homespun

Originally, fabrics made from yarns spun by hand. Today, homespun is used for fabrics that imitate this look. It is a very coarse, rough, plain-weave fabric, loosely woven with irregular, tightly twisted, and nubby, unevenly spun yarns. It is made from linen, wool, cotton, or man-made fiber, or blends in varied colors and is used for coats, suits, sportswear, draperies, upholstery, and slipcovers.

spun dyeing

See solution dyeing, dyeing, and dope dyeing.

spun fiber yarn

(1) A yarn twisted by spinning. (2) Yarn made from staple lengths of man-made fibers instead of the long fiIaments in which man-made fibers are formed. To accomplish this, long filament fibers are chopped into staple lengths and spun to imitate natural fiber yarns. See filament arrd staple.

spun polyester

See spun fiber yarn.

spun rayon

See spun fiber yarn.

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.

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.

count of yarn

Size of yarn as distinguished by its weight and fineness. This term is applied to cotton, wool, and spun yarns.

decating

A process for setting the luster on wool, silk, spun silk, and rayons.

Donegal tweed

Originally a thick woolen homespun fabric woven by hand by Irish peasants in County Donegal, Ireland. Today, the term is used to refer to any tweed in plain weave characterized by thick, colorful slubs woven into the fabric. See tweed.

doupion

Silk that comes from the fiber formed by two silk worms who spun their cocoons together in an interlocking manner. The yarn is uneven, irregular, and larger than regular filaments. It is used to make shantung and doupioni. Also called douppioni, dupion, and dupioni.

dry spinning

A derivative to be spun is dissolved in a solvent that can be evaporated, leaving the desired filament to be hardened by drying in warm air.

fiber

The basic unit used in the fabrication of textile yarns and fabrics. Fibers are much longer than they are wide. The term at one time was limited to materials that could be spun into yarn, but now is used to include filaments that do not require spinning, such as silk and man-made fibers.

flax

Fibers of the flax plant that are spun into linen yarns and woven into linen cloth. The word linen is derived from “linum,” part of the scientific name for the flax plant. See linen.

homespun

Originally, fabrics made from yarns spun by hand. Today, homespun is used for fabrics that imitate this look. It is a very coarse, rough, plain-weave fabric, loosely woven with irregular, tightly twisted, and nubby, unevenly spun yarns. It is made from linen, wool, cotton, or man-made fiber, or blends in varied colors and is used for coats, suits, sportswear, draperies, upholstery, and slipcovers.

sateen

A strong, lustrous, mercerized, satin-weave fabric made of cotton, blends of cotton with polyester, or spun-yarn fabrie characterized by floats running in the filling direction. Sateen Is also used to distinguish between cotton satin-weave fabrics and satin-weave fabrics made of sük or man-made fibers. It is used for linings, draperies, and comforters. See weaving and satin weave.

silk broadcloth

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

silk noil

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

solution dyeing

The solution for man-made fiber is colored before making it into fiber. Dyestuff is put into ttre spinning solution and the color is locked in as the fiber is coagulated. Synonytnous with spun dycing and dope dyeing. See dyeing, spun dyeing, and dope dyeing.

spun fiber yarn

(1) A yarn twisted by spinning. (2) Yarn made from staple lengths of man-made fibers instead of the long fiIaments in which man-made fibers are formed. To accomplish this, long filament fibers are chopped into staple lengths and spun to imitate natural fiber yarns. See filament arrd staple.

spun polyester

See spun fiber yarn.

spun rayon

See spun fiber yarn.

staple

Short lengths of fiber, measured in inches or fractions of inches, like those naturally found in cotton and wool. These short lengths must be spun to obtain a length sufficient for weaving or knitting. Silk is the only natural fiber that does not come in staple lengths, but instead in filament lengths. Man-made fibers often are cut into staple lengths for spinning to imitate natural fibers. See spinning, filament, and spun fiber yarn.

tow

Short flax fibers, separated by hackling (combing) from the longer fibers. Also, the poorly hackled, uneven linen yarn made from these short fibers. lt may also refer to a continuous loose rope of man made filaments drawn together without twist to be cut in lengths for spun yarn.

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.

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.

yarn

A generic term for a continuous strand spun from a group of natural or synthetic staple fibers (short lengths of fibers), filaments (long lengths), or other materials twisted or laid together for use in weaving, knitting, or some other method of intertwining to form textile fabrics.