Fabric Construction
Chapter 12
Fashion and Interior Design
Page 214-233
Learning Targets
I can compare and contrast woven and
knitted fabrics.
I can identify various finishes and apply
dying and printing techniques.
Vocabulary
Blends
Filament Yarns
Filling Yarns
Grain
Knitting
Pile
Ply
Selvage
Spun Yarns
Texturing
Warp Yarns
Weaving
Yarns
Yarns
Yarns: fibers twisted together or laid side
by side.
These fibers may be natural,
manufactured, or both.
Fabrics will vary greatly in design, texture,
and performance.
Types of Yarns
Spun Yarns: a yarn made of staple fibers
All natural fibers, except for silk, are staple
fibers.
Manufactured fibers can be cut into staple
lengths to give fabrics the appearance of
cotton, linen, or wool.
The staple fibers are twisted together to
form a single yarn long enough to make
into fabric.
Types of Yarns
 Filament Yarns: a yarn made entirely of
filament fibers.
 Silk, and manufactured fibers that have not been
cut are filament fibers.
 Filament yarns are smoother and more lustrous
than spun yarns.
 A monofilament yarn has only one strand, as
seen in nylon sewing thread and fishing line.
 When two or more filaments are combined
during the manufacturing process, a
multifilament yarn forms.
Types of Yarns
 Most manufacturers twist two or more single
yarns together to make a ply yarn.
 Ply: tells the number of strands used.
 Several ply yarns twisted together form a cord or
cable.
 High-twist yarns are firm, strong, dull in texture,
and relatively fine in size.
 Low-twist yarns are softer, weaker, more
lustrous, and less compact than high twist yarns.
Types of Yarns
Novelty Yarns:
Two or more yarns that are not alike in type or
size are used to construct novelty yarns.
Often have loops and different thickness.
Texturing and Blending
 Textured Yarns
Texturing: using chemicals, heat, or special machinery
to turn straight, rod-like filaments into coiled, looped, or
crimped yarns.
Texturing increases the yarns’ bulk, giving a softer feel
to the finished fabric.
Adding bulk to filament yarns helps overcome some of
the disadvantages of the fiber’s original characteristics.
For example, textured filament yarns have more space
between the filaments than regular filament yarns. Thus,
the fabric made of textured yarns has more breathability
and is more comfortable to wear.
Texturing and Blending
Blended Yarns
Blends: combining different fibers in one yarn.
The best qualities of different yarns are brought
together in a new yarn.
Fabric Characteristics
Construction
Weaving: interlaces two sets of yarns that are
at right angles to each other.
Knitting: loops yarns together.
Construction easily identifies some fabrics.
Texture
Hand
Weight
Woven Fabrics
Fabric is created by interlacing lengthwise
and crosswise yarns on a loom.
Warp Yarns: the yarns that run the length
of the fabric.
Filling Yarns: the crosswise yarns. (Also
called weft yarns.
Woven Fabrics
 Selvage: self-edge formed by the filling yarn
when it turns to go back in the other direction as
fabric is created; the two finished lengthwise
edges of fabric.
 Grain: the direction yarns run in a woven
garment.
The Weaving Process
 Warp yarns are positioned on the loom.
 They are attached to a warp bean at the back of
the loom and then stretched through one or
more frames, called harnesses.
 The filling yarn is wound onto a bobbin, which is
placed in a container called a shuttle.
 The shuttle draws the filling yarn over and under
the warp yarns.
 As the shuttle goes back and forth, the harness
goes up and down to make room for it. This
space is called the shed.
The Weaving Process
 One harness goes up, the shuttle passes
through the shed, and the harness goes back
down.
 Then the filling yarn is pushed into place at the
front of the loom by a beater or reed.
 As the shuttle comes back through to the original
side, another harness goes up.
 As these up and down, back and forth motions
continue, the finished fabric rolls onto the cloth
beam at the front of the loom.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n3i0gSrnV8
Basic Weaves
 Plain Weave
Simplest of all weaves. Filling yarns pass over and
under each warp yarn.
Ribbed Weave: Uses filling yarns that are thicker than
the warp yarns.
Basket Weave: Two or more yarns are group side by
side in each direction and woven as one.
 Twill Weave
Filling yarns pass over and under one or more warp
yarns.
 Satin Weave
Has yarns that float on the surface to give it luster or
shine.
Other Weaves
Pile Weave
Pile: a raised surface of loops or yarn ends.
Leno Weave
Warp yarns twist and cross between the filling
yarns.
Dobby Weave
Creates small geometric designs.
Jacquard Weave
Very elaborate and detailed designs.
Knit Fabrics
In a knit, the lengthwise rows of stitches
are called wales.
The crosswise stitches are called courses.
A knit usually has a greater degree of
stretchability in one direction.
Knits are comfortable to wear and easy to
care for.
The Knitting Process
 Loops of yarn are pulled through other loops of
yarn to create interlocking rows.
 Varying the stitches or loops creates different
textures and patterns.
 Knitting machines can duplicate hand-knitting
stitches and patterns.
 There are two types of knitting machines: flat
and circular.
 Flat produces fabric with two long finished
edges. Circular machines produce tubes of
knitted fabric.
Types of Knits
Weft Knits
Jersey Knits
Purl Knits
Rib Knits
Interlock Knits
Double Knits
Warp Knits
Tricot Knits
Raschel Knits
Other Fabric Constructions
Nonwoven Fabrics
Laces and Nets
Stretch Fabrics
Bonded Fabrics
Laminated Fabrics
Quilted Fabrics