Names of Fabrics
Textiles usually take their names from the country, city, port, or province from whence they originated; from the names of the makers; and methods of weaving, dyeing, ornamentation, etc. The fixing of localities, methods, etc., is oftentimes guesswork. The textiles of to-day bearing the same name as those of the middle ages have nothing in common. Buckram was originally made in and called from Bokkara. In the middle ages it was costly, fine, and beautiful, used for church vestments, veils for covering lecterns, cathedral flags, and in the 16th century for the lining of velvet gowns. The coarse, heavy, plain-woven linen or cotton material known as buckram today is used for stiffening, etc.
Fustian
Fustian, a kind of corduroy or velveteen, was originally woven at Fustat on the Nile. The warp was stout linen, the woof of cotton so twilled and cut that it gave a low thick pile. Chaucer’s knight in the fourteenth century wore fustian. In the fifteenth century Naples was famous for the weaving of fustians.
A cloth made in France at a town called Mustrevilliers was known as “mustyrd devells.”
Damask
China is supposed to be the first country to weave patterned silks. India, Persia, Syria, and Byzantine Greece followed. Those were known as “diaspron” or diaper, a name given them at Constantinople. In the twelfth century, the city of Damascus, long famed for her beautiful textiles, outstripped all other places for beauty of design and gave the Damascen or damask, so we have in modern times all fabrics whether of silk, cotton, wool, or linen, curiously woven and designed, known as damask, and diaper, which means pattern, is almost forgotten, or only a part of the elaborate design on damask. Bandekin, a costly cloth, took its name from Bagdad. Dorneck an inferior damask woven of silk, wool, linen, thread and gold, was made in Flanders at the city of Dorneck.
Muslin
From the Asiatic city Mosul came the muslin used then as it is now throughout the world. So skilled were its weavers that the threads were of hair-like fineness. This was known as the invisible muslin, the weaving of which has become a lost art. To this beautiful cloth were given many fanciful and poetic names. It was woven with strips of gold and silver.
Calico
Calico derives its name from the city of Calicut in India. The city is scarcely known to-day; it was the first Indian city visited by Europeans.
In the thirteenth century Arras was famous for its areste or tapestry, “the noblest of the weaving arts”; in it there is nothing mechanical. Mechanical weaving repeats the pattern on the cloth within comparatively narrow limits and the number of colors is in most cases limited to four or five.
Silks and cottons are distinguished through their colors and shades. Tarsus was a purple silk. Other cities gave their name to various shades, according as they were dyed at Antioch, Alexandria, or at Naples. Watered or moire silk takes its name from the finish.
From “canabis,” the Latin name for hemp or flax, we have the word “canvas” to mean any texture woven of hempen thread.
To this list of fabrics might be added many others of cotton, linen, wool, and silk with new names, closely resembling the old materials, having greater or less merit.
The following lists of fabrics and terms may be helpful for reference:
Art linen—With round, hard twisted threads.
“Albert cloth”—Named for England’s prince, is a reversible all-wool material each side of different colors and so finished that no lining is required. It is used chiefly for overcoats and better known as “golf cloth,” “plaid back,” etc.
Armure—A cloth woven in miniature imitation of feudal metal armor plates, heraldic devices, diamonds, birdseye, and seeded effects.
Astrakhan—A woolen or silk material with a long and closely curled pile in imitation of the fur from which it is named.
Backed-cloth worsteds or other fabrics which are woven with an extra layer of warp or other filling underneath the face, usually for increased weight and bulk.
Batiste—The French word for lawn, fine white cotton or linen fabric. Sometimes printed.
Batting or padding, cotton or wool prepared in sheets for quilting or interlining.
Beaver—Similar to Kersey, but with a longer nap, soft, thick nap inside.
Bedford cord—A closely woven woolen or cotton cloth having a raised corded surface similar to pique, used for women’s suits.
Bonde—A loosely woven fabric with a curly, hairy surface, usually made with a jersey or stockinet body.
Bourette—An effect of weaving produced by fancy yarns showing in lumps at intervals over the face of the cloth; used for women’s and children’s suits.
Beverteen—A heavy cotton cloth used for men’s hunting garments.
Broadcloth—A fine woolen cloth with a glossy finished surface, the better grades being woven with a twilled back. It takes its name from its width. It is used for men’s and women’s wear.
Buckram—A coarse, heavy, plain-woven linen or cotton material used for stiffening.
Buckskin—A stout doe skin with a more defined twill.
Butternut—The coarse brown twilled homespun cloth woven of wool prior to the Civil War—colored brown with dye from the butternut or walnut tree; used for men’s wear and for decorative purposes.
Cambric—Fine white linen, also made in cotton in imitation.
Camel’s hair—A beautiful, soft, silky fabric, usually woven like cheviot of hair of camel and goat.
Canvas—A linen, cotton, silk, or wool cloth of different weaves and widths, used for many purposes—clothing, as a background for embroidery, hangings, spreads, etc.
Canton flannel—A stout, twilled cotton cloth with a nap on one or both sides, used for clothing and decorative purposes.
Cassimere—A general term for all-wool fabrics woven either plain or twilled, coarse or fine, of woolen yarn. The pattern is always woven plain and distinct and the cloth is never napped.
Castor Beaver—A heavy, milled, face-finished, all-wool cloth lighter in weight than ordinary beaver.
Chinchilla—A thick, heavy, double woven fabric with a long napped surface curled up into little tufs in imitation of chinchilla fur; used for coats.
Clan Tartan—The plaids of the various highland clans of Scotland.
Clay—A name given to serges, worsteds, and diagonals woven after a process of J. & P. Clay of Haddersfield, England.
Coating—Those woolen and worsted fabrics most especially adapted to men’s dress and overcoats.
Corduroy—A thick cotton pile material, corded or ribbed on the surface; used for men’s, women’s and children’s wear.
Corkscrew-worsted goods—So-called from its fancied resemblance to the twists of the corkscrew.
Cotton worsted—All cotton or part cotton worsted-wove cloth.
Cottonade—Stout cotton cloth in imitation of woolen or worsted; used for men’s trousers.
Covert—A twill-woven cloth sometimes with full face, sometimes sheared to imitate whipcord.
Crape cloth—A stout worsted fabric with surface in imitation of silk crape, used for dress coats.
Crash—A strong, course linen cloth of different widths, used for towels, suits, table linen, hangings, bed spreads; in fact, there is no end to the uses to which this textile can be adapted.
Cravenette—Cloths treated and finished before weaving by an improved process which renders them rainproof. A secret process owned by the Cravenette Company and by Priestly & Company of England and the United States.
Crepe—A light weight silk, silk and wool, or all wool or cotton cloth of irregular weave.
Diagonal—A worsted cloth with prominent diagonal ridges.
Doeskin—A compact twilled woolen, soft and pliable.
Drap D’Alma—A fine, close, flat-ribbed, twilled fabric of wool or silk and wool, finished on but one side.
Drap D’Ete—A fine, light worsted fabric woven in longitudinal cords.
Drilling—General term for various cotton stuffs used for lining men’s wear, and general purposes.
Empress cloth—A heavy dress goods with napped or corded surface, named for the Empress Eugenia; sometimes called Electrol cloth or Beretz.
Etamine—A light woolen cloth similar to batiste and nun’s cloth, used for women’s and children’s wear.
Faille Francaise—A soft, lustrous silk of wider cord than grosgrain, but narrower than ottoman.
Farmer Satin—A lining of cotton chain or warp and wool filling, finished with a high lustre, also called Italian cloth.
Flannel—A soft, light weight woolen fabric of which the yarn is but lightly twisted, plain weave or twilled; used for clothing etc.
Flannelette—A half cotton or all cotton flannel-like fabric.
Frieze—A thick, shaggy, heavy nap woolen overcoat cloth.
Gingham was first manufactured in Gonghamp in France and was known as Madras gingham. Seersucker gingham was originally a thin linen fabric made in the East Indies. Zephyr gingham is a soft fine variety of Scotch and French ginghams, are superior qualities, heavier in weight.
Fur Beaver—A long napped cloth imitation fur.
Grass cloth—A fine, smooth, linen woven in checks of blue and white, red and white, etc., used for dish towels; also a thin dress material of ramie and cotton, etc.
Grenadine—A thick silk gauze, either plain with a solid design or pattern upon it or combined in stripes with other weaves, as satin, moire, etc.
Grosgrain—A close-woven, finely ribbed or corded silk with but little lustre.
Haircloth—A cloth woven of horse hair, from which it takes its name, for weft with cotton or linen warp; used for facings, linings, furniture cover, etc.
Holland—A stout, plain-wove, unbleached, linen cloth used for linings, window shades, etc.
Homespun—A cloth woven on hand looms or made in imitation of such cloth for both men’s and women’s wear.
Hop-sacking—A plain woven canvas dress fabric of wool.
Huchaback—A corruption of huckster-back, meaning originally pedler’s ware—Toweling made of all linen, linen and cotton, cotton and wool, either by the yard or as separate towels; the part wool huck always separate towels.
Irish linen—Full bleached, fine, plain woven linen used for shirts, collars, cuffs, etc., of different widths.
Jersey cloth—Woolen stockinette.
Kaikai—A thin Japanese silk.
Kersey—A heavy, closely woven cloth with a smooth face and glossy finish.
Kerseymere—A fine, twilled, woolen cloth of peculiar texture, one thread of warp and two of wool being always above.
Khaki—A light, yellow-brown colored cotton cloth used for army service in hot countries.
Ladies’ cloth—A fine, wide, wool flannel, slightly napped, similar to broadcloth.
Lusterine—A thin, twilled, cotton lining finished with high lustre in imitation of silk.
Marseilles—A sort of figured pique, used for women’s and children’s clothes and for men’s coats.
Matelasse—A silk and wool or all wool brocade, usually for coats.
Melton—A stout woolen cloth, fulled, sheared, and finished without a nap; like Kersey, but without a gloss.
Merino—A thin woolen fabric made of the fine wool of the marion sheep, generally used for women’s and children’s wear, vestings, and underclothing.
Mohair—A shiny fabric of great durability, made from the wool of the Angora goat; used for both men’s and women’s clothing.
Moire—The water effect produced on silk, moreen, and like fabrics. The finest watered silks are known as Moire Antique. Moreen is a woolen or mixed fabric to which the same process has been applied.
Moleskin—A medium heavy twilled cotton cloth, napped inside; used for men’s wear and ornamental purposes.
Muslin—A cotton fabric of various classes and names; bleached and unbleached, half bleached, cambric, book muslin, long cloth, mull, organdie, lawns, etc.; used for all purposes.
Nankeen—A peculiar fabric of a pale dull yellow or orange color, woven out of the fibrous tissue which lies between the outer and sap-wood of a tree or shrub that grows in the East Indies and especially in China. The name is derived from the city of Nankin. An imitation is made out of cotton, colored with Annato. The genuine nankeen is never more than eighteen or twenty inches wide and is used for light summer clothing.
Overcoating—Fabrics woven especially for overcoats—covert, kersey, melton, beaver, frieze, vicuna, whipcord, cheviot, chinchilla, etc., made of both wool and worsted.
Pique—A heavy cotton cloth having a surface that is corded or having a raised lozenge pattern; used for women’s and children’s suits, men’s vests, etc.
Prunella—Lasting cloth.
Sateen—A close twilled cotton fabric, soft and glossy, used for lining.
Satin—A silk fabric having a high lustre on its face.
Satinet—A cheap clothing material similar to cassimere, made with a cotton warp and a filling of short, inferior, shoddy wool which is mixed with enough long wool to enable it to be spun and woven in a way to bring that filling to the surface of the cloth; afterwards fulled, sheared, and the pattern printed on the face.
Serge—A lining of cotton or linen warp and a wool or mohair filling, woven three-leaf twill.
Serge—A fine, diagonal, twilled, worsted—both all worsted and with a worsted warp and woolen filling; used for men’s and women’s suits.
Shetlands—Very shaggy overcoatings, named from the Shetland pony, the coat of which it is supposed to imitate in appearance.
Shoddy—Waste thrown off in spinning—shredded rags, and bits of cloth manipulated into new cloth.
Sicilian—A mohair fabric.
Silesia—A light, close-woven, fine twilled cotton fabric used for dress linings, etc.
Stockinet—A plain, elastic texture made on a knitting frame, used for underwear, etc.
Surah—A twilled silk similar to serge; first made in Surat, India.
Tricot—A double-twill cloth having both a warp and filling effect.
Tweed—Much like homespun in appearance, both being either twilled or plain. They are made from rough worsted yarn spun at home. In tweed the yarn is harder twisted, giving a more distinct twill. It is generally more compact, less rough, and better finished than homespun.
Uniform cloth—Cloth suitable for uniforms, usually a stout, fulled, woolen cloth, similar to kersey.
Venetian—A cloth milled and cropped bare in finish.
Vicuna—A soft twilled cloth similar to cheviot, made of the Andes vicuna, hence its name.
Whipcord—A worsted cloth having a small, prominent twill.
Yacht cloth—A flannel heavier than ordinary serge or flannel.
Cord—The general term is applied to any fabric in which the lines run in the same direction as the selvage.
Count—In spinning, the number given to any thread or yarn, except silk, to indicate its relative fineness, based on the number of yards required to weigh one pound.
Felt—A cloth of wool, hair, fur, etc., not woven, but felted together; used for hats, slippers, boot tops, etc.
Flock—Finely divided woolen waste used in finishing cheap woolens.
Kemps—Fibers or hair like structure that sometimes come in wool, always in goat hair. They do not take the dye.
Mercerized—A term applied to cotton fabrics of which the yarn is chemically treated with a strong solution of caustic soda, giving the appearance of silk, more or less permanent; named after Mercer, discoverer of the process.
Mill ends—Trade term referring to short lengths, seconds, damaged pieces, etc., of cloth, embroideries, etc., that accumulate in mills and shops and are usually sold at a nominal price.
Narrow cloth—Trade term for fabrics less than 29 inches wide. Wider cloths are called broad cloths.
Oil-boiled—Trade term for colors so treated to insure permanence.
Oiled silk—The plain silk boiled in oil. Silk boiled in oil and dried, becoming translucent and waterproof; used as a perspiration guard.
Pepper-and-salt—A black and white or grayish mixture, effected in weaving.
Rubber cloth—Usually cotton sheeting or drilling with a coating of rubber on one side; used as a protective cloth for various purposes.
Shepherd check—Tiny checks, usually black and white.
Twilled—Woven in such a manner as to produce lines or ribs diagonally or across the surface of the fabric.
Woolens—Name of fabrics or carded wool, usually soft woven.
Worsteds—Fabrics made of combed wool, usually hard woven. The combing is the process of arranging the fibers of wool, mohair, cotton, linen, into a parallel condition, preparatory to spinning into a smooth, even and regular yarn. The perfected application of the combing principle.