Introduction of Fabrics

Textile fabrics are classified under four main headings: (a) woven fabrics (b) knitted fabrics (c) lace fabrics, and (d) felts.

Woven fabrics consist of two sets threads intersecting and interlacing at right angles; the method of interlacing depends on intersection of longitudinal warp with lateral weft.

Knitted fabrics depend on a looped structure; the yarn is first bent into loops which may be connected together either consecutively or simultaneously to form a fabric. 

Lace fabrics consist entirely of one set of threads, some of which are twisted round the others.

Felts do not require the use of yarns in their manufacture but may be made directly from certain animal hairs which possess a scale structure. Under the action of moisture, heat and intermittent pressure, the fibrous mass becomes interlocked into a compact mass. Felts are generally thick and weighty, but they lack porosity.

The greater proportion of textile fabrics is woven; the system of intersecting yarns is one which permits extension and contraction diagonally thus making it flexible.