FABRICS/ DYING dictionary ACRYLIC BABYCORD Acrylic fabric is a manufactured fiber with a soft wool-like feel and Babycord is a ribcord fabric with a very small and thin rib line. The an uneven finish. It is used widely in knits as the fabric has the same fabric is often lighter and softer than normal or corduroy fabric. It is cozy look as wool. Acrylic fabric is favored for a variety of reasons very soft and comfortable, and is often made in a stretch quality. it is warm, quite soft, holds color well, is both stain and wrinkle resistant and it doesn’t itch. These qualities make acrylic a great BLEND substitute for wool. A blend fabric or yarn is made up of more than one fibre. In the yarn, two or more different types of fibres are used to form the yarn. ALPACA Blends are used to create a more comfortable fabric with a softer Alpaca wool comes from a South American animal that roams the feel. A good example is a cotton/wool blend; the mixture of cotton mountain slopes of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. The fleece and wool will prevent the fabric from being excessively warm and from an alpaca is similar to wool or mohair, but is softer, silkier, and will make the fabric softer to the skin. warmer. Because alpaca wool takes much longer to grow it is often more expensive and exclusive. However, garments made from this BOUCLE fabric are stronger and more comfortable. The term boucle is derived from the French word boucle, which literally means “to curl”. This term perfectly describes boucle yarn which contains of ringlet curls. Because of the fabric’s looped, sur- ANGORA WOOL face, it has a very supple, bouncy hand. Boucle weaves are often One of the finest fur fibers made comes from the natural hair of the used in scarves, jackets and coats for a classy textured look. special Angora rabbit. Although their names are similar, angora fiber is distinct from mohair, which comes from the Angora goat. The an- CHAMBRAY gora fiber is usually blended with wool to give the yarn elasticity and Chambray was originally a plain weave linen cloth made at or near a comfortable feel. A garment of angora blend fabric is the perfect the French town of Cambrai. It is a lightweight cotton fabric with a cold weather staple. 1x1 weave, often made from blue and white yarns. AJOUR Ajour is known for its light weight, ventilating properties, porosity, and most importantly for its variation in areas of thinness causing gaps in the closeness of the set. These areas of thinness form a variety of geometric patterns, stripes and lattices, and are attained by the choice of a suitable weave. This effect can also be achieved by the burning of chosen areas of a garment to create the desired gaps, or by perforation. Ajour can be made of cotton, silk or wool. Its name is derived from the French ajour, meaning breaking, as can be seen in the gaps in the fabric. 1.2 chambray The resulting fabric is a very soft, subtle and smooth material that is mostly used for shirts, dresses and beach pants. CHENILLE In French, the word chenille means “caterpillar”, Most caterpillars are a few inches long and are covered in short hairs that give them a fuzzy look. It is this particular look that provided the name for a certain type of fabric. Chenille yarn is quite thick, soft and fuzzy, and lengths of it do look, in fact, like long caterpillars. Manufacturers of chenille begin by creating a tightly wound core for the yarn. Then short lengths of fabric are wrapped around the core. Depending on the type of fabric that is used to create it, as well as the tonality of the color, chenille can have a lovely iridescent look to it without actually using iridescent fabric. Fabrics like mohair and wool are named specifically for the type of fibers that they are made of. However, this is not the case with chenille. Rather, the distinguishing factor for this fabric is the way in which it is made. 1.1 alpaca cultivation, with traces over 7,000 years old recovered from archae- COATINGS ological sites. The biggest advantages of cotton are that it’s very Coated fabric had been coated, covered or impregnated with durable. substances such as varnish, lacquer, rubber or polymers. Also they could be laminated permanently to become a ‘proofed’ material. DENIM By doing so the fabric could become resistant, repellent, light insu- Denim is a sturdy cotton fabric characterized by 3x1 warp faced lating or it could be done for the look. weaves. Traditionally denim is made with indigo dyed yarn. Denim is known as the work wear fabric since the late 18th century but CANVAS later became popular for casual wear. This versatile fabric can be Also known as duck fabric, canvas is a heavy weight cotton- based bleached, stonewashed, acid washed, over dyed and destroyed fabric manufactured in a plain weave. The fabric is so tightly woven which results in an endless variety of styles. that is windproof, has a waterproof quality and retains dyed colors extremely well. Canvas FELPA is grated according to weight (with 12 being the lightest and 1 being Felpa is a very soft kind of fabric often used for sweat-shirts or the heaviest variation) and is attributed as the processor to modern sweatpants. It has a plush character, which makes it incredibly denim. comfortable to wear. CASHMERE FLANNEL Cashmere is luxuriant wool with a silk feel and feather light weight. Flannel is a soft, light woven fabric, typically made out of wool, and Despite the glamour associated with cashmere, it hails from humble sometimes combined with cotton or synthetic fibers. Flannel has beginnings. It is the wool or fur of the Kashmir goat. Kashmir goats been worn since the 17th century, when it was a popular fabric are primarily raised in Mongolia, but many are bred in Iran, Tibet, in Wales. Eventually, its usage spread across the globe, and is now India and China. American herders have also joined the internation- common all over the world for making lightweight, warm clothing. In al cashmere production market in recent years. Napoleon is said North America, flannel is often associated with lumberjacks, farm- to have popularized its use for shawls or wraps when he gave his ers, and woodsmen. This is probably due to its popularity amongst second wife, Empress Eugenie, seventeen of them. In more recent middle class workers who spent large amounts of time outdoors, years, Old-Hollywood stars started wearing it, bringing cashmere and wear clothing made of this fabric to keep warm in cold environ- to the hearts of people everywhere. Woven garments made of ments. Flannel became an accepted fabric in American pop culture cashmere must be dry cleaned, but knitted articles may be hand in the early 1990s, thanks to the rise of grunge music. washed. FLEECE CREPE Polar fleece is a soft napped insulating fabric made from a type of There are two kinds of crepe fabric. The first kind is crepe de Chine, polyester called polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or other synthetic or Canton crepe. This is a kind of silk that has a soft hand anda fibers. Polar fleece is used in jackets, hats, sweaters, sweatpants, wavy look to its surface. The other kind of crepe is associated hoodies, and high-performance outdoor clothing and can be used with Great Britain rather than China and is hard with a crimped, or as a vegan alternative to wool. It can be made partially from recy- crisp, appearance. Hard crepe is usually dyed black. It was used cled plastic bottles and is very light, soft and easy to wash. for mourning clothing for widows in the Victorian era as well as for the veils in nuns’ habits. Soft crepe gets its wave pattern through GARMENT DYED boiling after weaving, plus a backward twisting of double bobbins Garment dyed pieces have given its color once the garment is of yarn. Unlike the hard type, the soft version is usually available in already stitched together in its final shape. This in opposition to a many colors. It’s used for women’s scarves and other accessories. yarn dyed item where dyeing takes place prior to the weaving of the The French originally called corduroy “Cord Du Roi”, meaning cord yarn. One way of revealing a true garment dyed piece is by looking of the King. This lush velvety fabric is ribbed throughout the length at the pocket linings and the labels: they should have the same and the ribs are cut and sheared so that a smooth velvety surface color as the self-fabric! Garment dyed clothes are preshrunk in the appears. dyeing process, have a slightly worn look at the seams and tend to have a softer, cuddlier feel to them. COTTON Be aware that your garment dyed styles will fade a little while being Cotton is one of our most used fabrics in the main collection be- washed. Don’t worry, this is actually a good thing! This makes the cause of its great characteristics. Cotton is a natural fiber harvested garment look more vintage and unique. from the cotton plant. It is one of the oldest fibers under human 1.3 cotton 1.4 garment dyed HERRINGBONE LANA Herringbone describes a distinctive V-shaped weaving pattern Lana means wool in Italian. usually found in twill fabric. It is distinguished by its broken zigzag pattern that resembles the skeleton of a herring fish.