chine

This French word, meaning speckled, is used for fabrics in which the warp threads are printed before weaving whereas the filling threads are left plain, giving a shadowy effect to the finished fabric.

crepe de Chine

Traditionally, a very sheer, pebbly, washable silk with the fabric degummed to produce crinkle. Today, it is a sheer, flat crepe in silk or man-made fibers. It is used for lingerie, dresses, and blouses.

sewing-knitting machine

The latest machine for making fabrics. In the best known of these, the malimo machine, the warp thread is placed on top of the filling thread and the two are stitched together with a third thread.

Belgian lace

Belgium lace is a term used for any lace made in Belgium. Originally the term described a bobbin lace worked on a machine-made net. Connected to: bobbin lace

boucle

Boucle is a fabric woven with boucle yarns with looped appearance on the surface. The fabric has a abrasive surface. Boucle fabrics are woven or knitted by both, hand and machine.

Canton crepe

Canton crepe is heavier than crepe de Chine with a slightly ribbed crepe filling. It was originally made of silk in Canton, China. Today it is as well made of rayon or acetate.

crochet

A method of making fabric in which one yarn and one needle are used to form loops into which other loops are inserted. True crochet is a handcraft. Machine-made crochets are usually knitted on raschel machines.

embroidery

The term for a group of decorative, usually ornamental and nonfunctional needlework done with thread or yarn on fabric. Most machine embroidery is done by the Schiffli ma chine which can imitate many different hand embroidery stitches. Although embroidery is usually thaught of as being done in several colors, white work (white embroidery on white fabric) and black work (black embroidery on white fabric) are fairly common. Embroidery terms are tremendously variable, with different words being given to the same stitches in different countries, and even different sections of the same countries. Some of the most common embroidery stitches are beading, buttonhole stitch, chain stitch, chevron stitch, satin stitch, stem stitch, back stitch, and straight stitch.

flat crepe

A firm, medium-weight silk crepe with a soft, almost imperceptible crinkle. It has creped fillings alternating with two S and two Z twists. The surface is fairly flat. Flat crepe may also be made of man-made fibers. It is used for dresses, negligees, and blouses. See crepe de chine,

hackling

A combing process that prepares the flax fibers for spinning by removing short lengths of fiber, leaving only longer ones and laying them parallel. It may be done by hand or by machine.

Honan

A heavy silk, pongee-type, but a finer weave, originally the product of wild silkworms of Honan, China. A fabric of the best grade of Chinese silk, it is sometimes woven with blue edges. It is now made to resemble a heavy pongee, with slub yarns in both warp and filling. Honan is manufactured from silk or from man-made fibers. It is used for women’s dresses. See silk, pongee, and wild silk.

interlock

A fine gauge, compound knit fabric with a smooth surface on both front and back, composed of two separate 1 x 1 rib fabrics interknitted to form one cloth, made on an inter­lock machine. The fabric was traditionally used for underwear, but today is being used for apparel. Despite the name of the fabric, poorly made interlock develops runs at the edges and all interlock knits should be reinforced or finished in some way at these edges.

jacquard

A term used to describe fabrics with a woven or knitted pattern, whether or not they are made with a Jacquard attachment on the loom. The Jacquard attachment for weaving and knitting machines makes possible the manufacture of complicated, repeated geometrical designs in knits and wovens. See dobby.

jacquard patterns

Fancy patterns knitted in articles made by a special attachment on the knitting machine. Jacquard weave A construction characterized by very intricate woven-in designs. A special Jacquard loom makes these designs by controlling each warp yarn.

knitting

The process of constructing an elastic, porous fabric by interlocking a series of loops of one or more yarns with needles. It may be done by hand or by machine. These yarns form a series of connecting loops that support one another like a chain. Almost any textile item can be and has been knitted, including rugs. A warp knit is made on a machine in which parallel yarns run lengthwise and are locked into the series of loops. Warp knits have a good deal of cross­wise stretch. Wett knits are made on a machine that forms loops in a circular direction and have one continuous thread running across the fabric. The following entries are common knit terms.

jacquard knit

A knit with a design knit into the fabric in a regular allover pattern. Most Jacquard patterns are closely knit­ted, but it is possible to make some pattern knits with a Jacquard machine.

single knit

Single knit, made on a weft knitting machine, is an­other term for plain knit

lace

A decorated openwork fabric created by looping, interlacing, braid­ing, or twisting threads. [t is made (either on a background fabric of net or without a background fabric) with a design formed by a net work of threads made by hand or on special lace machines, with bobbins, needles, or hooks. The pattern in lace is usually open and most often floral in design. Machine-made lace is most commonly seen today and many patterns formerly only made by hand, are imi­tated by machine. hace is the traditional bridal fabric, but it is also used for other nonformal clothing such as sports clothes. The fol­lowing entries are some of the major types of lace.

antique lace

A heavy lace made on a square knotted net with de­signs darned onto the net. Machine-made antique lace is often used for curtains. See embroidery and darn.

Nottingham lace

One of the first of the machine­made laces. It originated in Nottingham, England. Today, the term Nottingham lace is often used for any lace made by any machine.

Binche lace

A lace in which hand-made lace motifs are appliqued to a machine-made net ground. The name comes from Binche, a town in Belgium, where the lace is said to have originated.

Brussels lace

Brussels lace may be either a bobbin lace or a needlepointlace.It is usually worked on a machine-made ground and sometimes the designs are appliqued onto the ground. Because of the importance of Brussels, Belgium, in the history of lace-making (many patterns developed there), several different laces are called Brussels lace. See bobbin lace and needlepoint lace.

Leaver’s lace

Machine-made lace named for the inventor of the machine on which it is made. Many hand-made lace patterns can be copied on this machine. The term is sometimes used in pref­erence to machine-made lace to imply quality.

loom

A machine for weaving cloth. It is aperated either by hand or by machine.

luster rugs

Rugs that are chemically washed to give them sheen. They may be Wilton, Axminster machine-made rugs with oriental designs or velvet construction, and are frequently referred to as sheen-type rugs.

rag rug

A floor covering woven with strips of twisted rags made of cotton, wool, ür synthetic fabrics braided, crocheted, or bound and used as the filling on a cotton or synthetic yarn warp. Rag rugs are made by hand or machine, and with the exception of some handmade antique rags, usually are the most inexpensive rugs.

raschel

A knit made on a raschel machine, a warp knitting machine that can use bulky yarns to form designs imitating crochet or net.

rippling

Threshing of flax to strip the seeds or bolls from the plant. This process may be done by hand or by machine.

roving frame

A machine that puts a loose twist in the drawn-out sliver.

hooked rug

A rug made by hand or machine using a hook to pull loops of yarn or fabric through a coarse backing or canvas to form a pile.

rag rug

A rug woven with strips of cotton, wool, or synthetic fabrics used as the filling on a cotton or synthetic yarn warp. Rag rugs are made by hand and machine and, with the exception of some hand-made antique rag rugs, are usually the most inexpensive rugs.

sewing-knitting machine

The latest machine for making fabrics. In the best known of these, the malimo machine, the warp thread is placed on top of the filling thread and the two are stitched together with a third thread.

shuttle

The part of the weaving machine (loom) that carries the filling yarn over and under the warp yarns.

shuttleless loom

A machine that carries the filling yarns through the shed by the use of air or water jets and grippers.

stitch

A single passage of a threaded needle through fabric and back again, as in sewing or embroidery. Stitches may be made by hand or done on a sewing machine to hold layers of fabric together or to clecorate fabric such as embroidery, stitchery, and needlepoint. The most commonly used hand stitches follow. See embroidery, needlepoint, and stitchery.

stripper

A mechanical device that pulls the bolls off when they enter the rollers of the machine.

tapestry

A Jaquard woven fabric in cotton, wool, or man-made fibers. Traditionally, a decorative wall hanging woven to depict a scene. The filling threads are changed in color to fit the design. On the back, shaded stripes identify this fabric. It is used extensively for wall hangings, table covers, draperies, and upholstery. Some rugs are made in tapestry weaves. The word is also used for needlepoint, but this use is generally considered incorrect. Machine-made fabrics, also called tapestry, have regular designs on the surface and a slightly looped pile. They are used for such things as coats and handbags.

tricot

A term originating from the French tricoter, meaning to knit. lt is a fabric made by a warp-knitting (tricot) machine, a machine in which parallel yarns run lengthwise and are locked into a series of loops. Warp knits have a good deal of crosswise stretch. See two-bar tricot.

Harris tweed

Tweed hand-woven from yarns spun by hand or machine on the islands of the Outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. Harris is one of these islands.

unwashable fabric

A fabric that should not be washed by hand or by machine. Such fabrics are usually labeled "dry clean only".

warp knit

A warp knit is made on a machine in which parallel yarns run lengthwise and are locked into the series of loops. It is a process that makes a more dimensionally stable fabric than weft knitting. Warp knits have a good deal of crosswise stretch. It is frequently run-resistant. Examples are tricot and Raschel.

washable fabric

A fabric that can be washed. The method of washing (by hand or machine) may not be designated.