We have a range of unique fabrics in The Keeper brand, this series of blog posts will help you choose which fabric is best for your shopping needs and hopefully inspire some new uses for any Keeper bags you already have.

 

For more succinct info see our 'How to Use' page on the website or contact us for a copy of our uses chart. 

 

We are all keepers of the earth.  

Canvas has a long history, it is one of the oldest forms of fabric and historically made from tightly woven hemp and later flax 'linen'. The word canvas comes from the Latin cannabis and came into common usage in the 16th century during the Italian Renaissance when it was primarily used for oil paintings. Imagine the difference to artists who no longer had to carry around wooden panels but could transport much lighter and flexible canvas. 

 

The weave a fabric is made from is largely what defines it, as well as the material and the weight of the yarn.  

 

Cotton canvas is woven from one of the three fundamental weaves: Pain weave, satin weave and twill. Also known as tabby weave, linen weave or taffeta weave, the so called pain weave is strong, hard wearing and used for fashion and furnishing. 

 

This gets a bit technical but with a plain woven cloth, the warp and weft threads cross at right angles, aligned so they form a simple criss-cross pattern. Each weft thread crosses the warp threads by going over one, then under the next, and so on. The next weft thread goes under the warp threads that its neighbor went over, and vice versa. This sounds simple because it is, it's one of the oldest weaves. 

Fabrics form chiffon to canvas can be made with the plain weave, the difference in final texture being the yarn weight. 

We use a fairly standard weight of canvas for our plastic free satchel. Adding vibrance and beauty by using natural plant based eco-dying methods to colour the base of the bag. Our Turmeric colour is dyed using real turmeric. The Rock Salt grey colour is named for Indian black salt and dyed with a native Indian seed.