Choosing or designing clothes that last a long time?

How often clothes are washed tends to shorten the life of garments.

I have heard that soap residue in garments also shortens the life of garments.

Kate Downham wrote:The linen skirt that I made with an elastic waist got holes quite quickly where the elastic was, but a linen wrap skirt I have is still looking great after two years. The wrap skirt is made from a heavier weight linen, but I suspect that the elastic on the other skirt may have irritated the linen fibres somehow, which could also explain it.

Does mixing up different fibres this way cause the natural one to wear out more quickly?

Blending cotton or linen with plastic (polyester, for example) fibers definitely causes more wear on the individual fibers and therefore the fabric when compared to a fabric of a single natural ingredient.

I did a study on fiber content when I was making rugs.  The "stronger" polyester fibers tend to cut the cotton fibers and decrease longevity.  I'm guessing/extrapolating that pilling and other signs of wear could also be caused by the blending of fiber contents.  

I know that the benefits (and longevity) of linen plummet quickly when blended with polyester.

And. I've started stitching down my elastic waistband to reduce the free-floating elastic in the hopes that it reduces the wear you mentioned.

Nancy Reading wrote:

Do you think the fibres are better when handspun (longer or otherwise superior) or that the machine made yarn is damaged in some way? Handspun and handmade is obviously more precious, but I'd have thought that inconsistencies would be detrimental to longevity not ending up superior.

Hello Nancy!


I am sure it would depend on the yarn.   I cant really say for the sweaters I did not produce myself.  They just look like regular yarn but the tag says hand spun and hand knitted.  They seem to be ageless.  I don't know why.

I have made knitted garments with good store bought yarn too.  It seems like they end up needing repair.  Two of my favorite skirts need to be repaired right now because a yarn has broken and the knitting is coming undone.  


For the yarn I produce from my sheep, I was having some inconsistencies in thickness and tensile strength.  Now I run it through about 5 lbs of tension so the weak spots will break and then I twine it to 2 ply before I knit.  That ends up with a pretty strong product.  

I am new at this though.  I only have one outfit I have made this way and it is on its second winter.  I still have a lot to learn but now I am warm and cozy when I go out to do chores!

I have recently radically changed how I dress and from it I found I get a lot longevity out of my clothing as an additional bonus.

Myself, I wear the same set of clothes.

I have two clothing choices. Work clothing and dress clothing, but it is the same black pants, and gray shirt, just differing in type and construction of the clothes. I do this so I minimize the clothes I have (3 dress outfits/5 work outfits), and everyday I know what I am going to wear without thought.

But here comes the longevity. I think they will last longer because I chose dark colors that do not stain. No longer ring around the collar with white dress shirts that must be thrown out after wearing it twice. But they also last longer because I wash them much more often (I have limited outfits). Using a modern, gentle washer/dryer combo unit the fabric is not abused as much in the washer/dryer. Some outfits get worn a lot and often, such as worn that day, washed that night, and reworn the next day, while other outfits remain in the closet unused. This will cause some outfits to wear prematurely, but the other outfits will be much older before they are worn out making the two average out.

We shall see!

About the question of whether “plastic” fibers such as polyester cause more wear on the natural ones in a commercially produced blended fabric, there is also the question of the quality of natural fibers included.  It can be a short fiber or low quality natural fiber to begin with.  Wool is recycled, which breaks and abrades the fibers.  Both wool and cotton vary in quality, weak and or short because of the variables involved in all agricultural products.

If it doesn’t SAY 100 % virgin wool it probably isn’t! I’m not as familiar with ELS, extra long staple cotton varieties, but Pima cotton and Egyptian cotton are extremely long staple.

Now this is just my bias, but I believe that high quality all natural fabric is going to be more expensive, and there will be labels to attempt to communicate that to the consumer.  The others are going to spend as little as possible on production, and deflect the attention of the buyer onto something else, making unsubstantiated claims that have no meaning.

And when you make your own, you have a better chance to be aware of the variables.

Nancy Reading wrote:

Samantha Lewis wrote:Now I am spinning the yarn from my own sheep too.  I think this a great way to create long lasting garments.  

I make cotton and linen stuff too.  It does not have to be all wool.   Everything seems to last longer if it is homemade

Do you think the fibres are better when handspun (longer or otherwise superior) or that the machine made yarn is damaged in some way? Handspun and handmade is obviously more precious, but I'd have thought that inconsistencies would be detremental to longevity not ending up superior.

I think the handspun is better because of some reasons:
Handspinners use the best quality fibers, they don't want to waste their time on low quality fibers.
Handspinners prepare the fibers in the best way. Machines do it fast, but often that isn't the best way.
Handspinners are aware of the end-product they want to make. They have different ways of spinning, depending on what they're spinning the yarn for: a warm sweater, hard-wearing socks or maybe a woven shawl ...

Of course this is not always the case. But I think of experienced spinnners.