects. Materials: thermoplastics (nylon, polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene, PLA, ABS, PET, TPU).
  • SLS (selective laser sintering). This method allows you to create intricate designs with a high level of detail. Materials: powdered thermoplastics (Nylon 6, Nylon 11, Nylon 12).
  • SLA (Laser Stereolithography). Very high print resolution. Materials: photopolymer resins (standard, casting, transparent, high temperature). nine0052

Application examples

Transformer dresses

In 2016, the University of Herfordshire in the UK created a collection of transformable dresses based on Modeclix technology. They differ from other models in that their design allows you to change the style and size both before and after printing.

The use of 3D printing by fashion designers

Noa Raviv

The work of a young talented fashion designer from Israel is a synthesis of geometric lines and unusual shapes. The latest collection, printed on a Stratasys' Objet Connex 500 Multi-Material 3D printer, is black and white abstractions with bright orange lines added to effectively emphasize the simplicity of the dresses' forms. nine0003

ThreeASFOUR

The threeASFOUR brand brings together three designers, Gabrielle Asfour, Angela Donhauser and Adi Gil, who skillfully combine cutting-edge technology with the traditional art of modelling.

The Pangolin dress presented at New York Fashion Week was printed with nano-enhanced elastomer, which is highly durable and flexible at the same time. This piece of art was created in collaboration with Travis Fitch and Stratasys. nine0003

10 printers spent 500 hours printing elements of the dress, which were then connected to each other. All parts are movable. They create this attractive three-dimensional effect.

Anouk Wipprecht

Dutch designer Anouk Wipprecht's dresses combine bold shapes, interesting ideas and modern technology, and the latter goes beyond the 3D printing with which they are created. "Smart" Anouk dresses interact with the environment and react to external influences: they move, change shape, glow, blink. nine0003

The Smoke Dress releases smoke when someone gets too close. The idea is to create a veil and alert the person that they are in the wearer's personal space. The Smoke dress was created as part of a collection for the Volkswagen Group.

Application in batch production

Viptie 3D

Albanian company Viptie 3D produces stylish 3D printed ties. Each model can be modified according to the wishes of the client. They managed to combine luxury and high technology. nine0003

Ministry of Supply

Boston-based Ministry of Supply has been making seamless 3D printed blazers and jackets since 2016. The production uses 3D Robotic Knitting technology. It takes only 90 minutes to print one product.

Danit Peleg

Fashion designer known for her work in the field of 3D printing. She designs her own textiles and experiments with various technologies such as laser cutting, screen printing and 3D printing. On her website, you can buy a fully customized jacket. Printing and assembly takes over 100 hours. Thanks to this revolutionary technology, each piece is unique, made according to the individual requirements of the customer. nine0003

Hercules 2018 Clothing 3D Printer

Hercules 2018 Closed Camera Desktop 3D Printer from Russian manufacturer IMPRINTA uses FDM/FFM printing technology. Productivity of the device for flexible materials is up to 34 cm 3 /hour. The size of the working chamber is 200 × 200 × 210 mm. The model has high print quality without visible layers, which is achieved by reducing the layer thickness value. For the Hercules 2018 model, this value is 15 microns. nine0003

3D printer Hercules Original

  • Guarantee 1 year
  • Performance 34-50 cm3/h
  • File formats STL, OBJ
  • Dimensions, mm 391x380x496
  • Housing material Steel
  • Software Slic3r
  • Manufacturer country Russia
  • Weight, kg 18.9
  • closed case no
  • Table top calibration mechanical
  • Maximum platform temperature for printing 125°C
  • Max extruder temperature 260°C
  • Seal FDM
  • Table heating yes, removable glass
  • Travel speed up to 150 mm/s
  • Noise level 48 dB
  • Working chamber area 200x200x210 mm
  • Speed 100 mm/s
  • Number of print heads 1
  • Layer thickness from 20 µm
  • Thread diameter 1. 75
  • Nozzle diameter, mm 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1
  • Interfaces USB;SD card

Go to product

Another feature of the Hercules 2018 printer is its low noise level of only 48 dB, which makes it suitable for home use. nine0003

Although the use of 3D printing in the fashion industry is severely limited by the materials used, a number of fashion designers continue to experiment hard, gradually turning the idea of ​​printing clothes into reality.

  • May 24, 2020
  • 5895

Get expert advice

3D printed clothing: why haven't manufacturers mass-produced it yet? nine0001

ThreeASFOUR showcased their 3D printed clothing collection for the first time at a fashion show at the Jewish Museum in New York. The dresses on the models were patterned and looked ephemeral, like the robes of robotic angels. One was woven from white, angular bubbles, which gave the impression that the girl had just taken a bubble bath.

But the girl who showed this dress to the world could not sit down, otherwise the dress would have broken. “The model wearing the dress was very unhappy,” said Bradley Rothenberg, a 3D architect who collaborates with threeASFOUR founders Gabi Asfor, Angela Donhauser and Adi Gil. nine0003

ThreeASFOUR dress at the fashion show at the Jewish Museum.

It happened in 2013, when threeASFOUR began to realize that in order to achieve the goal, they would have to take a step back. They did not even think that they would create such an impractical piece of clothing. On the contrary, they wanted to create an outfit worthy of a superhero. They dreamed that the fabric they printed would become invulnerable to bullets and fire, retain heat and protect the wearer from stress. They dreamed that people would start buying their clothes as soon as they hit stores. nine0003

But time has passed. With the Silicon Valley elite building personal bunkers, refugees pouring across the border into Canada, and Margaret Atwood back in vogue, threeASFOUR's vision is as close to reality as an apocalyptic dystopia. But if everyone has access to the stocks left on Doomsday, becoming a superhero is still unrealistic.

And the reason is quite simple. Thanks to thousands of years of experience, tailored clothes are more practical and comfortable than those printed by a 3D printer. But that doesn't seem to be stopping threeASFOUR and other designers. nine0003

“In the fashion world, you can control the patterns and structure of a dress to get the look you want,” Rothenberg says. “The problem is that right now it’s just a possibility. So I think Gaby Asfor is the most interesting person in the industry. We need people who will push the boundaries, striving to show the new. ”

The vision of Gabi Asfor is evident in his work. He became interested in 3D printing in 2009 and has been experimenting with the internal structure of fabrics ever since. nine0003

Traditional fabric has two dimensions: the threads are arranged horizontally, vertically and diagonally in a certain way to create a weave. Asfor, who has a degree in mechanical engineering and architecture from the University of Maryland, worked with Donhauser and Gil to come up with a three-dimensional weave that was planned to be laser-cut. The desire to give fabric a third dimension led them to 3D printing.

“The most innovative recent invention in the industry is the four-way stretch fabric,” says Asfor. “But ordinary fabric can only stretch in the X and Y planes. 3D printing will allow the material to stretch in the Z plane as well.” He believes that such a fabric will be better breathable, less restrict movement, and will not have folds. nine0003

ThreeASFOUR was interested in 3D printing, which led them to collaborate with Materialise, a 3D printed model company, and Rothenberg, who came up with 3D printed wings for the 2013 Victoria's Secret fashion show.

“When we first started, Gabi kept asking, “Can you print fabric? What material will be needed for this?” Rotenberg says. It turned out that this would not be easy.

Pangolin dress from the Biomimicry collection. Source: Backchannel

The main problem is that the materials used for 3D printing are stiffer than regular fabric. ThreeASFOUR experimented with the structures of various materials, trying to add elasticity to them, but any printed model came out very fragile.

But new materials have arrived, and ThreeASFOUR has teamed up with Stratasys and Travis Fitch to design dresses like Pangolin for their new fall 2016 collection, which they call Biomimicry. It took 500 hours to print (not including assembly) Pangolin! The dress, named after a scaly mammal, was reminiscent of dark armor (Björk appeared in it during a tour in Australia last year). To create the "scales", the designers used an algorithm that simulates cell division, thus obtaining an intertwining pattern. nine0003

On the ground floor of the ThreeASFOUR studio, there are employees who work with the most ordinary sewing machines. The dress itself is located on the next floor. Up close, the Pangolin bib, detached from the other parts of the dress, is somewhat reminiscent of a bicycle tire that has been cut to look like fish scales (it even wiggles like a fish tail). Such a deflection was not possible a few years earlier.

Asphor hands me a piece of another dress, a Harmonograph modeled after a sound wave. It was made from a rubber mesh that can expand and contract like a pillow-top mattress. The bottom of the dress shrinks when a person sits down and returns to shape when they stand up. nine0003

Harmonograph dress by ThreeASFOUR. Source: Instagram

With this flexibility, 3D wearers can now sit comfortably, although comfort is far from ideal. “Matter resembles artificial skin. It is not very pleasant to the touch and, in addition, sticks to the skin, ”says Rotenberg.

The idea of ​​making printed clothes gained popularity at the beginning of the 21st century, but developed rather slowly.

Few people know this better than Aaron Rowley, founder of Electroloom, a 3D printed clothing startup. At first, many well-known brands were interested in his work, but gradually, one by one, they left. “There was an idea that people could print tools at home,” says Rowley, referring to the days when there was a lot of hype around 3D printing. It was believed that clothes could also be printed, since wardrobe items are used every day and need to be updated regularly. nine0003

But progress has not gone far. “The process of creating fabric is fundamentally different [from 3D printing],” says Rowley.

“Textiles are an advanced technology,” says Scott Hudson, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who has worked with Disney on soft print materials. Calling the textile industry a technology, he was not exaggerating: some experts believe that the loom is an early version of the computer. In the middle of the 18th century, Joseph Marie Jacquard figured out how to save a fabric pattern on a punched card, which made it possible to set the machine to work and automate the process. nine0003

3D printing technology is not that polished yet. “You have to find a compromise between stiffness and strength,” says Hudson. 3D printers create an object by layering, and this process is very different from how fibers are turned into fabric.

Rowley took fabric raw materials and created blends that resemble existing fabrics. However, the 3D printer has created something that looks like a "chaotic web". It took a long time before they got a soft, stretchy, foldable and lightweight material that at first glance resembled fabric. But even the final version was not suitable: the material was torn as soon as it was pulled harder. nine0003

“Fibers that are physically connected, as in the case of 3D printing, remain stationary, while woven fibers move smoothly relative to each other,” Rowley explained. Electroloom shut down last October.

Until the material issue is resolved, the printed garment will look more like a work of art than a piece of clothing. A year ago, threeASFOUR dresses were featured at the Met Gala-sponsored Costume Institute show. The Manus x Machina show in 2016 also emphasized the role of technology in the fashion world: stars and celebrities dressed in silver at the show, and Zayn Malik appeared in a suit with robot arms. nine0003

Oscillation Dress by ThreeASFOUR. Source: Instagram

This year, threeASFOUR has introduced another novelty: a white and blue lattice dress, pictured above, it hugs a mannequin in their studio. The dress consists of 30 pieces, which are first printed and then carefully assembled.

“We are looking for new technologies,” says Asfor. “I believe that in the near future we will have a unique opportunity to move in this direction.”

At the same time, the quality of other garments (such as jewelry or sportswear) printed on a 3D printer is much higher.

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