A Survey of 20 Textiles

Project #1-Vocab 100 points, for Fashion 320 Intro to Textiles at Sacramento City College

Choose 20 words from “The Britex Wall”. Give three (3) examples of garments for each word. DO NOT say, shirt, skirt, pants; DO SAY Gored Skirt—Slim leg pants with silk underlining and rayon lining—Bias cut skirt.

1. ALENCON

A needlepoint lace with a fine net or tulle ground, with a pattern outlined in satin cording. Also called re-embroidered lace.

Example Garments

  1. You can add it to the yoke of a denim or chambray work shirt for some flair.
  2. A thinner piece might make a nice hat trim.
  3. It’s often used on wedding gowns and veils, could be used as lightweight earrings.

2. BATISTE

A soft, lightweight woven cotton, heavier than voile and very slightly lighter than lawn. Batistes are mercerized to produce a subtle sheen or lustre, and often woven with a satin face to enhance this effect.

Batiste is a semi-sheer plain-weave fabric that textile manufacturers commonly use to make lightweight garments, lingerie, and bedding. This type of fabric is usually made with cotton, but some manufacturers also use polyester or lyocell. Prized for its lightweight and semi-transparent attributes, batiste is a luxury fabric despite being reasonably inexpensive. (source)

Example Garments

  1. A nightgown with a bit of embroidery
  2. Doll dresses
  3. Edwardian costume dress

3. ACETATE

Man-made fiber composed of cellulose acetate, a substance chemically derived from plant fiber (cellulose). Acetate fabric has excellent drape; it is most often woven as crepe or satin. source

The purified cellulose is obtained from wood pulp, using a chemical reaction with acetic acid and acetic anhydride with sulphuric acid. This fabric has a luxurious feel and appearance, but it’s also very delicate and in its pure form it must be hand washed. source

Example Garments

  1. Flowy gown
  2. Bias-cut skirt
  3. power suit

4. WAXED CLOTH

A fabric treated with wax or paraffin. Many waxed fabrics are water-resistant, while others simply have added sheen and structure. source

Great for work clothes- anything that needs to be water resistant and easy to clean. Bags, table cloths.

You can wax your own cotton duck: https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Wax-Your-Clothing-and-Gear/


5. MOHAIR

Fabric made from or blended with yarn made from the long, lustrous hairs of the angora goat. Mohair coating has excellent loft and texture; 100% mohair coating tends to be extremely lightweight and pliable. By contrast, the fibers in mohair upholstery are densely woven and clipped very short, giving it a stiff, springy texture.

source

Sweaters, yarn knitted into scarves and hats, can be used to make suits.


6. LINEN

Very strong, durable fabric, either woven or knitted, made from flax fiber. Linen breathes well , has excellent, bouncy body, and is easily wrinkled. Linen can as lightweight as a drapery sheer, or heavier than canvas. source

Spun fibers from the stalks of flax plants

I LOVE linen! I have pants, cropped pants, tanks, tunics, shorts, and button up shirts. It’s also nice for a sundress. I got linen sheets for my biirthday!

it appears that Neolithic peoples in Europe were making textiles from linen as long as 36,000 years ago. Therefore, linen is one of the longest-produced textiles


7. CAMEL HAIR

An all-wool fiber, derived from the hair of an Asian camel crossbred from dromedary (one hump) and bactrian (two hump) camels. The resulting hairs are both heat and cold resistant. Fibers from the top of the animal are generally coarse and sturdy, while fibers from the thick, soft undercoat are airy, soft and luminous. source

Camel hair has two components: guard hair and undercoat. Guard hair is the outer protective fur, which is coarse and inflexible and can be woven into haircloth. (Guard hair may be made softer and plusher by blending it with another fibre, especially wool.) The undercoat, which is shorter and finer than guard hair, is less protective but more insulating. It is very soft and frequently used in the making of textiles for coats.

I think of the classic camel hair blazer but it can also be a suit or scarf. It can also be referred to as a color.


8. CORDURA

Trademarked by DuPont, Cordura is an extremely durable, industrial weight nylon fabric.. source

By 1979 soft-sided Cordura luggage had captured about 40 percent of the luggage market. Several brands today continue to use Cordura fabric in their products. Eastpak was the first brand to use Cordura fabric in their packs,[6] and JanSport used the canvas-like nylon in their original daypacks in the 1970s, and uses polyester cordura exclusively today. Wikipedia

Cordura is great for luggage like backpacks, totes, and duffel bags. Its also used for workwear, especially pants. Good for outdoor gear like jackets and vests.


9. COUTIL

A strong, heavy cotton or cotton/rayon fabric used for stability in corsets and structured tailoring. source

Coutil is a tightly woven fabric, which was invented in the nineteenth century specifically for corset making. It has a high thread-count, and is usually recognizable by its herringbone structure, as you can see in the picture above. The finer the herringbone structure, the better the quality of coutil. The tight nature of the weave adds to the extreme strength and durability of the fabric, which is dense enough to prevent corset bones from poking through. source

Coutil is used to make corsets, shape-wear, and stays. Usually as the under-layer for strength sometimes covered with a brocade fabric.


10. DOBBY

Dobby is a woven fabric produced on the dobby loom, characterized by extra texture or small textured patterns in the finished cloth. source

Lightweight and breezy when made with cotton fibers its commonly used in traditional Indian dress. Also used to make mens dress shirts, ladies blouses and dresses.


11. DUVETYN

A twill-back velveteen with a soft nap, pliable and similar in appearance to suedecloth or moleskin. Duvetyn is frequently treated for fire resistance and used in theatrical applications. source

Great for drapery in theater, photo backdrops, great to block light because it is very opaque. Maybe could be used as a cloak because it drapes well and is often 100% cotton.


12. EYELET

A fabric with cut-out areas or figures with stitching around them, generally with additional embroidery throughout the design. First produced in Switzerland and traditionally made from fine cotton. 2. A small metal grommet. source

Great for summer-type dresses, tanks, and skirts.


13. GUIPURE

A lace without a mesh ground, with the pattern held together by connecting threads. Also known as Venise lace, Guipure is generally made of rayon, polyester, or blends and is manufactured in both trim and yardage widths. The connecting threads around designs can be easily cut to produce appliqués. source

Guipure lace is a type of traditional continuous bobbin lace (as opposed to part lace like Honiton or Brussels or bobbin tape lace like Russian – these are made in pieces and crocheted together at the end). 

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/168442

14. IKAT

Ikat fabrics are made from yarn that has been tied for dyeing and weaving, as opposed to tying the whole fabric. This technique produces a streaked geometric pattern that is a common element in many textile traditions worldwide. source

Used for all kinds of things like upholstery, pillows, drapes, napkins and also wearable items like jackets and dresses.


15. LIBERTY OF LONDON

Launched in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty, this department store featured luxury goods from all over the world. Its famous Liberty Tana Lawn (named after Lake Tana in Ethiopia) is one of the most popular fabrics in the world, featuring many screenprinted patterns designed by William Morris during the Art Nouveau era, plus a wide assortment of new digitally printed designs. source

The ultra-fine, long-staple Tana Lawn cotton used by Liberty is a brand signature. Following a series of sophisticated preparations, the tightly-woven fabric is soft as silk, wonderfully lustrous, and highly receptive to pigment. The end result looks and feels incredible, and is a joy to wear. source


16. PACIFIC CLOTH

Also called “silver cloth,” Pacific Cloth is specifically designed to keep silver from tarnishing. source

Pacific Silvercloth® is a 100% cotton flannel that is not chemically treated but instead is the only fabric on the market that has thousands of fine silver particles embedded in the rich, brown cotton flannel which absorb tarnish producing gases before they reach the silver.

So this is used to line boxes that store your good silverware or bags. tokeep silver dishes. If you made a costume that included silver bling you could use this cloth, but you probably wouldn’t because its flannel. and not very sturdy to carry the weight of all that silver. Or lining a jewelry box with silver cloth might help prevent tarnishing?


17. PETERSHAM Ribbon

A rayon faille trim used both decoratively and in dressmaking, as waistbands, hatbands, or any application that requires a curved tape or binding. source

Petersham ribbon can be used in many sewing applications for every kind of garment, from a pair of suit trousers to a red-carpet-worthy gown. This essential notion is so useful in the sewing room, whether or not projects are couture, that every sewer should keep a variety of widths on hand. Petersham is strong and durable, with a firm hand, soft feel, stable grain, and a consistent width. source


18. Silk

Silk is a protein filament secreted as fluid by the Bombyx mori caterpillar when constructing its cocoon. These filaments are extremely strong and lustrous and can be woven into slub silk (dupioni, shantung, noile), or finely textured silk (chiffon, duchess satin, charmeuse, 4- or 6-ply crepe, and more). While all silkworms eat mulberry leaves, particular strains of mulberry mash and particular types of silkworms will produce slightly different types of silk. source

I used to have a pair. of red silk pants. I made a raw silk baby sling that I used with my daughter for years. Silk is great for drapey blouses, dresses and more.


19. TROPICAL WOOL

A very light, finely carded wool, frequently suiting weight, that is easy to wear in very hot climates. Tropical wool is comparable to other natural fibers in its breathability. source

Used mainly for suits but I also found tailored dresses and jackets.


20. VELVET

A fabric with short, closely-woven cut pile, which gives the fabric a rich, plush texture. Velvet can be made of virtually any fiber, including cotton, rayon, silk, polyester, acetate, or blends. source

Soft an luxurious, makes a great coat, vest, or straight skirt.



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