Glossary of terms used on this site

A straight-edge metal blade mounted either parallel to a printing roller or on the face of a fabric to remove excess or unwanted print paste.

A pattern made with four dark coloured threads in the warp and weft alternating with four lighter coloured threads using a 2-and 2 twill weave. See houndstooth.

A machine normally used for washing open-width cloth which is sewn end to end and passed continuously through the washing liquor.

A hindi word for a piece of cloth. In north east India the word also meant that a one piece garment cloth was made from two pieces of cloth sewn together and worn by low caste Bengali women.

During the production of man-made fibres, a colourant is introduced into the chemical spinning solution, known as dope, before extrusion into filaments. Often pigments, which withstand high temperatures during the production process, are used as colourants.

A hindi word for an inexpensive coarse, double thread cotton fabric. See duck.

A compound fabric in which the two component fabrics are woven with either centre-stitching, self-stitching or interchanging.

A weft knitted fabric which is produced on a rib or interlock knitting machine. Usually made on a 10 gauge circular knitting machine, or finer, it is often referred to as non-jacquard or jacquard double jersey. See jersey.

Combining, plying or twisting two or more yarns together to make a single yarn. The process is often carried out on a machine called a doubler.

See leno weaving.

The order in which warp threads are drawn through the heddle or heald eyes. This will determine the weave of the fabric when the shafts, holding the heddles or healds are mounted into the loom. See heddle and healds.

When a fabric hangs in soft, gentle folds.

A machine which draws out and combines several slivers of carded fibre into one sliver, which is then drawn out still further into a roving, then spun into a yarn. drawing in See drafting.

Woven with hard-twist coarse cotton yarns in a 3-and-1 weave. This type of cloth is often used in making lightweight, washable uniforms. From the Greek word drillich, which broadly means three warp threads. The French word for drill is contil and the fabric, sometimes called coutille, is commonly used for making mattress covers whereas lighter qualities were traditionally used in the manufacture of brassières.

The simplest and oldest method of intermittent spinning. Used for thousands of years this simple device takes the form of a short stick, forming the spindle, and a weight or whorl, which can be a stone, dry mud or bone. Known as a takli in India.