Fashion accessory products design from handspun mulberry and cotton blended yarn: Mechanical characteristics and consumer response

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the composition ratios and mechanical qualities of handspun yarn made from mulberry and cotton blended fibers for textile craft, design fashion products made from handspun yarn, and evaluate the target group’s opinions on the fashion products. Using the mixed methods research approach, this study integrated both experimental and quantitative research. The results revealed that handspun mulberry and cotton fibers blended yarn at the ratio of 40:60 had the most disorganized fibers and the highest crimp level. However, the four varied composition ratios of these two types of fibers had no significant effect on the fiber weight and yarn count of the handspun yarn (p > 0.05). In terms of mechanical qualities, the 40:60 handspun yarn had the highest tensile strength and tenacity (p > 0.05) compared to pure cotton handspun yarn. The elongation property of the 20:80 blended mulberry and cotton fiber yarn was determined to be the highest. The target group, which included experts, community members, and consumer perspectives, had the highest level of agreement. Textiles produced from Mulberry fiber, an agricultural waste, have the potential to revitalize weaving communities. This research is also valuable to cotton weaving communities, textile designers, and artists.

Keywords:

• Handspun yarn
• Mulberry
• Cotton
• Blended fibers
• Fashion products
• Handicrafts
• Agricultural by-product

1. Introduction

Thailand is a free economy with well-developed infrastructure in Southeast Asia. Agriculture, food, and textiles are some of its main industries. In Thailand, weaving is a significant aspect of the native culture. After farming, weaving was utilized as a secondary occupation around the country. There have been government policies in Thailand that focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) development by promoting their steady growth. One example of these is the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) which was introduced to help build a strong and stable economic foundation. It also helps increase the country’s competitiveness at an international level by working with knowledge and technology to connect local community products to the outside market.

In Northeastern Thailand, Khon Kaen serves as both a commercial and political center. The Provincial Community Development Office of Khon Kaen has a mission to improve this foundation economy through cooperation with the community to promote learning as well as developing careers and local products to be at an international level (Provincial Community Development Office of Khon Kaen, Community Development Strategic Group, 2020). In the past, Khon Kaen was well known for its textile handicrafts, but in recent years the textile production has changed along with changes in society, the economy, and cultural ecosystems that expand with capitalism. This results in the changing purposes behind textile handicrafts, from being produced for household use or exchanged with other goods within the community, to mainly industrial products. As traditional wisdom is combined with industrial production, it results in industrial crafts, which are catered to the current context. The direction of textile development in Khon Kaen is toward the use of local natural fibers and environmentally friendly techniques, while considering the qualities of these to produce fiber quality suitable for its application. In addition to its fame for silk textiles, Khon Kaen is also known for its cotton which has been widely used for a long time. The cotton fiber, when processed, can be used broadly for many purposes, and also has many outstanding features including being comfortable and not too warm to wear, easy to maintain, and not as expensive as silk fibers. Cotton fiber is suitable for the climate of north-eastern Thailand, making it a fiber of choice among the general public and being encouraged to develop by both the public and private sectors for it to be more appreciated

The cotton weaving group in Ban Nong Ya Plong, Phon Phek subdistrict, Mancha Khiri district, Khon Kaen province has been selected as a target group by the Khon Kaen Provincial Community Development Office to be a model in product development to create innovative and efficient products to meet the needs of consumers. The group has 20 members and a monthly production rate of 1,000 m. In recent years, the cotton weaving group has already integrated techniques of producing cotton fiber, natural dyeing, and weaving into their production of minimalistic apparel products. However, their products still did not have good standards and did not meet the needs of consumers very well due to a lack of knowledge in the design and selection of suitable raw materials. Therefore, such knowledge must be improved to be used as a guideline for further production to help promote local careers and generate more income for members of the community. The cotton weaving group has access to several raw materials that come from a large amount of local agricultural waste. This includes mulberry trees whose leaves have been harvested to feed the silkworms raised by the villagers. When these trees reach the end of their optimum leaf-giving age, they usually get cut down and burnt. There have been some recent endeavors in using trunks and branches of these mulberry trees to make some sports products. The pulp from mulberry bark can also be made into mulberry paper (Ninpetch, 2020). The initial research on mulberry trees was conducted to determine the possibility of developing quality fiber, and it was found that the fibers of mulberry bark cannot bind together to form yarn, requiring a blend of other fibers such as cotton fiber to be the main raw material of the yarn. However, mulberry trees were found to have some properties suitable for the climate of the north-eastern region, which should add quality and desirable properties to the yarn. This can also help create added value and reduce production costs by using leftover local natural materials suitably for the group’s potential. The woven fabric and cloth are the principal products of the Ban Nong Ya Plong cotton weaving group. This is the first time that fashion accessory products have been developed.

Based on the aforementioned background and significance of the issues, the researcher aimed to study the composition ratios and mechanical properties of handspun yarn from mulberry and cotton blended fibers for industrial handicrafts, design fashion accessory products made from handspun yarn of mulberry and cotton blended fibers and explore opinions of the target group and consumers on the fashion accessory products made from handspun yarn of mulberry and cotton blended fibers. The findings from this study can be a guideline for developing fibers to suit their usage. They should also encourage maximum utilization of local agricultural waste products through an environmentally friendly process and help create innovations combining local textile wisdom into industrial handicrafts in a valuable and sustainable way.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials

Tak Fa 7 cotton fiber with a length of approximately 2.5–3.2 cm was utilized in the experiment, while mulberry fiber was employed with an average length ranging from 2 to 3 cm. Both fibers were collected from Ban Nong Ya Plong cotton weaving group, Khon Kaen, Thailand.

2.2. Mulberry fiber extraction

Sakon Nakhon mulberry trees aged 6–12 months, which were left over from having their leaves harvested to feed silkworms, were cut into pieces with an average length of 10 cm and boiled in 30 L of water at an average temperature of 150–180°C for 3 hours (Chonsakorn, 2016). The boiled mulberry pieces were left to soak for a day to soften the bark and separate it from the wood. The separation was done by taking the pieces out of the water, peeling the fibrous parts from the trunk, and leaving the fibers to dry before blending with cotton fibers.

2.3. Yarn and fabric production

Mulberry fibers, a type of agricultural waste, are less crimped and coarser than cotton, hence they are typically combined in with cotton in a different ratio when being spun (Dong et al., 2017; Qu et al., 2014). In order to create a homogenous mass of fiber mixes, handmade hand carder was used to blend mulberry and cotton fibers in four distinct ratios: 10:90, 20:80, 30:70, and 40:60. (making a net weight of 1 kg for each blend). As a control sample, pure cotton handspun yarn (0:100) was utilized. To ensure the quality of the handspun yarn, all samples were created by a single handspinner with more than ten years of experience. After that, plain weave was woven on hand loom weaving machine. The cotton yarn of 20 tex (Supaptextile, Thailand) was utilized in the warp direction, while the handspun blended yarn was used in the weft direction.

2.4. Characterization

The yarn properties including morphology, yarn count and mechanical properties affected the appearance and comfort properties of fabric (Özdil et al., 2007; Yuhui Wei et al., 2018)

2.4.1. Appearance

A handspun yarn appearance was undertaken with three participants to evaluate naked eye visual evaluation procedures.

2.4.2. Morphology

The morphology of handspun yarns were performed by JSM-IT300 scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at an accelerating voltage of 20 kV (JEOL, Japan).

2.4.3. Yarn count

Yarn count was measured according to ASTM D 1059–17 standard test method for 120 yards test length and expressed in tex.

2.4.4. Mechanical properties

Mechanical properties tested include tensile strength, elongation, and tenacity of the yarn according to ASTM D2256–97. Tensile strength and elongation were tested with a M350-5AT Universal Testing Machine (Testometric, UK) with a gauge length of 500 mm, load cell of 500 N, and crosshead speed of 30 mm/min. All tests were repeated 3 times, then variability of the mean values was analyzed using One-Way Analysis of Variance (One-way ANOVA), while the differences between mean values were analyzed with Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at 95% confidence level.

2.5. Design fashion accessory products made from handspun yarn of mulberry and cotton blended fibers

To compile and analyze keywords to be utilized as principles for community product designs, recorded or published information on community product designs as well as material from relevant documents, books, and research were gathered and examined. Moreover, the target group’s business potential (SWOT analysis), consumer trends, including attitudes and behaviors, as well as desired amenities or services (Creative Design Center, 2020), were examined, as were Thai textile fashion trends from the Thai textile trend book spring/summer 2022 (Department of Cultural Promotion, 2021). This aimed to bring in matching important aspects and define them to be more relevant to the design and sewing potential of this cotton weaving group. The analysis included fashion design ideas, style and shapes, colors, materials, and details (Utiswannakul, 2011), and rough drafts were presented to community product experts and fashion specialists for further improvement. In order to assess and then improve their effectiveness, experts reviewed an interview form and a questionnaire to determine the Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) (Soodsang, 2016). IOC is a process used in test development to evaluate content validity during the item development stage. The expert’s advice was to change complicated designs to fit the group’s potential. Based on the suggestions of experts from the initial versions, improvement forms were made that included more information on production. These forms were then proposed to the experts to finalize the designs and create product prototypes. Then, the target group comprises of 5 experts, 20 local community members and 136 tourists who will evaluate fashion accessory products such as hats, bags, and shoes.

2.6. Explore the opinions of the research’s target group on the fashion accessory products made from handspun yarn of mulberry and cotton blended fibers

The opinions of the research’s target group were gathered. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Results of fibers blend ratios and mechanical properties of handspun yarn from mulberry and cotton blended fibers

3.1.1. Yarn appearance

The appearance of different blends of handspun yarn was observed with the naked eye. Handspun yarn made from 40:60 mulberry to cotton fibers was found to have the most crimps, followed by yarn made from the mulberry to cotton fibers with ratios of 30:70, 20:80, 10:90, and 0:100 respectively (Figure 1). The fineness of the mulberry fiber is 2.2 dtex which is coarser fiber than cotton fiber which affect to yarn count (Qu et al., 2014). The use of a larger mulberry fiber ratio in blended yarn spinning resulted in a increase in yarn size. This is consistent with the study Lungnongkhun et al. (2017) found that handspun yarn made from cotton and sugarcane leaves fiber increases in size as the sugarcane leaves fiber content increases. Another study by Ujjin et al. (2006) examined handspun yarn made from pineapple fiber and cotton and discovered that adding more pineapple fiber led to yarn with an irregular texture and thickness.

Figure 1. Appearance of handspun yarn made from different ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers (a) 0:100 (b) 10:90 (c) 20:80 (d) 30:70 (e) 40:60.

3.1.2. Morphology of the yarn

The different blends of handspun yarn were examined for their morphologies under a scanning electron microscope at 50 times magnification. Handspun yarn made from 40:60 mulberry to cotton fibers was found to have the largest strands, followed by yarn made from mulberry to cotton fiber ratios of 30:70, 20:80, 10:90 and 0:100 respectively. All blends of mulberry to cotton handspun yarn were found with disorganized fibers. This may be due to the decomposed mulberry bark fibers still being hard and unable to blend with the cotton fibers homogeneously, resulting in curly and disorganized fibers on the surface as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. SEM images (50× magnification) of handspun yarn made from different ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers, (a) 0:100, (b) 10:90, (c) 20:80, (d) 30:70, (e) 40:60.

3.1.3. Yarn count and mechanical properties

Handspun yarn made from different ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers was measured to find the yarn count numbers using the direct system of yarn count or by measuring the linear density of yarn. All samples were statistically analyzed in comparison to the control sample, a pure cotton yarn. The results of the analysis are shown in Tables 1-2.

Table 1. Means and standard deviations of weight and yarn count of handspun yarn made from different ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers

Mulberry to cotton ratio (%)	Fiber weight (g)	Yarn count (tex)
0:100	0.17 ± 0.01^b	84.18 ± 4.94^b
10:90	0.34 ± 0.05^a	169.35 ± 23.81^a
20:80	0.33 ± 0.08^a	167.23 ± 39.88^a
30:70	0.36 ± 0.07^a	179.55 ± 34.21^a
40:60	0.34 ± 0.09^a	173.10 ± 24.81^a

Note: 1. Mean ± Standard Deviation values are marked alphabetically from the highest to the lowest values.

The mean values with different superscript letters (a-c) in a column are significantly different (p≤0.05)

Table 2. Mechanical properties of handspun yarn made from different ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers

Mulberry to cotton ratio (percent)	Tensile Strength (N)	Elongation (mm)	Tenacity (cN/tex)
0:100	2888.00 ± 301.88^a	6.87 ± 0.60^b	3912.34 ± 408.95^a
10:90	2034.33 ± 153.88^b	6.39 ± 0.29^bc	2755.89 ± 208.05^b
20:80	1743.67 ± 203.37^bc	8.06 ± 0.23^a	2362.13 ± 275.51^bc
30:70	1489.67 ± 307.37^c	5.56 ± 0.78^c	2018.04 ± 416.39^c
40:60	3194.33 ± 119.53^a	5.24 ± 0.71^c	4327.33 ± 161.92^a

Note: 1. Mean ± Standard Deviation values are marked alphabetically from the highest to the lowest values.

The mean values with different superscript letters (a-c) in a column are significantly different (p≤0.05)

From Table 1, handspun yarn made from all 5 different ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers 0:100, 10:90, 20:80, 30:70, and 40:60 was examined for fiber weight and yarn count. The results show that blending mulberry fibers with cotton fibers affected fiber weight and yarn count at a statistically significant level (p≤0.05). All of the yarn spun from mulberry fibers blended with cotton fibers, at any ratio of blending composition, was found to have approximately 2 times higher fiber weight and yarn count numbers than the pure cotton handspun yarn (0:100). When considering all 4 ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers, the different ratios of mulberry fibers were not found to affect fiber weight and yarn count of the handspun yarn at a significant level (p>0.05), having fiber weight in the range of 0.33–0.36g and yarn count between 167.23–179.55 tex.

From Table 2, handspun yarn made from all 5 different ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers 0:100, 10:90, 20:80, 30:70 and 40:60 was examined for its mechanical properties including tensile strength, elongation, and tenacity of the yarn. Among the handspun mulberry to cotton blended yarn, handspun yarn made from 40:60 mulberry to cotton fibers was found to have the highest tensile strength and the highest tenacity, followed by yarn made from the mulberry to cotton fiber ratios of 10:90, 20:80 and 30:70 respectively (p≤0.05). The tensile strength and tenacity of handspun yarn made from 40:60 mulberry to cotton fibers were not different from that of pure cotton handspun yarn (0:100) at a significant level (p>0.05). In the case of elongation, handspun yarn made from 20:80 mulberry to cotton fibers was found to have the highest elongation, followed by yarn made from the mulberry to cotton fiber ratios of 10:90, 30:70 and 40:60 respectively.

3.2. The result of designing fashion products made from handspun yarn of mulberry and cotton blended fibers

The mechanical property test results were used to determine the appropriate ratio of mulberry to cotton fibers for handspun yarn to be used as the main material in fashion accessory designs. As the products required raw material with a good level of strength, elongation, and tenacity handspun yarn made from 20:80 mulberry to cotton fibers was used in the designs. This was due to the test results of this ratio which demonstrated the highest elongation without significant difference in strength and tenacity to other blending ratios. The designing process was done as follows:

The current situation of the cotton weaving group was analyzed to find their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) in order to find ways to develop products that are suitable for the group’s potential. The details are summarized in Table 3.

Table 3. Situation analysis of the cotton weaving group

SWOT analysis	Current situation	Development guidelines
Strengths	“Cotton”, the group’s main raw material, can be found in the local and nearby areas. Every step of the production process is environmentally friendly.	Use local raw materials such as cotton, which is also the group’s signature material, to create new textures and generate new interest, while still using an environmentally friendly process.
Weaknesses	Lack of skills in designing and sewing a variety of products. Lack of knowledge in developing textile quality to suit usage.	Choose a pattern that suits the group’s design and sewing potential. Create guidelines for choosing textile materials to suit the style and usage of the product.
Opportunities	Entering the market of consumers with demand for environmentally friendly products.	Create unique products to be different, in terms of fiber innovation, from other products in the same class.
Threats	Unable to create or modify a wide variety of product designs. No network of standardized product manufacturers.	Create appropriate design standards and guidelines. Use a combination of various modern raw materials.

(2) Consumer trends and fashion trends from local textile fashion trends in Thailand by the Thai textile trend book spring/summer 2022 were analyzed (Department of Cultural Promotion, 2021) were analyzed to be used as guidelines for designing fashion accessory products for the cotton weaving group in Ban Nong Ya Plong, Phon Phek subdistrict, Mancha Khiri district, Khon Kaen province. The summarized details are shown in Table 4.

Table 4. A summary of guidelines for fashion accessory community product design

Topic	Keyword	Interpretation	Design guidelines
Target Group	Reflection of the brand’s image	Preference of flexibility and power in decision-making with interest in innovative products and services.	Create a unique identity, making everyday weaving products a symbol of local wisdom at an international level.
Ideas	Creative society	Promoting innovations along with culture and community collaborations. Creating valuable. Sustainable stories.	Create valuable and sustainable cultural innovations in the production of woven textiles that can be passed to communities.
Colors	Purity and authenticity	Combining materials that create a luxury feel. Chemical-free purity and simplicity connect consumers to the rural lifestyle.	Use natural colors to represent environmental friendliness.
Materials	Rich in unique and valuable materials with exquisite craftsmanship.	Upstream, midstream, and downstream sustainability. Futuristic and contemporary but still holding onto local identity.	Emphasize environmentally friendly materials and manufacturing processes, interspersing with modern materials to create uniqueness.
Style & Shapes	Smooth and streamlined shapes with casual and minimal feel.	Simple, timeless styles that can be worn for many occasions.	Create simple product layouts but with a focus on interesting techniques.
Details	Modern textures with a touch of local identity.	An emphasis on Handmade tying, knotting, embroidery. outstanding texture patterns on the textiles.	Create shiny fabrics with decorative techniques that combine high fashion with folk details.

(3) Design guidelines were used to create the first drafts of fashion accessories. The draft is then presented to the community product specialist, fashion expert and members of the cotton weaving group to determine an appropriate design based on the three elements of community product design function, durability, material and manufacturing (Wanitchakorn, 2016) to develop a prototype design as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Preliminary draft of fashion accessories (a) hats, (b) bags and (c) Shoes for presentations to fashion experts and cotton weaving group members.

Table 5 displays the mean scores assigned by five experts to various designs of fashion accessories, including hats, bags, and shoes, based on their function, durability, materials, and production. The highest mean score for hats was 4.27 for Design 2 Bucket Hat, the highest mean score for bags was 4.60 for Design 1 Tote Bag, and the highest mean score for shoes was 4.13 for Design 2 Slipper shoes. As indicated in Table 6, these concepts were then turned into fashion accessory prototypes.

Table 5. Results on the selected designs for fashion accessory products.(n = 5)

Fashion accessory design	Mean score for design selection			Total	Ranking
	Function	Durability	Material and production
1. Hats
1.1. Cartwheel Hat	3.40	4.00	4.40	3.93	2
1.2. Bucket Hat	4.00	4.20	4.60	4.27	1*
1.3. Baseball Hat	3.40	4.00	3.60	3.67	3
2. Bags
2.1. Tote Bag	4.60	4.40	4.80	4.60	1*
2.2. Messenger Bag	3.60	3.80	3.80	3.73	2
2.3. Belt Bag	3.40	3.40	3.80	3.53	3
3. Shoes
3.1. Lace-up Shoes	3.20	4.00	4.40	3.87	2
3.2. Slipper Shoes	4.00	3.80	4.60	4.13	1*
3.3. Flip Flop Shoes	2.80	3.60	4.20	3.53	3

Note: * The highest values

Table 6. Developed design for production and fashion accessory prototypes: bucket hat, tote bag, and slipper shoes

Item	Developed design	Fashion accessory prototypes
Hat
Bag
Shoes

3.3. Result of exploring opinions from the community members and tourists on the fashion products made from handspun yarn of mulberry and cotton blended fibers

Twenty members of the community and 136 visitors were surveyed about their opinions on a fashion product prototype made from handspun cotton blended with mulberry fiber yarn. These findings were presented in Tables 7-8, respectively.

Table 7. Means and standard deviations of opinions expressed by community members (N = 20)

Assessment item	$\bar{\mathrm{x}}$	SD	Opinion level
1. The development can be used as a guideline for further commercialization.	4.55	0.59	Highest
2. It can reduce the production cost and create added value for waste materials.	4.70	0.46	Highest
3. Product design guidelines are appropriate for the group’s potential.	4.85	0.36	Highest
4. The knowledge can be used to further develop product variety.	4.50	0.50	Highest
5. The knowledge can be used to create careers and income for the community.	4.75	0.54	Highest
Overall	4.67	0.49	Highest

Table 8. Means and standard deviations of tourist’ opinions (N = 136)

Assessment item	$\bar{\mathrm{x}}$	SD	Opinion level
1. Function
1.1. Design and size are suitable for use.	4.45	0.69	Highest
1.2. Material is suitable for use.	4.57	0.66	Highest
Overall for “function”	4.51	0.68	Highest
2. Durability
2.1. Material forms a strong product outline.	4.67	0.59	Highest
2.2. Material is durable and cost-efficient for use.	4.39	0.74	High
Overall for “durability”	4.53	0.64	Highest
3. Reasonable pricing
3.1. The price is suitable for the product style.	4.56	0.67	Highest
3.2. The price is suitable for the production quality.	4.68	0.59	Highest
Overall for “pricing”	4.62	0.63	Highest
Overall	4.55	0.66	Highest

The overall opinion of community members was highest, with a mean of 4.67 and a standard deviation of 0.49 (Table 7), while the opinion of tourists was highest in all aspects, with a mean of 4.55 and a standard deviation of 0.66 (Table 8). The results reveal that all product designs are appropriate for all target groups. This is in line with the research premise and findings from a different study that looked at the design of textile products manufactured from bamboo sheath yarn and concentrated on factors like usability, beauty, and convenience. This was done to find the proper balance between making interesting and practical products that were also affordable. Similarly, another study on contemporary fashion design using lady palm fibers found high levels of consumer satisfaction (Chansaeng, 2019; Paentong & Singhkum, 2020).

4. Conclusions

The study found that handspun yarn for handicrafts crafts made from varied ratios of mulberry to cotton fibers had different fiber arrangements and number of crimps, impacting yarn appearance. All ratios of handspun mulberry to cotton yarn were discovered to have fiber weight and yarn count number that were approximately two times higher than those of handspun pure cotton yarn. The fabric was then weaved with handspun yarn made from 40:60 mulberry to cotton fibers to create a fashion accessory product. Overall, the opinions of target group were found to agree with this project at the highest level. This project assists cotton weaving group in creating a new innovation fabric from agricultural waste by converting agricultural waste into sustainable textile fiber. The research and application of more natural materials has sparked a wave of awakening in the industrial sector. The trend can also assist raise awareness and support for sustainable development. However, fiber extraction from mulberry bark is a time-consuming and costly technique. In the future, we will develop a new simple approach for extracting fiber.

Acknowledgments

The author is very grateful for the financial support obtained from the Provincial Community Development Office of Khon Kaen, the Community Development Department, Ministry of Interior.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Provincial Community Development Office of Khon Kaen, Community Development Department, Ministry of Interior

Notes on contributors

Thanakrit Kaewpilarom

Thanakrit kaewpilarom is leading a team that focuses on researching materials for fashion products. He holds a Ph.D. in Culture, Fine Arts, and Design Research.

Atissanun Sakthirasunthon

Atissanun Sakthirasunthon specializes in the apparel industry.

Piyaporn Kampeerapappun

Piyaporn Kampeerapappun is a lecturer and researcher in Faculty of Textile Industries. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and her research focuses on natural dye, natural fiber, and technical textiles.

Chulaluck Thephatsadin Na Ayuthaya

Chulaluck Thephatsadin Na Ayuthaya is a researcher in natural dyeing and dressmaking and she holds a Ph.D. in Tropical Agriculture. All three researchers are affiliated with the Department of Pattern and Garment Technology.