Glossary of terms used on this site

The same as graph paper used for drawing weave patterns. Used particularly in designing Jacquard fabrics.

A man-made fibre usually referred to as nylon.

A strong, thermoplastic, man-made fibre produced from petrochemicals (petroleum-chemicals). Used in filament form, by itself or blended in staple form with other fibres.  A wide range of uses in apparel, furnishings and industrial fabrics.

A large molecule built up from a combination of many smaller units of different chemicals.

A plastic material which in one form, can be produced as a foam sheet for laminating to other fabrics. As a textile fibre its more commonly known as a synthetic elastomer fibre or by the generic term elastine or by one of it\'s trade names, Lycra. Used extensively in the apparel and furnishing fabric industries.

Commonly known as PVC. In sheet form is used extensively for domestic and industrial uses. Also can be used to coat woven or knitted fabrics as a waterproof finish.

The Chinese word  pen-chi means hand woven or woven at home.  Other types of pongee are:  shantung, hohan, antung and ninghai.  The warp is finer than the weft which is usually a dupion yarn often mistaken for so called wild silk because of its creamy colour.

The term poplin comes from the French word popeline, which is a fabric used for church vestments originally made in the papal city of Avignon in southern France.  Poplin is a lightweight, closely woven cotton fabric with very fine ribs across the width of the cloth.  The ribs are created by using a fine mercerized yarn in the warp and a thicker one in the weft.  Although traditionally made in 100% fine, high lustre cotton, poplin is now woven with cotton and staple polyester fibre blends.  There are many weights and types of poplin the most common of which are used for shirts or pyjamas.  Historically poplin was originally woven with silk in the warp and a fine worsted weft.  Sometimes referred to, even now, as popeline or Irish poplin.

The method of transferring a pattern onto another surface by dusting fine charcoal through a perforated paper, skin or metallic foil stencil.

There are several basic methods or techniques used in printing textiles:

Hand methods

• Block. Usually the blocks are made of wood, engraved by hand, or imbedded with wire nails or metal strips, or pieces of rubber to form a design. Used extensively in India.
• Screen. A wooden or metal frame on which a fine even silk or polyester fabric is stretched and blocked in predetermined areas by a variety of processes to allow a dye-gum to be pressed through the open areas with a squeegee.  The blocked areas act as a stencil. Practised in Japan since the eighth century.  Known as Table printing in the United States of America.

Mechanical methods

• Screen. Similar to the hand method but more automated with the squeegee  being mechanically passed from one side of the screen to the other.
• Rotary screen. While the squeegee is static, unlike the flat screen method, the engraved cylindrical metal screen rotates as the cloth is moved.  Sometimes as many as 12 to 14 cylinders, each printing a seperate colour, can be used on the same print table.
• Roller. The design is engraved by line into the surface of a metal roller, the engrave line being filled with the dye and then transferred to the cloth under slight pressure.
• Duplex. Printing by rollers on both sides of the fabric at the same time so that the design coincides and produces a reversible fabric.
• Sublistatic. Printing a fabric, usually polyester, from a pre-printed (with dye) patterned paper.  Sometimes referred to as transfer or heat transfer printing. 

Similar to pure silk.  No weighting of any kind is used even during dyeing.

Any silk yarn or fabric which contains no metallic or other weighting agents except those essential ones used in dyeing.

A piece of homespun woollen fabric originally made from the hair of the Kabul goat. Originating in the Himalayas a derivation of the puttu became known as puttee (approximately 150mm wide and 3600mm long) when adopted by the army to spiral round their legs for protection.  The Hindi word puttu has other local spellings: puttoo, pattoo, pati - meaning bandage. Shawls and blankets are given local names in India: puttu chet, pattu pashmini,  pattu abshar - a striped cloth, and pattu kundrang - a fine blanket made with camel hair and then embroidered.

A leaf fibre from the raphia spp. palm.  grown in Tropical America and Madagascar.  Used in the manufacture of decorative household items, ropes and in the garden.

A strong soft bast fibre, usually about 800mm or more in length, obtained from the stems of various species of the genus Boehmeria nivea (L.) of the Urticaceae nettle family. Ramie is sold in various forms: China grass (sometimes bleached), Ribbons (complete stem), de-gummed fibre, tops, roving or yarn.  Used in the production of clothing fabrics, furnishing fabrics, netting, canvas, rope and string.  Can be blended with other fibres and spun into knitting yarn.  Cultivated in China, India, Philippines, and Brazil.