3D Printed Fabric: Techniques for Design and 3D Weaving
Programmable Textiles
Haruki Takahashi
Meiji University
Tokyo, Japan
haruki@meiji.ac.jp

Jeeeun Kim
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
jeeeun.kim@tamu.edu

Figure 1. 3D printed fabric. Our technique can fabricate a textile that is woven using the movements of the nozzle of an FDM 3D printer.

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION

We present a technique for fabricating soft and flexible textiles
using a consumer grade fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D
printer. By controlling the movement of the print header, theFDM alternately weaves the stringing fibers across a row ofpillars. Owing to the structure of the fibers, which supports andstrengthens the pillars from each side, a 3D printer can print
a thin sheet of fabric in an upright position while the fibers
are being woven. In addition, this technique enables users to
employ materials with various colors and/or properties when
designing a pattern, and to prototype an interactive object
using a variety of off-the-shelf materials such as a conductive
filament. We also describe a technique for weaving textiles
and introduce a list of parameters that enable users to design
their own textile variations. Finally, we demonstrate examples
showing the feasibility of our approach as well as numerous
applications integrating printed textiles in a custom object
design.

Recent advancements in additive manufacturing have enabledusers to accurately fabricate 3D objects at low cost. The
variety of choices of materials used in fused deposition modeling (FDM) for 3D printing, such as rigid plastic, flexible
elastomers, and conductive materials, have enabled users tofabricate their own interactive objects [23, 24]. Furthermore,investigations into the FDM printing parameters (e.g., header’smovement speed, extrusion amount, and extrusion height) haveextended the capability of 3D printers, empowering users tocreate objects with hair [12] and fluffy textures [27] in addition to solid 3D objects without the need for any hardware
innovations. In the field of human-computer interaction, fabrichas been one of the promising materials used to create soft
objects and presents interesting properties for the fabricationof everyday interactive objects [17, 20]. Fabric adds important
properties, such as stretchability, breathability, and flexibility,
to a solid object, which are difficult to achieve using rigidmaterials (e.g., ABS, PLA). Inspired by the use of fabric, researchers and artists have attempted to create 3D printabletextiles and clothing through the assembly of small 3D printed
pieces, similar to chainmail.

CCS Concepts•Human-centered computing → Human computer interaction (HCI);
Author Keywords

Digital fabrication; 3D printing; fused deposition modeling;
3D printed textile; printing technique.

Submitted to a conference

We present a new 3D printing technique that can fabricate asoft textile using a conventional FDM 3D printer and a rigidmaterial (Figure 1). Our idea applies and extends the 3D
printed hair technique [12], adjusting the standard movementof a printer, and lengthening tiny bits of extruded materials(i.e., pulling the melted material by quickly moving the headaway) to achieve a stringing effect. By controlling the movement of the nozzle within a row of pillars, a printer headalternately weaves 3D printed fibers using thin pillars. Unlike
chainmail and 3D printed flexible sheets [5, 26], our textile is“woven” which is constructed by warps and wefts. Although aweft-knitted structure can be 3D printed, this type of complex
structure requires an expensive printing method such as selec-

tive laser sintering or the use of a removable support material[1, 14]. Thus, our technique enables users to weave a variety
of materials with a wide array of weaving patterns using a
consumer grade 3D printer (Table 1). Because our techniquedoes not print a weft in a layer-by-layer manner, a curved
shape planned using a design tool can retain its original form
and remain fixed when printed. We describe in detail our empirical experiments demonstrating how to weave a rigid plastic
material using a 3D printer and provide a list of parametersthat allows users to design their own programmable textiles.
To discuss the feasibility and reproducibility of our technique,
we also demonstrate the ability of our system to generate a
Gcode from different geometries and selective parameters, anddemonstrate its application.
RELATED WORK

Related studies on our technique span across the field of digital
fabrication, particularly printing techniques for textile fabrication and the use of fabric in the printing interactive objects.

Table 1. Comparison of textile printing techniques.

Technique

Fabrication & Properties

Chainmail [3]Consisting of tiny interlocked parts:
flexible and customable according to theparts per unit. The structure tends to berugged because of the size of each part.

Printed sheet [26]Printed using a flexible material on the
bed of a printer. By controlling the nozzle, various patterns can be expressed.
The bottom of the sheet becomes flat.

Weft knit [1]Printed with a knitted structure. To form
a complex shape, an expensive printing
method (e.g., SLS) or a removable support material is needed.

Our technique

Woven using warps (layer by layer) andwefts (fiber): flexible in the direction of
the weft. Various materials are used toform patterns with a fine structure. The
shape remains in a fixed form.

3D Printing Parameters and Control Techniques

Gcode is a series of commands used to control printer hardware mechanisms, e.g., the header movement, amount of extrusion, and temperature, which affect the shaping of an object.
Researchers have used Gcode to control 3D printers, exploringnew expressions rather than accumulating an object layer bylayer [21]. 3D Printed hair [12] fabricates fine fibers by exploiting the stringing phenomenon of molten plastic. WirePrint[15] is a system used to build physical wireframes to reduce
the printing time by tweaking Gcode for the header, moving
diagonally along the z-axis. By controlling the height of thenozzle and the amount of material extrusion, expressive textures can also be printed using FDM [27]. Dual-color mixing[18] and 3D hatching [11] are used to control the layering of
two colored materials when designing the surface of an object.
New 3D printing techniques have extended the capability of
3D printers, and offer a new area of usage [9]. Using ourtechnique, a new application and prototyping that complement
the current 3D printing design space have been developed.
Digital Fabrication of/using Soft Objects

Although stiffness and texture are important characteristics
of textiles, they remain a challenge to fabricate using current
FDM. Thus, researchers have created deformable objects consisting of microstructures [7, 16, 25]. Meanwhile, textile has
become a promising material presenting the possibility of integrating its unique flexible and soft properties when fabricatedor embedded into a rigid object. Rivera et al. explored theintegration of 3D printing of rigid plastic using on-the-shelffabric with the embedding of textiles to add various soft properties, such as the ability to roll up a case cover or create atranslucent lamp shade [20]. A layered-fabric 3D printer [17]is a new hardware system that feeds a sheet of felt for theconstruction of a soft interactive object. Medley [2] helps
users navigate a library of embeddable materials with theirown mechanical properties, presenting an interactive design
tool enabling their integration into 3D printing. Printing Teddy
Bears [6] introduces a needled print header to feed and 3D
print yarn onto felt. Further, the approach has been extended

to a regular header to conduct electro-spinning at high voltage
for the printing of fine grain yarn using a regular PLA filament [19]. Our technique enables entire fabric sheets to becreated in a manner similar to the weaving of real fabric. The‘weaving’ pattern determines the metamaterial characteristics(i.e., bending at a certain angle, and retaining a pre-defined
curvature, which is similar to a shape-memory material).
Textiles as Material

Among designers and artists, there have been many attempts to
explore the possibility of fabricating textile using 3D printed
chainmail. Danit Peleg, a fashion designer, designs clothes
made from printed textiles and has showcased various possibilities of 3D printed fashion1 . Masaharu Ono, a Japaneseartist, designs 3D printed clothes called Amimono fabricatedusing thermoplastic polyurethane2 . In the domain of materialscience, Melnikova et al. explored various textile-based structures, and printed a weft-knitted structure using an FDM [14].
Beecroft printed a weft-knitted structure using an SLS 3D
printer with nylon powder, and demonstrated its flexibility [1].
Combining 3D printing with a traditional fabric made with
soft yarn is a popular area of exploration [4, 10, 13, 22]. With
this design, soft fabrics are used as a substance for 3D printing
to allow properties such as the flexibility and tensile strength
to be applied. Although the precision of recent 3D printers
and the quality of 3D printed objects have gradually improved
since these innovative experiments were first conducted, the3D printing of fabric remains a challenge. Designers rely on
expensive 3D printers such as an SLS or need to understandthe basics of the chainmail fabrication. Because chainmail
consists of repeated tiny rigid units, the characteristics of such
units and how they are chained dominate all physical traits ofthe textile (see Table 1).
1 https://danitpeleg.com/
2 http://free-d.net/

is easily broken during printing and the amount of material
affects the thickness of a fiber. To explore the factors, we
implemented a system that generates Gcode from the selective
components: base, pillars, and fibers. The numbers reported
below were obtained from empirical experiments using thesystem. Users can calibrate these with minimal changes toaccommodate the unique machine/material characteristics, if
necessary. During the printing experiments, this system wasdeveloped as a basis of the design systems that we will discussin detail in a later section.
Components to Build Structure
Figure 2. Our technique controls the height of the pillars and the orderof printing to weave a fiber across the structures.

3D PRINTED FABRIC

Herein, we introduce the techniques for 3D printing a programmable textile. We used Creality3D CR-10S3 , a commercial FDM 3D printer, with the most common 0.4-mm-diameter
nozzle and a 300 × 300 × 400 mm printing area. Several typesof PLA, including Polymaker PolyPlus and PolyMax series,
were tested. Although the brands of FDM printers and materials are diverse in the market, the basic settings and steps
described herein serve as a baseline of the technique.
Weaving Fiber

Figure 2 depicts the structure of a printed textile and the printing order. The textile consists of three parts: a base (can beremoved afterward), pillars (in the z-axis), and fibers (in the xyaxis). A base supports and upholds the entire structure while
adhering it to the bed, similar to a brim. Pillars are equivalent
to a warp in which header movements with a fiber extrusion
across the pillars correspond to the weft applied in traditionallooming. The two pillars at both ends are printed more thickly
to firmly fix the endpoint of the fiber. We name the pillars at
both ends the “outermost pillars” for later reference.
To weave fibers that are formed by extruded strands, we control
the order of the printing rather than printing everything in one
layer concurrently. First, a 3D printer prints all the pillars
slightly higher than the outermost pillars (Figure 2- 1 ). To
avoid colliding with the pillars when printing the outermost
pillars, we add a detour around the pillars and utilize themovement in the z-axis, which is also called a Z hop. Then,the nozzle starts to print a fiber from the top layer of theoutermost pillar. The fiber is woven into a row of pillars
alternately, by affixing the endpoint to the top layer of theother outermost pillar (Figure 2- 2 ). After printing a fiber, theoutermost pillars are extended (Figure 2- 3 ), and the pillarsof the next layer are then printed (Figure 2- 4 ) to prepare thenext-layer fiber weaving. The 3D printer iterates this processuntil completion. The fiber printing process (Figure 2- 2 )takes place in every two or three layers, to control the verticaldensity. The direction of fiber weaving is alternated in eachlayer (red and white lines in Figure 2).
Although the structure and printing order is relatively simple,
there are many factors closely related to the FDM technique,which in turn, affect each other. For example, a thin pillar
3 https://www.creality3d.cn/

We present the elements of the basic structure and parametersthat need to be adjusted for stable printing.
Base - Because the base supports the entire structure in thez-axis, it is critical to print a significantly large base to upholdthe pillars and fibers in place. A base does not necessarilyneed to be thick and can be printed as a thin plate with justa few layers, similar to brim. We currently design the baseas a rounded rectangle, printed using two layers with 100%
density and printed with the speed of 1,000-mm/min. Afterthe printing, the base is removed manually.
Pillar - To print an exquisite sheet, the pillars must be printed
as thinly as possible. We first set the printing speed to 500
mm/min, a slightly low value in order to print it carefully. It is
fairly difficult to print a thin and high pillar in the z-direction
if printed solely, because the movement of the nozzle may
shake and twist the printed pillar as the layer proceeds. In
our technique, however, the printed pillars and woven fibers
can support each other in the structure as the fibers cross thepillars and hold them tight. As a result, we found that pillar
diameters of approximately 0.8 mm can reach to a height of
more than 300 mm. This pillar is printed with a contour pathof a 0.4-mm-diameter cylinder. Because our 3D printer has a
0.4-mm-diameter nozzle, the extruded material swells slightly
around the nozzle. To avoid a collision between the nozzle andpillars while printing, the interval between the pillars must be
greater than the distance that allows the nozzle to pass throughthe spaces between pillars. Approximately 2.4 mm intervals
from the center of the pillars was found to be appropriate. It isnecessary to print the outermost pillars thicker and stronger,
to fix the fibers to the end before the nozzle turns its direction
to weave the next layer. Any geometrical shape is available
for the outermost pillars as long as it is sufficiently strong
to support its structural height. We printed a 3.0 × 6.0 mm
rectangle to build the outermost pillar in a 0.2 mm layer height.
Fiber - To weave a fiber, we first applied the 3D printed hairtechnique [12], which pulls the extruded material by moving
the nozzle away. We set the amplitude of the movement of thenozzle to 1.2 mm (from the center of a pillar to the farthest
point of the fiber) according to the pillar interval. The flowrate is the most significant factor affecting the printing fiber
by the amount of material extruded and the printing speed.
When printing a long fiber, the area around the end of the fiber
becomes thinner as the fixed amount of material exits in thenozzle channel, resulting in material running out while printing
the fibers. Therefore, we set Gcode to extrude an additionalamount of material when printing a fiber, by adjusting theextrusion amount (E value). According to the amount ofadditional material applied, the thickness of the fiber differs,
and we found that approximately 0.01–0.02 mm per 1-mmlength fiber is appropriate. The printing speed also affects
thickness. Empirically, we found that a lower printing speed
results in a constant thickness but takes longer to print; weset the printing speed to 500 mm/min, which achieved a goodresult in terms of quality and speed. If the fiber is too thinor the printing speed is too high, the fiber will snap during
the printing process. In contrast, excessive material creates
drooping. The vertical density of fibers is determined by thelayer height and the count of skipped layers in between (Figure2- 2 . We confirmed that a fiber can be printed once every twoor three layers; if the layer height is 0.2 mm, the verticalinterval for each fiber printing can be 0.4 or 0.6 mm.
Prevent Oozing - In general, to prevent oozing and a stringing
of the material, an FDM printer retracts the material every
step of movement. The process requires a certain distanceof loaded filament to be retracted from the nozzle, and theretraction rate determines the motor speed to roll the filament
back up. Depending on the type of material used, these values
need to be slightly adjusted. For example, in Cura4 slicer,
an 6.5-mm retraction distance and 1,500-mm/min retraction
speed are recommended as default. We set the retraction
rate to 6.0 mm at 1,200 mm/min. We also slightly lowered
the printing temperature to decrease oozing. For example,
although Polymaker PolyMax filament recommends 190–230◦ C, we used 185–195 ◦ C.
Printing and Calibration

We confirmed that the suggested parameters are available withvarious types of commercial filaments and several FDM printers, including Creality3D CR-10S and Bonsai Lab5 BS01+ 3D
printer. Though it is unrealistic to test all the unique factorsof FDM, users can start with the suggested values above withslight calibrations, according to the common troubleshooting
tips (e.g., [28]). For example, if the fibers are sagging too loose
such that they are not tightly attached to the pillars, the users
will need to slightly lower the printing temperature. We recommend to first adjust the parameters corresponding to eachcomponent while printing a small textile. Some popular problems can be addressed with these trials and errors. If the users
face further problems, we recommend validating environmentrelated factors, such as printing temperature, condition of thematerial and the global printing speed.
DESIGN SPACE FOR 3D PRINTING TEXTILES

In this section, we list a variety of parameters and their ranges
associated with the printing process and their effects on thecharacteristics of printed textiles (Figure 3).
Length, Height, and Curvature - The maximum length andheight of a fiber is constrained by the size of the bed. Our 3D
printer has a 300 × 300 mm printing area, and because theoutermost pillars are removed after printing, it limits the length
to approximately 280 mm. We confirmed that our technique
4 https://ultimaker.com/en/products/
ultimaker-cura-software
5 https://www.bonsailab.asia/

Figure 3. Design parameters of our technique. Each parameter provides
a wide range of design space.

can fabricate textile up to 280 mm long and 300 mm wide, andthat the fabrication of anything smaller will not be a problem.
Although we assume that these dimensions are for a straighttextile, a curved textile can also be made, in which case themaximum length becomes greater (see Figure 6).
Density - The density of printed fabric can be controlled in
two ways: the interval between pillars, and the vertical density
between horizontal fibers. By adjusting the frequency of thepillars, users can achieve different degrees of stiffness andtransparency from a textile. A stripe pattern, such as a moire,can be obtained by fine-tuning the interval of the pillars.
Adhesion - Extruded molten plastic quickly cools down andsolidifies in mid-air, becoming less adhesive to existing structures. We found that our technique can be used to control theadhesion by adjusting the printing speed and amplitude of theheader movement in waves (i.e., the distance between the fiberand pillar). Therefore, the fiber can cling and be fixed to apillar or unfastened and removed from the pillar as a part of thepost processing. If users want to present a loose wave pattern
for aesthetics instead of tightly coupled threads with pillars,
the users can increase the amplitude of the waves allowing
the materials to drizzle in mid-air. Although a fiber without apillar is unstable, it memorizes the woven pattern.
Material - Users can integrate the material properties suchas the color, flexibility, and conductivity. For example, byalternating two colored materials every several layers using
a dual extruder, a striped pattern can be made on a sheet.
However, it is difficult to form a fiber using a flexible andconductive filament in comparison with a regular PLA owing
to their viscosity. Although these materials can be used as
pillars, some calibrations (e.g., the amount of the material andthe printing speed) are required to form a thin pillar.
Pattern - By controlling the movement of the nozzle, ourtechnique can create various patterns on a textile surface. For
example, to express a shifted stripe pattern, the nozzle weaves

Figure 4. Weaving pattern, in which two or more pillars, and not justone, can be woven at the same time.

fibers through the pillars, we adjust the height of each object(Figure 5d). Furthermore, we added a movement along thez-axis to waive collisions between objects at different heights.
Before the nozzle moves to another component (e.g., from anoutermost pillar to an inner pillar in the next layer), the heightof the nozzle is set to the height of the inner pillar. Whenthe nozzle moves between structures, the extruder retracts thematerial to keep it from oozing. The amount of material required to print the base and pillars is calculated using a known
equation (e.g., [27]).
Programmable Structures

Figure 5. Generating a printing path for a textile: (a) Gcode preview.
(b) Our system generating a path for printing fiber by interpolating thepoints obtained from the positions of the pillars. (c) To avoid colliding
the nozzle with the printed structure, a path for creating a detour isadded. (d) The heights of the inner pillars, the outermost pillar, and thefiber are also controlled to avoid a collision.

through two of the pillars at the same time rather than alternating single pillars (Figure 4). Similarly, binary images canbe displayed on the surface by moving the nozzle to the front
or back of the pillars (see Figure 7), allowing the weaving topresent various stitch patterns on the surface.
DESIGN TOOL FOR PROGRAMMABLE TEXTILE

We implemented a system6 that enables users to design textiles
by exploring a number of parameters, exporting them as a
Gcode (Figure 5a). Our system is implemented on Rhinoceros
and Grasshopper7 , which is a visual programming language
used to manipulate 3D geometries. Our technique presents
a wide range of design spaces. We therefore extended oursystem to several different plugins.

Herein, we introduce several types of design plugins. These
independent systems share the same configuration and can be
integrated with each other.
Straight Sheet

The simplest system is applied to control the design parametersof the simplest textile. All parameters are controlled by sliders
or toggle buttons on Grasshopper. This process operates as
the basis of constructing a sheet of fabric for a more advanced
feature design. If users employ two types of material, thesystem builds a prime tower to wipe off the oozing material,
and accordingly modifies Gcode based on the nozzle interval.
Curvature Sheets and 3D Solid Integration

Grasshopper scripts can import a 3D geometry from
Rhinoceros, such as freely drawn lines and the contour ofa square. In so doing, users can set the information regarding
the shape of the textile. The system obtains a curve drawn in
Rhinoceros and generates a curved textile along with importedlines. Similarly, a 3D solid mesh can also be imported into thesystem as a 3D object component. The system interprets animported solid as a type of pillar and thus connects the edgesof the fibers using a component that calculates the position of
the closest edges from the endpoints of the fiber.

Overview: From End User Design to Gcode Export

Patterns with a Binary Image

All extensions of our system share similar processes: (1) creating a geometry, (2) generating the printing paths, and (3)exporting to Gcode. First, according to the parameters given by
the users and the parameters applied to the structural components, the system generates a base, pillars, and fibers, createdby combining the components in Grasshopper, such as combining the Circle and Extrude components, to create a cylindricalpillar. To create a fiber, a list of center points of the pillars is
moved outward in a zigzag pattern, and then interpolated witha line forming a curve (Figure 5b). Next, the system interprets
the geometries to create the printing paths. Using the Intersect
component and a series of xy planes aligned along the z-axis,
the system first extracts the contours of the base and pillars. To
create a thick shell, these contours are pushed inside based on
the diameter of the nozzle. The system directly converts a fiber
component into a printing path by dividing its curve at a certain interval (currently, 1 mm). To prevent colliding the nozzle
with the printed parts, the paths used to create a detour areautomatically added (Figure 5c). Finally, the system generates
Gcode commands by splicing the printing paths. To weave

Our system also enables users to import a 2D image to populate a wide range of new weaving patterns. The system first
converts the image into binary images using thresholding, andextracts the value of the black pixels using a grid. The gridis then divided by the interval of the pillars, and Gcode is
generated to move the nozzle back and forth.

6 https://haruki.xyz/printed_fabric
7 https://www.grasshopper3d.com/

EXAMPLE AND APPLICATION

Basic example - Figure 1 shows basic examples designed
using our system, which we designed using various parameters,
particularly the length, height, and material. Many material
colors, selected from Polymaker’s PLA options, can be used byalternating the dual header nozzles, which allows two-coloredfabric. The textile is approximately 260 mm wide and 50 mm
high, and takes approximately 9 h and 11 m to print (Figure 1,
second from the left). Given our constraints described above,the largest object we have printed is 270 × 270 mm. Users
can bend, cut, or glue the textile to another object.
Multi-material - As briefly described, a dual header 3D
printer can extend the capability of our technique with respect to the material. Figure 1 shows textiles woven using
two colored materials for the pillars and fibers. We used a

Bonsai Lab BS01+ 3D printer, which provides a 150 × 130
mm printing area. Owing to the printing size constraints, weonly demonstrated examples with a short length.
Integrating curved paths and 3D solid meshes - Our technique enables users to print a textile with various curvatures(Figure 6, left). We draw such curves in Rhinoceros to deform the textile and follow this curve at the bottom whenprinting pillars and fibers. We confirmed that a curved shape
can be printed and that the shape is maintained, similar to ashape-memory material. However, fibers are slightly loosenedaround acutely angled pillars in a curve, because they cannot
tightly hold a pillar (e.g., the inner fibers do not contact a pillar
at this angle). By attaching a textile to a 3D solid, users can
add flexibility to their design. As an example, users can designa smart watch cover using a traditional CAD tool and attachbands using our technique (Figure 6, right).

Figure 6. Textile printed in a curve and integrated with a 3D solid.

Pattern Generation - Controlling the density of the pillars
enables users to design various textile patterns (Figure 7, top).
We demonstrate two examples with stripes by controlling the
thickness and interval of the pillars. Pillars with different
thicknesses or densities enable users to present a shading on
the textile. Controlling the weaving patterns empowers users
to develop more complex patterns using a 2D input image.
We demonstrated a textile created from binary images witha flower-like pattern and the UIST 2019 logo, respectively(Figure 7, bottom). However, because the pattern is createdby moving the nozzle back and forth, an area where the samecolor continues cannot be woven and pillars cannot be sufficiently held. To achieve stability with the pattern, the weaving
frequency used to hold the entire structure should be adjusted.

Figure 8. Interactive object integrated with electronics and printed using conductive ABS.

Interactive objects - Electronic components and various materials can be incorporated into the printing textiles. By lowering the adhesion of the fibers, a pillar can be detached from acomplete textile for removal as a part of the post processing,allowing us to replace them with a reed switch (Figure 8, top).
Combining digital fabrication and a craft technique (e.g., manually inserting existing materials) empowers users to prototype
these interesting interactive objects using various materials
that are unsuitable for low-cost 3D printing [9]. Textile printed
with conductive materials enables users to make interactive
objects with an integration of circuits and small electronics(Figure 8, bottom). We used a conductive ABS filament toprint the pillars and a PLA filament for the 3D printed striped
textile. We found that this object with a stripe [8] can transfer
a touch interaction throughout, allowing the touch surface tobe operated using the edge of the attached textile.
DISCUSSION

Herein, we discuss the structural property of a printed textile,
the limitations of our work, and future works.
Preliminary evaluation

To understand the characteristics of a printed textile, we
present preliminary evaluations on the structural properties.
We printed textiles using the settings we mentioned in thesection on 3D printed fabric.
Flexibility - Figure 9 shows a flexibility test using a textile.
We investigated two bending directions by fixing one edge of

Figure 7. Design of textile pattern. We demonstrated two pattern types
using the properties of the pillar and the weaving pattern.

Figure 9. Preliminary evaluation of the flexibility. (a) Folding the textile
in the weft direction and (b) bending it in the warp direction.

weaving a thin fiber across a series of pillars within the design
space of the fabricated textile. We introduced a system thatenables end users to design various textiles by exploring different parameters. Exemplary applications demonstrate how
our technique can be used in a real-world fabrication, allowing
users to introduce thin threads as a new design medium fortheir 3D models. The proposed technique will expand theapplication domain of 3D printing, opening a new door forusers to recast the use of printers in everyday design, not only
for rigid objects but also for objects with soft textiles.
REFERENCES
Figure 10. Preliminary evaluation of the strength.

the textile. Because the weft is made from a single fiber, thetextile is flexible in the weft direction. Similar to a regular
sheet of paper, the textile can be folded (Figure 9a). Although
the textile is slightly flexible in the warp direction, it is easily
broken into pieces by bending. Because a wrap is printed layer
by layer, it is weak to forces in the shear direction (Figure 9b).
Strength - As shown in Figure 10, we hung a bag containing
bottled water on a textile using a jig. The textile can holdapproximately 3 kg, and starts to break at over 4 kg. The
broken points are considered some pillars and a part of fibers
where touches the pillar. We found that the printed textile hasa sufficient load bearing capacity. The strength of a printed
textile can be enhanced by thicker pillars and fibers, and users
can print more durable textiles.
Limitations and Future work

As briefly introduced with 3D printed hair [12], our techniquecannot employ materials in which a stringing effect does notoccur. We found that TPU, a conductive, wood-like material
has difficulty creating fibers owing to its out of bound viscosity.
Nonetheless, as we showed through our interactive object
example, such materials can be used to print pillars (rather
than fibers) using a 3D printer with a dual header. As weshowed in the preliminary evaluation, the degree of flexibilityof the textile differs based on the direction, and can be broken
if the textile is excessively bent in the direction in which thepillar is constructed, which is rigid.
We believe that our technique can be optimized based on thetype of material, 3D printer, and parts. For example, using afiner extruder tip diameter of 0.1 or 0.2 mm, our techniquemakes it a lot easier to print delicate fibers. Although weonly dealt with upright pillars, by shifting the layers while
printing, curved pillars can be woven into a textile. Aligning
the pillars in two dimensions also makes it possible to create
3D (like a stringing art) and double (a traditional weaving
technique using multiple layers to express a complex pattern)
weaved materials. We leave more constructive structural tests
on further parameters affecting the characteristics of the textile
to future studies.
CONCLUSION

We presented a new 3D printing technique for textile fabrication at low cost, using a consumer-grade FDM 3D printer.
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