China silk

China silk is a lightweight and soft fabric. This plain-weave silk fabric is used for lingerie and soft suits. Nowadays, China silk has been replaced almost completly with lining fabrics of man-made fibers.

cultivated silk

Fibers from a silkworm that have had scientific care.

floss silk

Tangled silk waste. Floss is also a twisted silk yarn used in art needlework.

Macclesfield silk

Hand-woven silk or rayon fabric with small overall Jacquard patterns. Macclesfield, England, is the town of origin. Today, the name applies to small, yarn dyed, dobby designs used in men’s neckties. See Spitalfields.

silk

The product of the silk worm and the only natural filament fiber (it is produced in a long thread). Silk was the leading luxury fiber for thousands of years. There were many types of silk and many ways of making it into cloth. foday, man-made fibers have to a very large extent replaced silk, but the traditional names for certain silk fabrics are still used and include the following:

Honan silk

Silk similar to pongee. See pongee.

raw silk

A term used incorrectly for wild silk. Raw silk is the silk fiber before it has been processed in any way. Kaw silk is coated with a glue-like substance called sericin. The sericin is removed in later processing and is not silk.

Thai silk

Silk made in Thailand. Most Thai silk is fairly heavy weight, often slubbed, and made in vivid colors that are usually iridescent or changeable.

wild silk

The silk from uncultivated silkworms that eat leaves other than mulberry leaves. Wild silk is coarser and is more uneven than cultivated silk. The resulting fabric is usually duller in finish and rougher in texture than other types of silk. Tussah is a silk fabric made from wild silk.

silk broadcloth

A soft spun-silk fabric in plain weave, used for shirts, blouses, and sports dresses.

silk culture

The care of the worm that produces silk fiber, from the egg to the moth.

silk illusion

A net similar to tulle but even finer in mesh, used primarily for bridal veils.

silk noil

Short ends of silk fibers used in making rough, textured, spun yarns or in blends with cotton or wool.

spun silk

Yarn or fabric made from short fibers of pierced cocoons or from short ends at the outside and inside edges of the cocoons that cannot be reeled.

silk thread

A classic sewing thread for fine work and for sewing silks and woolens. lt has more give than other natural fiber threads, but less than polyester or nylon. lt is used primarily for sewing on silk fabrics.

tram silk

A low-twist, ply silk yarn formed by combining two or three single strands.

tussah silk

Silk fabric woven from silk made by wild, uncultivated silkworms. Tussah is strong, but coarse and uneven. lt is naturally tau in color, cannot be bleached, and has a rougher texture than cultivated silk. lt is used in shantung and pongee. Wild silkworms eat leaves other than mulberry leaves eaten exclusively by silkworms. The difference in diet accounts for the different fiber and fabric characteristics. Tussah is also used to describe fabrics designed to imitate this kind of silk. See wild silk.

waste silk

Another name for silk noil. Short ends of silk fibers used in making rough, textured, spun yarns or in blends with cotton or wool.

weighted silk

Fabric in which metallic salts have been added in the dyeing and finishing to increase its weight and to give a heavier hand. A ruling requires weighted silk to be marked and the amount of weighting indicated.

acetate

A organic and chemical fiber. Acetate is a blend of cellulose and acetic acid that has been hardened. Solution and spun-dyed acetates are colorfast against sunlight, perspiration, and air pollution. Acetate is often used for luxurious fabrics because its appearance is similar to silk. It is mixed occasionally with other fibers to give additional gloss and lower the cost.

alpaca

The Alpaca is a domesticated member of the lama family, the so called “South American camel”. Alpaca fabric is one of the luxury fabrics for its silky, soft and fairly lightweight attributes. Today, the term alpaca is also used for fabrics made from a blend including some wools that have a similar appearance to true alpaca.

antique taffeta

As it was originally a pure silk fabric nowadays normally contains a mixture of polyester and silk (predominantly dupion silk). Often yarn-dyed with two colors to give it an iridescent effect. Connected to: shantung

barathea

Barathea is mixed fabric which contains silk, rayon, cotton or wool and is closely woven. It has a typical pebbly surface. Barathea is used for dresses, neckties, trimmings, and suits.

basic dye

A way of dyeing without a mordant that colors wool and silk. To use it for cotton a mordant is needed.

batiste

A fabric named for Jean Baptiste, a French linen weaver. (1) In cotton, a sheer, fine muslin, woven of combed yarns and given a mercerized finish. It is used for blouses, summer shirts, dresses, lingerie, infants’ dresses, bonnets, and handkerchiefs. (2) A rayon, polyester, or cotton-blend fabric with the same characteristics. (3) A smooth, fine wool fabric that is lighter than challis, and similar to fine nun’s veiling. It is used for dresses and negligees. (4) A sheer silk fabric either plain or figured, similar to silk mull. It is often called “batiste de soie” and is made into summer dresses.

Bedford cord

Bedford cord is a durable cloth with lengthwise ribs made of cotton, wool, silk, rayon, or combination fibers. Mainly used for outer garments or Sportswear.

belting

A heavy cotton, rayon, silk, or mixed fabric with large fillingwise ribs. lt may be knit. Any heavyweight, fairly stiff fabric used to support the top of a skirt, a pair of pants, or line a belt to give additional support. Beltings come in various widths.

Bengaline

Bengaline is a ribbed fabric similar to faille, but heavier and with a coarser rib in the filling direction. lt can be made of silk, wool, acetate, or rayon warp, with wool or cotton filling. The fabric was first made in Bengal, India, and is used for dresses, coats, trimmings, and draperies.

broadcloth

Although the term broadcloth originally meant any fabric made on a loom of a certain width, it now means a fine, tightly woven fabric with a faint rib. Originally, it was made of mercerized cotton, but today the term is used to describe several dissimilar fabrics made with different fibers, weaves, and finishes. (1) Originally, a silk shirting fabric so named because it was woven in widths exceeding the usual twenty-nine inches. (2) A plainweave, tightly woven, high-count cotton fabric, with fillingwise rib finer than poplin. Best grades are made of combed pima or Egyptian cotton, usually with high thread counts (136x60 or 144x76). The fabrics are usually mercerized, sanforized, and given a soft lustrous finish, and are used for women’s blouses, tailored summer dresses, and men’s shirts. (3) A closely woven, medium-weight wool cloth with a smooth nap, velvety feel, and lustrous appearance. Wool broadcloth can be made with a two-up-and-two-down twill weave or plain weave. In setting up a loom to make the fabric, the loom is threaded wide to allow for a large amount of shrinkage during the filling process. The fabric takes its name from this wide threading. High-quality wool broadcloth is fine enough for garments that are closely molded to the figure or draped. Its high-luster finish makes it an elegant cloth. Wool broadcloth is ten to sixteen ounces per yard and is now being made in chiffon weights. (4) A fabric made from silk or man-made filament fiber yarns and woven in a plain weave with a fine crosswise rib obtained by using a heavier filling than warp yarn.

brocatelle

Brocatelle is a fabric similar to brocade but made of a Jacquard loom. It is used as drapery and upholstery fabric and made in double-cloth construction with a silk- or rayon-fibered face.

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.

chenille

Chenille is a fabric consisting of wool, cotton, silk or artifical fibers. It is woven from blurry yarns or tufts. Usually it is a mix from chenille and normal textile yarns. While chenille is the filling, the other yarn is the warp. Chenille is a pile yarn originally made by weaving a pile fabric and subsequently cutting it into strips. Its main use is for draperies and bedspreads.

chiffon

Chiffon is an extraordinary lightweight and thin crepe fabric. Originally, chiffon was made of silk, but today also wool, rayon, nylon and other fibers are used for the production of chiffon. It is an open weave with slightly twisted yarns and can have both, a soft or stiff finish. Chiffon is often used for dresses and scarves.

chiffon velvet

A lightweight, soft, usually silk fabric with a dense pile.