A fabric is a pliable structure that can be made into 2 or 3 dimensional products
that require some shaping and flexibility. It is made up of yarns which in turn are
made up of fibers.
A fabric can be constructed by weaving i.e. interlacing of yarns, knitting, lacing,
braiding, felting.
Property of L e ` M a r k Institute of Art. Replication in any
form without prior permission from the management is
prohibited.
Weaving Knitting Lacing
Property of L e ` M a r k Institute of Art. Replication in any
form without prior permission from the management is
prohibited.
Felting
Braiding
Weaving is one of the oldest and most widely
used methods of making fabric.
It is done by interlacing the yarns at right
angles.
Warp Yarns are those yarns which lie in the
lengthwise direction of a fabric while it is being
woven. They are also known as ends.
Weft /Filling Yarn are introduced between the
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warp yarns, across the width wise direction
form without prior permission from the management is
They are also known as picks.
Differentiating between warp and weft is
possible by carefully examining the fabric.
1. Selvedge always runs in the warp or the
lengthwise direction.
2. Most fabrics have lower elongation in the
warp direction. The weft direction has more
elongation.
3. The warp yarns lie straighten and more
parallel because of the loom tension.
4. Fancy yarns are usually in the filling
prohibited.
direction.
Woven fabrics are prepared on the loom. A loom holds the warp yarns.
Parallel to each other and the weft is interlaced through the warp.
Different patterns of interlacing can give different surface effects or
patterns on the fabric.
Property of L e ` M a r k Institute of Art. Replication in any
form without prior permission from the management is
prohibited.
1. Heald shaft/Harness: A wood or metal frame
that carries a number of heddle wires though
which the warps pass. The number of harness
depends on the weave. It is decided by the
drafting plan of the weave. (min. 2 are
necessary for weaving)
2. Heald/Heddle: Wire or cords with eyelets that
hold warp yarns in a place.
Property of L e ` M a r k Institute of Art. Replication in any
3. Shuttle: is a tool designed to store and carry
form without prior permission from the management is
the weft across the loom. Shuttles are thrown
or passed back and forth through the shed
which is made between the warp in order to
weave in the fabric.
4. Reed: A comb like wire or device used to
separate yarns on a loom & to beat up the
filling during weaving.
5. Beams: A cylindrical body with end flanges on
which a multiple of warp ends is wound in
such way to permit the removal of these yarns
prohibited.
as a warp sheet.
Weaving can be summarized as a repetition of following steps/processes.
1. Shedding 4. Taking up
Each alternate warp yarns are separated by raising With each shedding, Picking, Beating operation,
or lowering heald frames (heddles/harness)to form the new fabric must be wound on the cloth beam
a clear space(shed) form where the weft (shuttle) to make space for new weft insertion, which is
will pass. called 'taking up'.
2. Picking
As the warps are raised, the weft yarn is passed
across the loom by hand, an air jet, a rapier or by 5. Letting off
shuttle. At the same time, the warp yarns must be
3. Beating up (Battening) released from the warp beam which is called
With each picking operation, the reed pushes or 'letting off'.
Property of L e ` M a r k Institute of Art. Replication in any
beats each filling yarn against the fabric that has
already been formed. Reed is a comb like structure
form without prior permission from the management is
attached to the looms. It gives the fabric a firm,
compact construction.
prohibited.
As the shuttle moves back and forth Main purpose of selvedge :
across the width of the shed/fabric, Is to hold warp and weft yarns,
a self edge is woven on the both side
of the fabric, which is called selvage It prevents fabric from raveling/fraying,
or selvedge. It is usually much more compact than rest
Very often fabric near the selvage is of the fabric.
not usable as it may have a different There are more warp yarns in the area of
weave pattern, or lack of prints that selvedge.
are present on the rest of the fabric.
Mostly ply is used for selvedge
According the requirement the
selvage can be cut off or hidden in a
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hem.
form without prior permission from the management is
Types of Selvedge :
Plain selvedge
Tape selvedge
Split selvedge
Fringed selvedge
Fused selvedge
prohibited.
Fabric weight
The fabrics are divided into -
Light weight: Those that weigh less than 4 oz/yd2. They are soft, sheer, and drape well.
Medium weight: Those that weight from 4 to 6 oz/yd2. They are heavier and stiffer.
Heavy weight: Those that weight more than 6 oz/yd2. They are durable, stiff and thick.
This refers to the number of warp and weft yarns per square inch of grey goods (fabric as it
comes from the loom). Count is written with warp first and then weft for e.g. 80 x 76
means, there are 80 warps and 76 wefts in one square inch of the fabric. This is measured
by the fabric yarn counter often referred to as pick glass.
Count is the indication of the quality of the fabric. Higher the count better is the quality of
the fabric.
Balance is the ratio of the warp yarns to filling yarns in a fabric. A balanced fabric has one
warp yarn for every filling yarn, or a ratio of 1:1 – e.g. print cloth which has a count of
78x78. An unbalanced fabric has significant more of one set of yarns than the other e.g.
fabric with a count of 144 x 76 and a ratio of 2:1.
For cutting and sewing purposes, it is
necessary to identify the face, or the
right side of a fabric. When the cloth
is on a fabric role, identification
becomes easy because the fabric is
wound or folded with the right side
inside to keep it clean.
Off the roll, the shinier or more
lustrous is the face.
If a fabric is printed, the more distinct
side is the face.
When a slub yarn is used, they tend to
be more outstanding on the right side.
Satin weave is smooth and lustrous on
the face.
Pile weave has a pile an the face.
(Velvet/ Turkish towel)
There are three basic weaves - plain, twill and satin. These are woven
without any modification on the loom.
Weaves
Plain Twill Satin
Warp Weft Satin Sateen
Basket
Rib Rib
Right Left
Pointed Herringbone
Hand Hand
Peg Plan:
Design:
Peg plan or Lifting plan is useful
Design indicates the manner in for weaver.
which the warps and wefts will
It denotes the order of lifting of
be interlaced for that particular
heald shaft (harness). In a peg
weave.
plan vertical spaces indicate the
The appearance of the fabric harnesses and horizontal spaces
surface id depend upon the indicate the wefts.
weave design.
The peg plan depends uopn the
drafting plan.
Draft:
The draft or Drawing plan Draft
indicates the manner of inserting
warps through the heald eyes.
It also denotes the number of
Peg Plan
heald shaft (harness) required
for weave.
Design
Plain weave is the simplest form of Draft
weaving.
It is formed by passing yarns alternately
over and under each other at right angle. Peg Plan
Plain weaves have a smooth even surface
unless novelty or textured yarns have
been used.
Design
They are durable and inexpensive.
Warp
Types of Plain weave: Weft
1. Basket Weave – Regular & Irregular
2. Warp Rib Weave - Regular & Irregular
3. Weft Rib Weave - Regular & Irregular
Plain weave may be modified by extending it warp or weft way or both.
The extension of plain weave produces a rib effect.
They can be regular an irregular.
Warp Rib
Weft Rib
Basket weave is an extension of plain weave in both ways.
It can be regular an irregular.
The second basic weave pattern used in the
manufacture of fabrics is the twill weave.
This is characterized by a diagonal line on the face
of the fabric. In regular twill, diagonal line are
at450 degree angle.
The direction of the twill goes from lower left to
upper right, it is called right handed twill and when
from lower right to upper left it is called the left
handed twill.
Fabrics with this weave make strong fabrics. Right Hand Twill
Types of Twill Weave –
Right Hand Twill – Regular & Irregular
Left Hand Twill – Regular & Irregular
Pointed Twill – combination twill
Herringbone Twill – broken twill
Above twills are further classified as warp faced
and weft faced twill.
Left Hand Twill
In Pointed twill, direction of twill is This is similar to pointed twills, a design
reversed at regular intervals to that resembles the backbone of a fish,
produce pointed effect in fabric. hence the name herringbone.
however the effect is broken. These twills
are considered to be more advantageous
than pointed twills.
This weave is characterized by long floats on the face of the fabric. These long floats
which are usually the warps, create a shiny surface and reflect light.
When warp yarns cover the surface, it is called as satin.
When weft floats cover the surface, it is called as sateen.
Variations can be made by combining two or more basic weaves.
More fabric surface effects can be created using different weaves.
These weave have given names according to their interlace pattern and
the surface effect which they create on the fabric.
Property of L e ` M a r k Institute of Art. Replication in any
form without prior permission from the management is
1. Honeycomb Weave
2. Huck-A-Back Weave
3. Crepe Weave
prohibited.
The name is derived from their partial resemblance to the hexagonal honey comb
cells.
These weave form ridges and hollows which gives a cell like appearance.
Both warp and wefts on both sides, which creates rough structure and makes fabric
more moisture absorbent.
Property of L e ` M a r k Institute of Art. Replication in any
form without prior permission from the management is
prohibited.
This weave is mostly used for toweling fabrics.
They are constructed by alternating a floating with plain weave.
Repeat is divided into four equal parts. Two parts are filled with plain weave and remaining two
are filled with long floats.
Property of L e ` M a r k Institute of Art. Replication in any
form without prior permission from the management is
prohibited.
Theses fabrics are known for their pebbly or crinkled effect
This effect can be achieved by using crepe yarn in plain weave or using
deferent arrangement of yarns to produce crepe effect.
In design, sateen base is used in combination with twill weave.
Crepe effect is obtained by insertion of twill weave (3/1 and 1/3) upon every
sateen base.
Nonwovens :
Nonwovens are typically manufactured
by putting small fibers together in the
form of a sheet, and then binding them
either
1. Mechanically - by abrading fibers with tools
which cause inter-fiber friction results in
sheet of fabric. (as in case of wool fiber
scales interlocked to make a fabric).
2. Chemically - with an adhesive by
applying binder which will make the fibers
stick together to make a sheet of fabric.
3. Thermally - by heating/melting the
synthetic fibers to merge into each other
and form a fabric
Coated Materials:
Fabrics that have been coated with varnish, rubber, plastic resin of polyvinyl chloride
or polyethylene, urethane or other substance to make them durable or impermeable
to water or other liquids.
The base material can be woven or knitted, made up of any type of fiber.
Laminates :
Base fabric is sandwiched between two
plies of flexible thermoplastic film. It
can be bonded utilizing either foam
itself, or some other material, such as
adhesives, heat, or chemical bonding
agents.
Films :
It is made by thermoplastic polymer
extruding from a slit shaped device
instead of holes of spinerette.
Generally 0.01 inch (0.25mm) thick.
Acrylics, nylon, polyester, polyethylene,
polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, and
urethane are used to make films.
The term fabric analysis means the
process of finding all requirements
necessary to reproduce a certain
fabric from given sample.
Fiber type, yarn count, dyes,
weave structure etc.
In weave analysis following points
are considered –
• Warps and wefts per inch.
• Colors of yarns (in case of stripes,
checks, other woven designs).
• Weave pattern.
• Minimum repeat.
This is done either by hand, by
unraveling each thread and
denoting the weave marking
Or by viewing fabric through pick
glass and denoting every yarn
design.
Stripes and checks can be woven in fabric using different colored yarns in
warp and weft.
For stripes in vertical direction colored warps are wound on warp beam in
predefined position.
For stripes in widthwise direction different shuttles are used for each
color to be inserted.
And for checks, colored yarns are inserted in both directions.
Additional warp or weft yarns of different
colors or types are woven into the fabric to
create a pattern is an extra-yarn weave.
When not used in the figure (design), the
extra warp or weft yarns float across the back
of the fabric and are usually cut away during
finishing.
In hand woven fabrics the warp yarns are
manipulated by hand and the extra yarns can
be laid in where wanted by using small
shuttles. But in power looms an automatic
attachment must be used.
Extra-warp yarns are wound on a separate
beam and threaded into separate heddles.
Extra wefts need extra shuttle and used only
when it is required to make figure (design).
Fabrics – Brocades, damask, corduroy, velvet.
Pile weave is categorized as
Woven-pile fabrics have an extra set of warp or weft
yarns interlaced with the ground warp or weft. Pile Uncut pile and Cut Pile
comes from the Latin word ‘piles’ meaning hair. Warp Pile and Weft Pile
Pile fabrics can be both functional and beautiful. A high Velvet, corduroy fabrics are made by pile
thick pile adds warmth. Low-twist yarns produce weave
absorbent fabrics (towels).
Base fabric for pile weave can be of woven or
Other uses for pile fabrics are stuffed toys, wigs. knitted fabric.
Interesting effects can be achieved by combinations of
cut and uncut pile, pile of various heights, high and low
twist yarns etc.
Incorrect pressing may flatten the pile and result in a
fabric that appears lighter in colour. Special pressing
aids or techniques are used with pile fabrics, like using
needle boards or steaming.
UNCUT PILE
EXTRA WARP PILE WEAVE
O O X O O X
X O O X O O
O O X O O X
X O O X O O CORDUROY
O O X O O X
X O O X O O
O O X O O X
X O O X O O
A Dobby is a loom attachment
(device), which is located on top or
side of the loom.
This allows to control the warp
yarns in groups to create fairly
complex designs on fabric.
Dobby looms are best used for
simple geometric patterns because
of the limitations of the harnesses.
These designs are mostly used for
making sari borders, fabrics with
small allover motifs and any fiber
can be used.
This is a extra yarn weave. Mostly
wefts are used as extra yarn.
Sometimes warps are used as in sari
borders.
Fabrics with extremely complicated and
decorative woven designs are manufactured
using Jacquard attachment on the looms.
The Jacquard loom was developed by Joseph
Maire Jacquard in 1801 in France.
The major advantage of the Jacquard
machine is its ability to control each
individual warp yarns.
Extremely elaborate patterns can be woven
into fabric, by using the Jacquard
attachment.
Fabrics of this type are costly because of the
time and skill involved in making the designs,
Jacquard cards, preparing the loom to
produce a new pattern, and the slowness of
the weaving operation.
The Jacquard weave usually combines two or
more basic weaves. Different weaves are
used for the design (foreground) which is
made by using extra yarns and the
background (base fabric).
Fabric made by this technique are brocade,
damask, brocatelle, tapestry etc.
