ACRYLIC
The general name of man-made fibers (polyester) derived from polyacrylonitrile. Usually quick drying.
APPLIQUÉ
A cutout decoration fastened to a larger piece of fabric. Often used when making large scale monograms.
BED SKIRT
Fabric that hangs from the top of the box spring to the floor, hiding the box spring. Usually made in a gathered or tailored style. Also called dust skirts.
BLANKET COVER
A top of the bed treatment used to hide and/or protect the blanket underneath it. Does not go all the way to the floor and is not made with a pillow tuck. Also commonly called coverlets but usually not as decorative as a coverlet.
CASHMERE
A fine, soft, downy wool from the undercoat of the Cashmere goat. The finest Kashmir shawls are made from the hair of the Kashmir goat. Hair is silky, soft, strong, and cylindrical.
COMFORTER
A warm bed covering that is quilted using various materials, including down, silk, and MicroMax®. Does not cover the pillows or go to the floor. Often referred to as duvets, especially in Europe. Normally made with box or channel stitching. Comforters trap warm air by creating a layer of insulation.
COTTON
A soft usually white fibrous substance composed of the hairs surrounding the seeds of various erect freely branching tropical plants. A vegetable seed fiber consisting of unicellular hairs attached to the seeds of several species of genus Gossypium.
COVERLET
A top of the bed treatment used instead of a bedspread or comforter. Does not go all the way to the floor and is not made with a pillow tuck. Also commonly called blanket covers, although usually more formal than a blanket cover. Matelasse coverlets are very popular now.
DAMASK
A firm lustrous fabric made with flat patterns in a satin weave or a plain-woven ground on jacquard looms, usually with floral or geometric patterns. Damask has been made for centuries and is one of the oldest and most popular durable fabrics.
DUVET
A soft flat bag traditionally filled with down or feathers or a combination of both and used on a bed as a blanket. Duvets originated in rural Europe and were made from the down feathers of the eider duck, known for their usefulness as an insulator.
DUVET COVER
A bag that protects a comforter as well as adding style or color to a bedroom. Should be the same size or slightly smaller than the comforter or duvet that is used with it. It’s much easier to wash a duvet cover than a whole comforter.
EGYPTIAN COTTON
A general classification for the strong, lustrous, long staple cotton produced in the Nile River Valley. The United States has crossed Egyptian cotton with American cotton since 1903.
EMBROIDERY
The art or process of forming decorative designs with hand or machine needlework. It differs from lace in that embroidery always requires a ground fabric to work on.
EURO SHAM
A covering for a square pillow, usually 27” square, usually decorative and not slept on.
FILL POWER
The most frequently used measure of down quality and measure of down’s ability to loft. Testing down to determine its fill power must be done in a laboratory. The rating is a measure of the amount of space one ounce of down will fill in a laboratory test, expressed in cubic inches.
FINISHING
A process through which fabric passes after being removed from the loom, usually required to make goods suitable for sale. Finishing processes includes bleaching, brushing, calendering, dyeing, glazing, sizing, softening, and stiffening.
FLANNEL
Soft-filled cotton sheeting or twill, napped on one or both sides, generally both, then bleached, dyed or printed, brushed or rerun through the napping machine to revive the nap.
FLAX
Yarn and fabric made of flax are known as linen. Flax is the oldest textile fiber known. Flax fiber is obtained from the bast tissue between the bark and the woody core of the Linum usitatissimum plant.
HEMSTITCHING
An ornamental decoration achieved by drawing out parallel threads at the inner edge of a hem and drawing together in groups the cross threads by successive stitches.
JACQUARD
A system of weaving which, because of a pattern-making mechanism of great versatility, permits the production of woven designs. The Jacquard loom was invented in France in the early 19th century and permit elaborate, intricate woven patterns to be produced.
MATELASSE
A French word meaning cushioned or padded. The quilted character and raised patterns are made on a Jacquard or a dobby loom. Usually used for coverlets and shams.
MICROCOTTON®
MicroCotton® is a trademarked brand for a unique cotton yarn. The yarn is made from a very high grade of cotton. The natural characteristics of this type of cotton stem from the extremely high quality of the very fine micronaire (the measure of finest for cotton fiber) cotton fiber that is used. It is naturally silky and very absorbent.
MICROMAX®
The latest generation of fiber technology that simulates the feel of down. Commonly called a “down alternative.” One of the very best synthetic fibers made which enables people who are allergic to down to enjoy some of the same luxurious qualities of down.
PERCALE
A fine closely woven cotton cloth. Commonly called a plain weave, the yarn is interlaced the same as the strings of a tennis racquet, with a regular over-and-under pattern that products a matte or crisp feel as opposed to the silky, shiny look of a sateen. Percale is the simplest of the three basic weaves, along with twill and satin.
PIECE DYED
A process of dyeing fabric after weaving or knitting. The dyeing is done after the fabric is taken from the loom.
PIQUE
A durable fabric, usually made of cotton, rayon, or silk and usually woven with narrow stripes or a small geometric pattern.
PLISSE
A cotton fabric treated with a caustic soda solution which shrinks part of the cloth to produce a puckered or crinkled stripe effect. Also called seersucker.
POLYESTER
A manufactured or man-made fiber usually used for easy care and wash-and-wear fabrics. Almost combined with cotton in bedding products.
RAYON
A generic term for man-made fibers composed of regenerated cellulose derived from trees, cotton, and woody plants. It is made from this cellulosic material by extrusion through minute holes. Originally known as “artificial silk.”
SATEEN
A smooth, strong, lustrous cotton fabric. A sateen weave is not as tightly intermeshed as a plain or percale weave. The soft, smooth surface is created by an under-one, over-four (or more) pattern.
SEERSUCKER
A cotton fabric with permanently woven crinkle stripes in the direction of the warp, produced by weaving the ground ends under ordinary tension, while the crinkle ends are woven slack. Does not need ironing.
SHAM
A decorative covering for a pillow, usually with a closed end and often with a flange.
SILK
Continuous protein filament (fibron) produced by the larvae of various insects, especially the caterpillar (silkworm), when constructing their cocoons. The caterpillar secretes the silk as a viscous fluid. Silk is noted for its resiliency, aesthetics, elasticity, and strength.
SPINNING
The process of making yarn or thread by any of several methods from fiber. The fiber is drawn out and twisted into yarn or fiber.
TERRY CLOTH
A cotton fabric with loop pile on one or both sides, covering the entire surface. Single or double ply yarns are used.
THREAD COUNT
The number of threads in a square inch of fabric. Threads can be single ply, double ply, or even four ply. Quality of threads must also be considered when evaluating a fabric.
TWILL WEAVE
One of three basic weaves characterized by a diagonal rib, or twill line, generally running upward from left to right. The filling threads pass over one and under two or more warp threads to give an appearance of a diagonal line. Twill weaves are used to produce a strong, durable, firm fabric.
WARP
The set of yarn found in every fabric woven on the loon and running lengthwise, parallel to the selvage, and interwoven with the weft, the two forming the various weaves according to the methods of intersection.
WEFT
In woven fabrics, yarn which runs from selvage to selvage at right angles to the warp. Remember, “weft to right” or horizontal. Also called woof.
WOOL
The soft wavy or curly hypertrophied undercoat of various hairy mammals but most commonly confined to the fine, soft, scaly fiber covering on sheep. The fiber is distinguished from hair, often called kemp in domesticated sheep. Wool can be woven, knitted, or felted.
YARN
A continuous strand of textile fibers. Yarn is the basic material which is made into fabric, thread, twine, or cable. There are two basic classes: spun yarn or continuous filament yarn.
YARN DYEING
Dyeing of yarn before weaving or knitting.
