Basket Weave : Variation on a plain weave; two over, two
under.
Broadcloth : A tightly woven lustrous cotton cloth with fine
embedded crosswide ribs. It resembles poplin and is used extensively in
shirts and blouses, as well as home decorating.
Butcher's Linen : It was originally a heavy, sturdy linen
fabric used for French butchers' aprons. This type of heavy fabric was
also used for interfacing.
Burn-Out Prints : Printing with a chemical substance that
destroys the fiber in the pattern design print area.
Cashmere : Comes from the inner coat hair of an Asian
Cashmere Goat.
Cut-And-Loop Pile : Made with a combination of both loop and
cut yarns and can be either level or multilevel.
Corduroy : A ribbed, pile fabric. Comes in various weights
and weaves. Used widely for both apparel and home furnishings.
Chambray : A plain-weave fabric made of color warp yarn and
white fill yarn.
Combed Cotton : The combing process removes the short fibers
and any debris that may be in the fiber when it was in the field. A
cleaner, more uniform and lustrous yarn results.
Chenille : A fuzzy cotton yarn or fabric that has pile
protruding around it. Chenille is the French word for “caterpillar.”
Chintz : Glazed cotton fabric, often printed. Used widely in
upholstery fabric.
Cotton Sheers : Batiste, lawn, organdy, and voile are all
cotton sheers. Used for both home and apparel products.
Damask : A patterned cotton fabric made on a jacquard loom.
It is used for decorative fabrics and fine apparel.
Duck : Also known as canvas. A rugged plain-weave cloth.
Dotted Swiss : Lightweight, sheer, fine-yarn fabric with
small dotted areas that have been either woven or flocked to achieve the
dot effect.
Double Knit : A circular, knit fabric of double thickness.
Dye Lot : Variations in the chemical concentrations from one
batch to the next Reversible fabrics.
Denim : A rugged, durable twill fabric that is most popular
in indigo blue. Denim rules the casual apparel world, but it has also
become popular in decorative fabrics for the home.
Embroidery : Art of creating and producing raised designs or
motifs on woven fabrics.
Flannel : A plain-weave cloth heavily brushed for softness.
Often used in apparel and sheets.
Flax : Comes from the stem or stalk of the flax plant; when
flax is woven, it produces linen.
Greige Goods : (pronounced “gray”) Loom-state
cloth that has not received dry and wet finishing.
Herringbone : Considered a broken twill because both right
and left-hand twill resemble the backbone of a herring fish.
Interlock : A double-knit, plain-stitched fabric that looks
the same on both sides. Used for home and apparel.
Jersey : A single-knit, plain-stitched fabric with a face
side that is distinctly different from the back side. Used for both home
and apparel consumer products. Recently, American manufacturers have
introduced cotton jersey for bed linens.
Jacquard : The jacquard loom produces elaborate cloth weaves
that are very important for decorative fabrics, such as tapestries,
brocade, and damask.
Jacquard : Design that includes very detailed, intricate
motifs.
Jute : Bast fiber that grows in the stem section of a plant
in India; Yellow and brown in color; Coarse and harsh.
Mercerized Cotton : A wet finishing process for cotton yarn
or fabric, which results in a stronger and more lustrous yarn that takes
dye better with brighter, deeper colors.
Matelassé : A dobby or jacquard cotton fabric. The
pattern stands out to give a quilted look for bedspreads and other home
fabrics, or fine apparel fabrics.
Natural Fiber : Found in plants or animals.
Oxford : A group of cotton fabrics, including pinpoint, made
with a modified plain or basket weave. Used primarily for shirting.
Poplin : A fabric with a fine horizontal rib effect on the
surface because of a warp yarn finer than the filling yarn; usually a
high-thread-count cloth. Poplin is used for high-quality shirting.
Pique : Medium-weight, crisp, cotton-type fabric with raised
dobby designs.
Plain Weave : Yarn passes alternately one over, one under
until the yarn is full.
Polyester : Manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming
substance is any long-chain synthetic polymer composed of at least 85%
by weight of an ester of a substituted aromatic carboxylic.
Pima Cotton : It is from Egyptian cotton, is an excellent
quality cotton fabric.
Plissé : Fabric treated with a solution that shrinks
parts of the goods to create a crinkle or pleated effect. Used for both
home and apparel.
Polished Cotton : It is either a satin weave cotton or a
plain weave cotton that is finished chemically to appear shiny.
Percale : A smooth, finely combed woven sheeting with a
minimum thread count of 180 threads per square inch.
Sateen : A silky smooth fabric that has a lustrous sheen
resembling satin.
Swiss : It is a sheer, very fine cotton that can be plain or
decorated with dots or other designs.
Screen Printing : Printing formed by engraved rollers.
Sham : A decorative covering for a pillow on a bed with a
decorative flange.
Sateen : A satin weave fabric with a smooth, lustrous
surface. Used for both home and apparel.
Silk : Continuous strands of filament fiber found in a
cocoon.
Striped Sateen : A woven-in weave of section-striped
pattern. (see Sateen)
Sheeting : Plain-woven, carded yarn cloth in medium and
heavy weights. When the thread count is low, sheeting is defined as
muslin. When the thread count is high and the yarn is combed, sheeting
is defined as percale.
Seersucker : A lightweight cotton fabric with a woven
crinkle achieved by altering tension in the warp yarns. Seersucker is
synonymous with the classic summer suit.
Table Skirt : Gathered, tailored, or pleated piece of fabric
that reaches from the top of the box spring to the floor.
Terry Cloth : A cotton fabric with moisture-absorbing loop
pile covering the entire surface on one or both sides. Used for home
fashions, as well as summer apparel.
Twill : Identified by the diagonal lines on its face. It is
an incredibly versatile fabric.
Velour : A term applied to cut pile cloths in general. Velour
is soft, luxurious and widely used.
Venise : It is a very fine damask table linen consisting of
large floral patterns.
Velveteen is an all cotton pile fabric with short pile
resembling velvet.
Velvet : A warp-pile fabric with short, densely woven cut
pile, giving the fabric a soft, rich texture.
Wool : Fibers that form the covering of a sheep.
Whipcord is a strong fabric with a diagonal round cords that
can also be produced in wool.
