Glossary

Batiste (View Product)

Fine, soft,plain weave fabric traditionally made from linen, now often made with other fibres, especially cotton.

Blend

Combination of two or more different staple fibres within the same yarn. Fibres are blended for one or more reasons, e.g. cost, properties, appearance.

Bouclé yarn

Fancy yarn showing an irregular pattern of curls or loops.

Buckram

Plain weave fabric, generally of linen or cotton, which is stiffened during finishing with fillers and starches. Uses include interlinings and bookbinding fabrics.

C

Calico

General term used for plain cotton fabrics heavier than muslin. These are usually left unbleached, are made in a variety of weights, and are often used for making toiles.

Cambric

Lightweight, closely woven, plain weave fabric, usually made from cotton or linen.

Canvas

Strong, firm, relatively heavy and rigid, generally plain woven cloth traditionally made from cotton, linen, hemp or jute.

Cavalry twill

Firm woven fabric with a steep twill showing double twill lines, traditionally used for riding breeches and jodphurs.

Cheesecloth

Open, lightweight, plain weave fabric with a slightly crêpey appearance, usually made from carded cotton yarns with higher than average twist.

Chiffon

Originally a very lightweight, sheer, plain weave fabric made from silk. Now can also be used to describe a similar fabric using other fibres.

Chintz

Closely woven, lustrous, plain weave cotton fabric, printed or plain, that has been friction calendered or glazed. Much used for curtainings and upholstery.

Colourway

One of several combinations of colours used for a particular fabric.

Corduroy

Wove, cut weft-pile fabric where the cut pile runs in vertical cords along the length of the fabric. A number of different types are found, ranging from pincord (very fine cords) to elephant cord (very broad cords).

Crepe

Fabric characterised by a crincled or puckered surface, which can be produced by a number of methods.1. woven fabric where short, irregular floats in warp and weft are arranged to give an all-over, random pattern within the weave repeat.

2. woven or knitted fabric where the crêpe characteristics are achieved mainly by the use of highly twisted yarns, which in finishing develop the crinkled, puckered appearance of a crêpe.

3. fabric where the crêpe effect is produced in finishing by treatment with embossing rollers, engraved with a crêpe pattern, which impart a crêpe effect onto the fabric through heat and pressure.

Crêpe de chine

Lightweight, plain weave crêpe fabric, made with highly twisted continuous filament yarns in the weft, alternating one S and one Z twist, and with normally twisted filament yarns in the warp. The crêpe effect is relatively unpronounced.

Crepe yarn

Spun or filament yarns that are very highly S or Z twisted used for the production of crepe fabrics.

D

Delaine

Lightweight, printed, all wool plain weave fabric.

Doupion (or Dupion)

Silk-breeding term meaning double cocoon, used to describe the irregular, raw rough silk reeled from double cocoons.

Drill

Woven twill fabric with a similar structure to denim, but usually piece-dyed.

G

Gauze

Lightweight, open-textured fabric made in plain weave a simple leno weave

Georgette

Fine, lightweight, plain weave, crêpe fabric, usually having two highly twisted S and two highly twisted Z yarns alternately in both warp and weft.

H

Hopsack

Variation on plain weave, where two or more ends and picks weave as one. Sometimes called basket weave.

I

Interlining

Fabric used between the inner and outer layers of a garment to improve shape retention, strength, warmth or bulk. Interlinings may be woven, knitted or nonwoven, and can be produced with fusible adhesive on one surface.

J

Jacquard fabric

1. A fabric woven on a jacquard loom, where the patterning mechanism allows individual control on any interlacing of up to several hundred warp threads

2. A rib-based, double jersey weft-knit structure which shows a figure or design in a different colour or texture. Jacquard fabrics are sub-divided into flat-jacquard and blister fabrics.

Jersey

General term used for any knitted fabric.

Jute

1. Natural vegetable bast fibre

2. The plant from which the bast jute fibre is obtained.

L

Lawn

Fine, plain weave fabric, traditionally of cotton on linen.

Linen

Natural vegetable bast fibre obtained from the flax plant.

M

Merino Wool

Wool from the merino sheep, which produces the shortest and finest wool fibres.

Mousseline

General term for very fine, semi-opaque fabrics, finer than muslins, made of silk, wool or cotton.

Muslin

Lightweight, open, plain or simple leno weave fabric, usually made of cotton.

N

Natural Fibre

A textile fibre occuring in nature, which is animal, vegetable or mineral in origin.

New wool

Fibre from a sheep or lamb that has not previously been used. Alternative name for virgin wool.

Nylon

Man made synthetic polymer fibre. Alternative name for polyamide.

O

Organdie

Lightweight, plain weave transparent fabric, with a permanently stiff finish.

Organza

A sheer, lighweight, plain weave fabric, with a relatively firm drape and handle, traditionally made from the continuous filament of silk yarns. Now often made using other fibres.

P

Polyester

Man made synthetic polymer fibre.

Pure Silk

Silk in which there is no metallic or other weighting of any kind, except that which is an essential part of dyeing.

R

Raw Silk

Continuous filaments containing no twist, drawn off or reeled from cocoons. The filaments are unbleached, undyed and not degummed.

S

Sateen

Woven structure where the maximum amount of weft shows on the face. The smooth effect is enhanced by using filament yarns and/or lustrous fibres.

Satin

Woven structure where the maximum amount of warp shows on the face. The smooth effect is enhanced by using filament yarns and/or lustrous fibres.

Silk

Natural animal protein fibre obtained from the cocoons produced by silkworms.

Silk Noil

Very short silk fibres extracted during silk combing that are too short for producing spun silk. These fibres are usually spun into silk-noil yarns.

Slub yarn

Fancy yarn characterised by areas of thicker, loosely twisted yarn alternating with thinner, harder twisted areas.

Spun silk

Staple fibre silk yarn produced from silk waste which has been largely degummed.

Synthetic

Describes a substance which has been manufactured by building up a complex structure from simpler chemical substances.

T

Taffeta

Plain weave, closely woven, smooth, crisp fabric with a slight weftways rib, originally made from continuous filament silk yarns. Now often made using other fibres.

V

Velour

Cut pile weft or warp knitted fabric.

Velvet

Cut warp-pile fabric, in which the cut fibrous ends of the yarns from the surface of the fabric. Many effects are possible, e.g. the pile may be left erect, or it may be laid in one direction during finishing to give a very high lustre.

Viscose

Man made natural polymer regenerated cellulose fibre.

Voile

Plain weave, semi-sheer, lightweight fabric made with fine, fairly highly twisted yarns. Originally made from cotton, now other fibres are sometimes used.

W

Wadding

Lofty sheet of fibres used for padding, stuffing or packing.