Baby Pique
Very small pique knit. See Pique Knit.
Back Pleats
Tiny folds in the material on the back of a garment that allow for more room and comfort.
Back Yoke
A piece of fabric that connects the back of a garment to the shoulders. This allows the garment to lay flat and drape nicely
Backstitch
Secure form of stitching where one small stitch is taken backward for every large stitch taken forward. Stitch Type 202.
Backtacking
Restitching at the beginning and end of a row of stitches. Refers to the reverse feed sewing at the beginning and ending of the seam to prevent the thread from unraveling.
Balanced Twist
In a plied yarn or cord, an arrangement of twist which will not cause the yarn or cord to twist on itself or kink when held in an open loop.
Ball Warping
A step in denim making in which the individual threads formed at spinning are combined for further processing. The yarn threads are pulled together into a single continuous strand and wound onto a wooden beam called a ‘ball warp’.
Barré
An imperfection in fabric, characterized by a ridge or mark running in the cross lengthwise direction of fabric. Barres can be caused by tension variations in knitting process, poor quality yarns, and problems during the finishing process.
Bartack
A sewing procedure that reinforces stress points on jeans, usually front flies, pocket openings and crotch joins of inseams. The reinforcement consists of several adjacent or overlapping zigzag stitches at stress points. Bartacking sewing machines can either be lockstitch or single-thread chainstitch.
Basket Weave
A fabric weave where more than one filling threads pass over and under the same number of threads on alternate rows of the warp. Fabrics have a loose construction and a flat appearance and are used for monk’s cloth and for drapery fabrics. This process of weaving yarns back and forth results in a two-tone appearance.
Bast Fibre
Are strong, soft, woody fibres, such as flax, jute, hemp, and ramie, which are obtained from the inner bark in the stems of certain plants.
Basting
Temporary stitching used in tailored garments to hold garment pieces together until another operation is performed.
Batiste
A sheer, woven, mercerized fabric of combed cotton or polyester/cotton resembling nainsook, only finer, with a lengthwise streak. A rayon fabric decorated with dobby woven stripes and Jacquard florals. A smooth, fine, woolen fabric, lighter than challis and very similar to a nun’s veiling.
Batting
A soft, bulky assembly of fibres, usually carded. Battings are usually sold in rolls or sheets and used for warm interlinings, comforter stuffings, and other thermal or resiliency applications.
Beaded Fringe
An ornamental trim used since medieval times, consisting of loose strands of thread, yarn, beads or other decorative elements, fastened to a band at the edge of a fabric.
Beadwork
An embroidery term for the partial and allover application of beading on apparel and accessories.
Beaver Cloth
Made of high quality wool, this heavy but soft fabric has a deep nap. Beaver cloth is frequently used in overcoats.
Bedford Cord
A fabric weave with ribs down the length of the fabric. The ribs can be any width.
Looks like an uncut, unbrushed corduroy without a velvet feeling.
Besom Pocket
Reinforced top seam found on the pockets of golf shirts. This reinforced top section keeps the pocket in shape and more durable.
Bi-stretch
A year-round fabric with a supersoft hand in a fine blend of rayon, polyester and spandex. Enriched with two-way stretch that moves with the wearer and never clings.
Bias
Any direction that is not the lengthwise or crosswise grain of a woven fabric.
Big E
Jeans made by Levi Strauss before 1971 where the “E” on the LEVI tab was a capital.
Binding
Strip of fabric that covers the raw edge of the garment and is visible from both inside and outside the garment; does not extend the edge.
Birdseye Jacquard
A small geometric pattern with a center dot knit into the fabric.
Blanket Stitch
A decorative stitch used to finish an unhemmed blanket. The stitch can be seen on both sides of the blanket.
Bleach
Laundries use this chemical to make denim jeans fade. Liquid bleach is usually an aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite, and dry powdered bleaches contain chloride of lime (calcium hypochlorite). Because chlorine destroys silk and wool, commercial hypochlorite bleaches should never be used on these fibres.
Bleaching
An industrial finishing process that takes off natural and artificial impurities from yarn or fabric to obtain clear whites for finished fabrics, or in preparation for dyeing and finishing. Also a process for laundries to make denim jeans fade.
Bleeding
Loss of color by fabric or yarn when immersed in water, a solvent, or a similar liquid medium, as a result of improper dyeing or the use of dyes of poor quality.
Blindhemming
A 503 EFc-1 overedge hemming operation often sewn on knit garments. Many manufacturers use either spun or textured polyester for these operations on the sleeve or bottom of garments.
Blindstitch
Stitch that joins layers of fabric without the needle thread fully penetrating the top layer. Stitch Type 103.
Bobbin
A thread supply for the bottom thread in a lockstitch machine.
Boiled Wool / Felted Wool
A wool or wool-blend fabric, woven or knitted, that has been given a coarse, crepe texture by heavy felting or by placing in a high-temperature bath. The result is a warm, comfortable fabric without the bulk coupled with water and soil-resistant properties.
Boll Weevil
This beetle is the most serious pest confronting cotton farmers. The boll weevil affects cotton production throughout North America. It is estimated that between 3,000,000 and 5,000,000 bales of cotton are destroyed annually by this pest. Each spring adult boll weevils deposit between 100-300 eggs in cotton buds . Because it takes only two to three weeks for an egg to develop into an adult, it is possible that two to ten generations of the beetle are created each year.
Insecticides cannot stop the boll weevil because the larvae lives inside the cotton boll where it destroys both seeds and surrounding fibres. Organic farmers control the beetle by mowing down and plowing their crops completely at the end of each season taking away the place for the pest to hide.
Bonding
A continuous filament finishing process which coats fibers with resin, giving thread better ply security, abrasion resistance, and heat resistance.
Booked Seam
Plain seam, butterflied, with the raw edges of the seam allowances folded under and blindstitched; also known as tailored seam.
Bottom Coverthread Stitch
A two needle one looper 406 stitch used for 2-needle hemming knit garments, making belt loops for jeans, attaching elastic to panties and binding operations on knits with a top edge folded binding.
Bottom Thread
The under thread in a stitch formation, called a bobbin thread on a lockstitch machine or a looper thread on a chainstitch, overedge and coverstitch machines.
Bouclé
A fabric woven or knit with bouclé yarns. Bouclé fabric has a looped or knotted surface and is used for sportswear and coats.
Bouclé Yarn
A novelty yarn with loops which give fabrics a rough appearance. Some bouclé yarns have cotton cores with other fibres wound around them. Bouclé yarns may be made from wool, cotton, silk, linen, man-made fibres, or combinations of fibres.
Bound Seams (BS)
One of four classes of seams in the Federal Specification -- Stitches,Seams, and Stitchings. A seam where a binding or piping is sewn to the edge of one or more plies of fabric usually with the assistance of a folder on the sewing machine.
Box Pleat
A single, uniform fold in the center back of a garment to allow for more room and comfort.
Braid
A narrow textile band, often used as trimming, or binding formed by plaiting several strands of yarn.
Braided Fabric
A narrow fabric made by crossing a number of strands diagonally so that each strand passes alternatively over or under one or more of the other strands. Braided fabrics are frequently used in shoe-laces and suspenders.
Braiding
The intertwining of three or more strands to make a cord. The strands form a regular diagonal pattern down the length of the cord.
Break-open Stitch
Stitch that, because of the loose stitch formation, hinges open flat like a notebook.
Broadcloth
Originally, a silk shirting fabric so named because it was woven in widths exceeding the usual 29 inches. A tightly woven, lustrous cotton or polyester/cotton blend fabric in a plain weave with a crosswise rib. It resembles poplin, but the rib is finer, and broadcloth always has more picks than poplin. The finest qualities are made with combed pima or Egyptian cotton. A smooth, rich-looking woolen fabric with a napped face and a twill back. Better grades have a glossy, velvety hand.
Broad Goods
Woven fabrics 18 inches or more in width.
Brocade
A rich, Jacquard-woven fabric with an all-over interwoven design of raised figures or flowers. The pattern is emphasized by contrasting surfaces or colors and often has gold or silver threads running through it. The background may be either a satin or a twill weave. A term describing a cut-pile carpet having a surface texture created by mixing twisted and straight-standing pile yarns.
Broken Twill
Broken Twill Denim weave invented by John Neil Walker and first used by Wrangler in its Model 13MWZ in 1964. The fabric is distinguished by a construction in which the diagonal twill line changes direction. At the point where the direction changes, if the warp yarn is on the surface, the next thread on the surface is the filling yarn, forming a clear break. This breaking of the continuous line reduces the torque in the fabric and thus avoids the leg twisting phenomenon particularly common in early jeans construction. The diagonal weave of the twill is intentionally interrupted to form a random design. Used prominently in the 1980s by designer jeans brands like Sasson, Jordache and Calvin Klein with their dark prewash jeans and of course originally made famous by Wrangler. (Anti-Twist)
Brushed Cotton
Cotton fabric that is brushed to remove all the excess lint and fibres from the fabric, leaving an ultra soft, smooth finish.
Brushing (Brushed)
A finishing process in which rotating brushes raise a nap on knit or woven fabrics. Brushing is used on sweaters, scarves, knit underwear, wool broadcloths, etc.
Buckram
A scrim fabric with a stiff finish, often used as interlining.
Bulked Yarn
See Textured Yarns
Bull Denim
A 3x1 twill weave piece dyed fabric, made from coarse yarns. Weights can vary from 9 ozs/sq yard up to the standard 14 ozs/sq yard. It is basically a denim without indigo.
Bunting
A soft, flimsy, loose-textured plain-weave cloth most frequently used in flags. Bunting was originally made from cotton or worsted yarns, but today’s flags are made primarily from nylon or acrylic fibres.
Burnout
(also known as devoré: pronounced dee-voor-ray) The process of printing a design with chemicals on fabric woven of paired yarns of two different fibers. One kind of yarn from the printed design is burned out or destroyed. This process is frequently applied to velvet.
Burn-out
A brocade-like pattern effect created on the fabric through the application of a chemical, instead of colour, during the burnout process. (Sulfuric acid, mixed into a colourless paste, is the most common chemical used.) Many simulated effects can be created using this method. In these instances, the chemical destroys the fibre and creates a hole in the fabric in a specific deisgn, where the chemical comes into contact with the fabric. The fabric is then over-printed with a simulated embroidery stitch to create the eyelet effect. However, burnout effects can also be created on velvets made of blended fibres, in which the ground fabric is of one fibre and the pile may be of a cellulosic fibre like rayon or acetate. In this case, when the chemical is printed in a certain pattern, it destroys the pile in those areas where the chemical comes in contact with the fabric, but leaves the ground fabric unharmed.
Button-Through Sleeve Placket
A small placket located on the sleeve, by the cuff, which contains a single button source.
Burlap
A coarse, heavy, plain-weave fabric constructed from single yarns of jute approximately the same linear density in warp and weft.
Busted Seam Construction
Seams that are sewn and then pressed flat after seaming. Used on tailored garments like coats, trousers, and dresses.
Butterflied
Seam allowances that are pressed open, or busted.
Buttonhole Twist
Heavy; lustrous thread.