Types of Woven Fabric

ROXETTE GOC-ONG || GIANNI RESULLAR || GABRILLA LLUVIDO || KIM MORO

35. GABARDINE 

It is an excellent quality strong material composed of 65% polyester and 35% cotton. Gabardine Fabric is a sturdy and durable fabric with a tight weave often used for items that need a heavy robust cloth. This is still an extremely popular choice for garments such as work wear, overcoats and smart jackets. Compactly woven twill fabric that sometimes has a high sheen. Originally used in “gabardines,” cloaks worn in medieval Spain as protection from the elements, this hard wearing and rain resistant fabric is a staple in suiting and outerwear. The name gabardine comes from “gabardine”; a loose garment from the Middle Ages. The term was later applied to many protective garments like raincoats and smocks. Gabardine was popular in the fifties for men’s “weekender jackets”. Today wool gabardine is used for high end men’s suiting, particularly in custom garments.

36. GAUZE

It is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave. In technical terms "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each warp yarn keeping the weft firmly in place. This weave structure is used to add stability to fabric, which is important when using fine yarns loosely spaced. However, this weave structure can be used with any weight of yarn, and can be seen in some rustic textiles made from coarse hand-spun plant fiber yarns.






37. GINGHAM

It is a medium-weight balanced plain-woven fabric made from dyed cotton or cotton-blend yarn. It is made of carded, medium or fine yarns, where the coloring is on the warp yarns and always along the grain (weft). Gingham has no right or wrong side with respect to color. Recognized by its signature checked pattern of white interspersed with a color, is a light and bright summer staple that has been around for centuries. The checks come in a variety of sizes ranging from 1/16 of an inch to 1 inch. Gingham is made from lightweight, plain woven cotton. Poly cotton gingham is lighter and more transparent than 100% cotton gingham. Both kinds are used for dresses, skirts, and shirts for both adults and children, or for curtains and tablecloths.  

38. GRENADINE 

It is a weave characterized by its light, open, gauze-like feel, and is produced on jacquard looms. Originally produced in Italy and worn as a black silk lace in France in the eighteenth century, it is now woven with silk for use in ties. The grenadine weave is a complex mesh of yarns combined with a leno technique, where two warp yarns twist around the weft yarns. Wooden jacquard looms are used instead of modern industrial-grade ones for their finesse. The regular warp yarns are combined with a skeleton yarn into a twist. In order to make a leno weave, two or more warp threads cross over each other and interlace with one or several weft threads. The weft is woven in and for each weft shuttle the warp yarns are twisted to make a locked figure of eight. This is all very fine and technical, but the end result is more interesting. Grenadine is an open yet strong, sheer fabric with a low yarn count, great stability and low yarn slippage. On men’s apparel it’s mainly used for neckties.

39. GROSGRAIN

It is a plain weave corded fabric, with heavier cords than in poplin but lighter than in faille. Grosgrain has a very dull appearance with little luster, however it is very strong. It is a firm, close-woven, fine-corded fabric.  While Grosgrain fabric is generally black, it can be many different colors, and grosgrain ribbon comes in a large variety of colors and patterns.

The most common contemporary use of ribbed grosgrain is in hems where it may be elasticized or not, especially in polo shirts, t-shirts and underwear.

Grosgrain that does have some luster is a very popular fabric especially for ribbons, which are used to ornament and decorate clothing. Despite the fact grosgrain may be made of silk or satin, it is often erroneously referred to as a separate fabric.

40. JASPÉ

It is a woven fabric with a series of faint stripes formed by the arrangement of light, medium, and dark warp yarns or by twisting together 2 yarns of different colors. Used for drapery, upholstery, suitings. Mouline twists, where there are often two threads of differing thickness, are used in crossbreds, cheviots, grey coverts, hopsacks and thornproofs, which are also called Sportex. 

Jaspé, in which the threads are always of the same thickness, is used for beige-coloured coverts, and are in fact even called by this name, but are also used in Scottish gamekeeper’s tweed. Both solutions bestow a vital spark of life on the product, adding dynamism to seemingly monochrome dyes and three-dimensionality to the designs.

41. HAIRCLOTH 

Also known as Horsehair fabric, stiff and with an open weave, is usually made with lengthwise yarns of another fibre, such as cotton, and long, crosswise yarns of horsehair. It is used as interlining or stiffening for tailored garments and millinery but is gradually being replaced for such purposes by materials of synthetic fibres. The fabric, at one time made into shirts worn by religious penitents, became a popular upholstery material in the 19th century. Horsehair for the textile industry is exported chiefly by Argentina and Canada; other producers include Mongolia, China, and Australia.

42. HERRINGBONE

 Weaved in a rather distinctive pattern. The pattern includes a series of slanted lines. The lines are parallel and their direction is reversed in every row. This gives the effect of alternating upside facing and upside down facing chevrons, or zigzags. For this reason, herringbone cloth is also called chevron cloth. Other names the herringbone pattern is called are arrowhead and fishbone. 

Herringbone is actually the method of weaving. The word herringbone is derived from the fact that the pattern looks like the herring fish skeleton. The herringbone cloth is weaved in such a way that the cloth has a tweed look and spongy feel. The warp yarn will be a different color from the weft yarn to create the effect.

Herringbone cloth is most commonly made of wool or cotton fabric. This cloth is usually used to make outer layer clothing such as suits, jackets, sports coats and other items of sportswear and skirts. Herringbone cloth is also used to make scarves, socks and stockings. Tweed clothing, which is clothing made of rough wool, quite often features the herringbone pattern. This cloth is also used to make upholstery.

43. HOUNDSTOOTH

Houndstooth, hounds tooth check or hound's tooth (and similar spellings), also known as dogstooth, dogtooth, dog's tooth, or pied-de-poule, is a duotone textile pattern characterized by broken checks or abstract four-pointed shapes, often in black and white, although other colours are used. The classic houndstooth pattern is an example of a tessellation.

Houndstooth originated in Scotland in the 1800s, it was originally worn as an outer garment of woven wool cloth by shepherds. The pattern is still popular to this day in tweed and wool fabrics. It is a duotone pattern that is characterised by its abstract four-pointed shapes, most often in black and white. The pattern is usually used for coats and jackets, however it can also be found on dresses and skirts. In the early 1800s the pattern was used on scarves and hoop skirts.

44. LAME'

 It is a type of fabric woven or knit with thin ribbons of metallic fiber, as opposed to guipé, where the ribbons are wrapped around a fibre yarn. It is usually gold or silver in color; sometimes copper lamé is seen. Lamé comes in different varieties, depending on the composition of the other threads in the fabric. Common examples are tissue lamé, hologram lamé and pearl lamé.

An issue with lamé is that it is subject to seam or yarn slippage, making it less than ideal for garments with frequent usage. Lamé is often used in evening and dress wear and in theatrical and dance costumes. It was, at one time, ubiquitous as a favourite material in futuristic costumes for science fiction television and films.

Lamé is also used for its conductive properties in the sport of fencing to make the overjackets (called lamés) that allow touches to be scored. Lamé was used in the making of the ephod. 

45. LAWN 

Lawn cloth or lawn is a plain weave textile, originally of linen but now chiefly cotton. Lawn is designed using fine, high count yarns, which results in a silky, untextured feel. The fabric is made using either combed or carded yarns. When lawn is made using combed yarns, with a soft feel and slight luster, it is known as "nainsook". The term lawn is also used in the textile industry to refer to a type of starched crisp finish given to a cloth product. The finish can be applied to a variety of fine fabrics, prints or plain.

46. MADRAS

Madras is a lightweight cotton fabric with typically patterned texture and plaid design, used primarily for summer clothing such as pants, shorts, dresses, and jackets. The fabric takes its name from the former name of the city of Chennai in India.

Madras today is available as plaid patterns in regular cotton, seersucker and as patchwork madras, meaning cutting several madras plaid fabrics into squares or rectangles and sewing them back together to form a mixed pattern of various plaids.

47. MARQUISETTE 

It a sheer, lightweight mesh or net fabric with a leno weave. A lightweight but strong fabric used to reinforce the center front of bras that prevents stretching an provides support. It can be made from almost any fibre: silk, cotton, wool, rayon, nylon, polyester and a blend of any of the above.  It is used for dresses, curtains, and mosquito netting. 

Leno weave - figure 8 threads twining around straight threads

                     

     Wedding dress (detail), 1910 US, Kent State.

It was a common fabric for scarves, eveningdresses, wedding and bridesmaiddresses throughout the 1910s.  Fashion columns from 1911, in particular mention marquisette as the perfect light, limp fabric for the newly fashionable Directorie look, particularly for evening wear.

Marquisette fabric used as curtains.

48. MATELASSÉ

 Is also known as woven quilting, because it is a weave specifically designed to imitate quilting.  It looks like a fine quilt, or like a slightly bubbly, blister-y brocade. It can range from a heavy, bulky fabric, to a fairly light but still puffy and squishy crepe. 

Pocket of linen matelasse, English, 1760-1775, Linen,
hand sewn with linen thread, and linen tape,
Victoria & Albert Museum, T.150-1970

 It is meant to mimic the style of hand-stitched Marseilles type quilts made in Provence, France. This type of fabric can be either hand-stitched to create the decorative features of the fabric, or woven on a jacquard loom for the appearance of quilting. It is a heavy, thick textile that appears to be padded, but actually has no padding within the fabric.

Matelassé fabric is used on upholstery for slip covers and throw pillows, and in bedding, for coverlets, duvet covers and pillow shams. It is also used in crib bedding and children’s bedding sets

49. MELTON

Melton fabric is a dense tightly woven fabric that is felted and heavily brushed for an ultra soft hand. This felted and brushed fabric is smooth and flat to the touch. Wool melton is tightly woven and the weave is not highly visible to the naked eye because of the felting process.  

This versatile fabric can be used for coats, jackets, vests, blankets and historical clothing replications.

50. MONK'S CLOTH 

A heavy weight cotton fabric utilizing the basket weave variation of the plain weave. Used for draperies and slip covers, monk's cloth is an example of 4 x 4 basket weave. 

A heavy, coarse, loosely woven fabric made in a basket weave. Used for drapery, upholstery and other home furnishings.

Made from wool, cotton, linen, silk, rayon, or synthetics. In a basket weave. Monk’s cloth is heavy due to its construction. It is difficult to sew or manipulate as the yarns have a tendency to slide, stretch and fray. It may sag in time depending on the compactness of the weave. It can also be made in other basket weaves. Monk’s cloth is rough in texture.

51. MUSLIN 

Muslin fabric is a member of the cotton family, and is generally a general term for a large group of inexpensive plain weave fabrics, that are either all cotton or cotton/polyester blends.  Muslin can vary in weight from light sheers to heavy sheeting. Muslin follows the fabric characteristics and sewing recommendations of plain weave fabrics.

May shrink and wrinkle badly. Seam slippage may be a problem in poor quality fabrics. May be difficult to ease. May have poor elasticity and tear easily and is durable. 

REFERENCES:

Muslin Fabric – The Pattern Fitter And Quilter’s Friend. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.the-sewing-partner.com/muslin-fabric.html

What is "Monk's Cloth" - Definition & Explanation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from http://www.textileglossary.com/terms/monk-s-cloth.html

FABRIC FILES: WOOL MELTON. (2016, January 8). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from https://indiesew.com/blog/fabric-files-wool-melton

Oakes, L. (2014, April 2). Terminology: What is matelassé or marseilles cloth? Retrieved February 10, 2017, from http://thedreamstress.com/2014/04/terminology-what-is-matelasse-or-marseilles-cloth/

What is Matelassé Fabric? (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-matelass-fabric.htm

T. (2011, December 8). Terminology: What is marquisette? Retrieved February 10, 2017, from http://thedreamstress.com/2011/12/terminology-what-is-marquisette/

Jaspè-Moulinè. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2017, from http://www.vitalebarberiscanonico.com/the-style/glossary/175/jaspe-mouline

Lame (fabric). (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lam%C3%A9_(fabric)