 
Bird's eye
Small diamond pattern accentuated by a dot in the middle, resembling the eye of a bird. Commonly used in suiting.
Blends
Two or more types of staple fibers in one yarn to achieve colour mixtures, unusual dyeing variations, or better performance characteristics. The most common blend is cotton and polyester.
Buckram
Liner, which adds support to the front of a cap.
Cover Stitch
Multineedle decorative topstitch traditionally used on T-shirts, Henley, and sweatshirts, but more recently used as a fashion/design detail on a variety of knits.
Drop needle
Knitting technique that disengages a knitting needle so as to prevent knitting a stitch. This results in a vertical rib-like appearance. Typically this technique is done on interlock (double knit) constructions.
Dyeing
Method used to import colour to textiles. It involves the use of complete organic or chemical dyestuffs, which under proper conditions will actually combine with the textile fibers. There are many ways fabric can be dyed.
Dyeing - Piece
Fabrics are dyed solid colours after they have been woven or knit, but before they are sewn into a garment. Piece dyed goods can be used in making solid and colour-blocked shirts.
Dyeing - Pigment
Textile colour by the use of pigments differs from reactive dyes in that pigments do not combine with the fiber molecules as reactive dyes do. Pigments hold onto the textile materials with resin binders in much the same way that paints holds to a wall. It is intentionally expected that pigments will wash out through repeated washings.
Dyeing - Top
Yarns are dyed before the yarn is spun when the yarns are in the top state, which gives an uneven dyed or heather appearance to the yarn. Top dyeing results in a natural look of the two colours blended. This process is used on heathered and natural colour shirts.
Dyeing - Vat
Vat dye is obtained through oxidation. It is usually very bright and will hold up better when bleached than most other dyes. The process is very colourfast in all respects. This is an expensive procedure and is used mainly on high-end products.
Dyeing - Yarn
Yarn is dyed prior to the weaving or knitting of the goods and after the spinning of the yarn. Done in either total immersion or partial immersion of the yarn. This process is especially used in patterns such as jacquards and stripes that require knitting.
Garment-washed
This means a cap has been sewn and made and then washed in a washing facility. This creates the popular faded, worn look around the edges and looks more natural than the material pre-washed caps or garments.
|
|
Wearable Terms
Gusset
Inlaid piece of fabric, usually triangular, between arm and body of shirt. Allows ease of movement.
Hand
Quality of characteristics of fabrics perceived by sense of touch, e.g. softness, firmness, drapability, fineness of the fell.
Henley
Knit shirt with buttoned placket at the neckline with no collar. Copied from a shirt originally worn by a row in Henley, England.
Leather
Has subcategories, including genuine (top-grain or full grain leather from the outermost layer of hide); splits (underlayers split off from the top grain, usually having a surface treatment to simulate colour an grain of genuine leather), and processed leather (one type of skin or hide made to resemble another type usually called "bonded leather" or "laminated leather").
Locker loop
Looped piece of fabric in the neck of a garment for the convenience of hanging the garment of a hook. Can also be located at the center of the back yoke on the inside or outside of the garment.
Nail head
General term for a variety of small woven patterns, including bird's eye, dots and small houndstooth. It is usually associated with clear-finished worsted suitings, such as sharkskin.
Nap
Raised surface or pile of a fabric, such as fleece, formed by distressing it.
Panels
Five and six-panel caps. Six panels sewn together from the crown of the cap creating a seam down the front of the cap. Good for embroidery, but not a good choice for screen-printing. A five-panel cap has five panels sewn together to form the crown of the cap. Since there is no seam down the front of the cap, five panels are an ideal choice for screen-printing or embroidery.
Pigment dyed
Caps are coloured with a particular pigment that reacts with the washing to create a faded look.
Plackets
(slits in apparel forming a closure). A small boxed area at the bottom of where the buttons are.
Profile
Height of a cap's crown. Low-profile is approximately 3.5". Regular profile is approximately 3.75". Pro-style is somewhere in-between the two.
Raglan
Raglan sleeve is stitched under the arm and in two parallel lines leading from the armpit to the neck. It makes for ease of movement.
Storm flap
Strip of fabric sewn under or over the front zip or snap closure of outerwear garments to form a barrier against wind and moisture.
Windowpane
Simple, boxy check or plaid pattern using a minimum of colours and thin lines to form large squares or rectangles with clear centers, like windowpanes.
Yoke
Contoured portion of a garment, usually at the shoulder or hip.
|
