Sewing and fabric terms, including the various types of fabrics, constitute a large vocabulary that is a challenge to the seamstress or tailor, and more so to those who are not seamstresses or tailors. Sewing terms and fabrics make up such a large part of the first part of our impressions that anyone sees - our costumes - that it behooves us to have at least a passing familiarity with those terms and their import. It is more especially important to know those terms for the re-enactor who must assess for herself or himself whether sewn goods made by others folks are satisfactorily period-accurate for her or him.
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, nor are the terms or their applications intended to be ultimately authoritative. Consider this a place to start, bearing in mind that it has been put together by a man who is flabbergasted by complex sewing tasks such as threading a needle.
The topic of fabrics is one to which a multitude of books not only COULD be dedicated to plumbing its depths, but HAVE been dedicated to plumbing its depths. Still, there are some fundamental elements that can be understood, and be reduced to a few paragraphs.
In a number of cases, fabrics we use today, including muslin and wool, are far thicker than the materials available and in common use during the period we re-enact. Much of the wool used for War Between the States uniforms is 10 ounce wool, often referred to as "light" wool. The weight of the 10 ounce wool, of which the dark blue Federal jacket is almost always made, is about half again as heavy as period wool. Similarly, today's muslin is about twice as heavy as muslin from the period, and a bit coarser.
This, in part, helps to explain why you suffer so under the weight of all of those layers of underthings and outer clothes while your ancestors seemed to bear it all relatively cheerfully. It’s more than the fact that you are too accustomed to comfort and ease, coupled with a natural predisposition to gripe and complain. It's more than the fact that your ancestors were acclimated to hot weather without the benefit of an air-conditioned home, vehicle, or workplace to rush to for relief - although that's a part of it. Mainly, you're more uncomfortable than your ancestors because all of those layers of their cloth would have weighed perhaps half to two-thirds as much as yours do, and would have trapped half the heat that your clothes do.
You’ve got a right to gripe (a little), given those circumstances.
For some dresses, the outer covering of cloth was meant to be fairly sheer to reveal the more colorful under layers of clothing, sometimes accomplishing a moiré pattern. Lawn, organdy, and batiste were nice, light fabrics that were often used. Their thinner cloth was no accident or an indication of an inability to make good, thick fabric as we have today, but a recognition of the fashions and styles of the day. That’s why it was not quite such a hardship for the men to wear wool trousers with muslin underdrawers and a shirt with a long-sleeved undershirt as it is for us today: the lighter fabrics could breathe and did not weigh too terribly much. They also did not generally wear as well as our thicker fabrics, either.
That is not to say that they did not have thick cloth, as they most certainly did. Their jean cloth was as thick as ours, or thicker. Jean cloth was not the sort of cloth you found on men or women of distinction or of the burgeoning middle class, though, and some types of rough or coarse jean materials were referred to in the crude vernacular as "nigger jean cloth" because it was so commonly used to clothe slaves, as was also true of small-print calico. The term was also used as a derisive term when applied to whites of the period who could afford to dress no better than, and sometimes not as well as, the slaves. That expression is not to be confused with the expression "nigger wool" which was a derogatory period reference to Africans’ hair, and not a reference to wool at all. We do not endorse the use of those terms, incidentally, but mention them for identification and clarity’s sake because they were terms common enough to the period and were mentioned in letters, journals, and diaries from the North and South alike.
Second, be cautious in your choice of patterns in choosing cloth for dresses or shirts. Rather than rely on the opinion of the lady at the fabric store, consult any of the ladies in our group who have been re-enacting for several years and make use of their research and experience. As a point of interest, you should know that paisley prints were not a creation of Carnaby Street fashions (the "Mods") or a product of the 1960s, but paisley prints were popular in the antebellum and War periods. Paisley, incidentally, did not originate in India as many have supposed, but the print pattern is named after the city of Paisley, Scotland (located near Glasgow) in which a wool shawl with that pattern was created.
Third, there are many cloth types that are appropriate for the period. Most fundamental of all, perhaps, is that just about everything you use should either be 100% wool or 100% cotton. It makes it easier to remember. Polyester is not a period material, and should be avoided. If your wool will be used for a military uniform or in clothing that will be worn around a fire, it should absolutely be 100% wool, for wool does not support combustion. It will burn as long as it is in direct contact with a flame, but the flame will smolder and die when the flame source is removed. That may make a great deal of difference to the artilleryman in particular.
Another compelling reason to use 100% cotton or 100% wool whenever and wherever you can is that they will launder better than the synthetics. This will be especially important to you if you should choose to use lighter colors and patterns and spend much time around the campfire, oil lamps, or kerosene lanterns or heaters. More than that, most synthetic fabrics will burn at a far faster rate and with greater heat intensity than either 100% cotton or 100% wool. Although it sounds unlikely to the modern ear that you would be apt to have your garments catch fire, remember that you will be spending an extraordinary amount of time around fires and open flames at a re-enactment.
Many times in period letters, journals, and diaries, soldiers would write of having received "homespun" garments, or they would write of their preference of "homespun" over the government-issue clothing. While in some cases the term referred to clothing made at home and fitting better than the government-issue clothing, in more cases it referred to the fabric itself. Homespun fabric is fabric which is loosely woven and generally coarse in weave. It could also sometimes be distinguished by an unevenness of dyed color.
The term "shoddy" became a popular term of indeterminate origin during the War for Southern Independence as a result of the slip-shod sewing or construction of clothing and footwear for the military, as well as the poor quality of fabric and materials used. Some have theorized that the term came from the expressions "ill-shod" or "slip-shod" (both commonly used in reference to horses and mules then), while others tie the term to the place of production of some notoriously poor-quality composite wool from a place called Shoddy Pond in Massachusetts.
Be cautious in your choices of fabrics, particularly when you must make assessments of suitability. There are some modern equivalents for certain fabrics that are terrific substitutes, and others whose names would suggest that the period fabric and the contemporary cloth would be identical but are not.
Terms
Agrafe - an ornamental clasp or hook.
Aigrette - tail feathers from the white or cattle egret. An egret is a small wading bird similar to a heron, and extremely common in the deep South; it is also found in the Midwest, though, as far north as Chicago, Illinois. Aigrets are stiff, upright fans used to decorate hats and bonnets.
Alpaca - a cloth made from alpaca wool which was often mixed with cotton or silk. It normally has a plain weave, and tends to be thin.
Barege - a gauze-like silk or cotton worsted fabric.
Basque - referring to a bodice, it is the extension of the bodice below the waistline, and may be cut as one with the bodice or applied at a later time.
Batiste - a fine quality cloth made of flax or cotton; French in origin. Cotton batiste is off-white or ecru in color; flax batiste is grey in color.
Beaver Cloth - heavy, felted wool, with one side sheared smooth. It is used primarily for overcoats, much as merino wool is used today.
Beret - a sleeve type, very short but very wide in diameter. It bears some resemblance to the hat style which is also called a "beret".
Bias - a reference to any material that is cut across the grain so that it will stretch readily. Used for edgings and other trims, bias-cut material may be used in a variety of ways. While the bias may be cut from any angle, the degree to which it will stretch is greater when the material is cut at a 45° angle with reference to the grain of the fabric. Bias-cut plaids and stripes were, and are, frequently used for decorative elements, whether as bias bindings, ruches, or ruffles.
Bombazine - an open twill fabric of silk and wool; often black.
Bouffant - a puffed-up portion of a garment.
Bouillon - an applied trim which is created by using a puffed-up bit of fabric, commonly made as a self-gathering puffing for skirts and bodices.
Bretelle - a strap-shaped trim frequently seen on bodices which runs from the top of the shoulder to the point or base of a bodice.
Broadcloth - a fine, sturdy, smooth-faced wool cloth which is felted or given a nap finish to resist raveling; often used for men's clothing. Broadcloth can be composed of cotton or silk, but traditionally broadcloth was made solely of wool. The dense weave lends sturdiness to the material.
Brocade - silk or other fabrics with a simple weave that has figures woven into it, either of the same or contrasting colors.
Broché - similar to brocade, a fabric woven with a raised figure.
Buckram - a strong, open-weave fabric of cotton or linen that has been stiffened with sizing. It was generally used to stiffen petticoats, bonnets, and other garments.
Buff Leather - a heavyweight but flexible leather of a natural buff color, dyed on one side. Its most common use was for belts in the military, whether in local or state militias or the Regular Army. It is lighter in weight (and therefore has less durability) than harness leather.
Bugles - long, thin, cylindrical beads. A bugle trim is trim comprised of bugle beads.
Burlap - a strong, coarse, loosely-woven cloth made of fibers of jute, flax or hemp. It is commonly used to make bags, but was also used as padding in clothing.
Button - an excellent resource for buttons, both for reference and for purchase, is in our "Links" section. Calico - also referred to as "print", it is a cotton cloth of various qualities of weave and print. The term is most often applied to the more coarse, printed cottons. Avoid the temptation to follow your heart into the "Little House On the Prairie" look of a multitude of muted, small print calicos, especially those festooned with hearts and such. Northern and Southern women and children would almost never have been seen in the small calico printed fabrics, as those were almost exclusively slave goods, and referred to as "slave calico" or "nigger calico". The fabric design choices in calicos for Northern and Southern white women and children would have been more along the lines of solids, stripes, plaids, and large floral prints.
Cambric - a thin, closely woven fine firm white linen with a slightly glossy surface produced by calendaring. It is commonly used as fabric for lace and needlework. Cambric was first used in Cambrai, France, which gave the fabric its name, as early as 1595.
Canvas - an open-mesh fabric of linen, or a blend of linen and cotton. It is an extremely heavy-duty fabric, commonly used for tents and sails.
Challais - (see Challie)
Challie - a fine, delicate fabric, usually printed in a multiple number of colors, without a gloss of wool or of silk and wool.
Chicoree - a material used as a trim with its edge cut and left un-hemmed. Chine - an indistinct figure in the fabric, or a mottling of the fabric, that is formed by using threads of different colors, but most commonly black.
Chino cloth - a kind of twill fabric, usually made primarily from cotton. It was originally used in British and French military uniforms in the mid-1800s.
Chintz - cotton cloth, usually white, that originated in India. It is also printed in a number of colors.
Corduroy - fabric that is corded and furrowed. Corduroy is considered a durable cloth. The width of the cord is referred to as the “wale”. The width of the wale makes some uses more common than others. Wide wale is more commonly found on pants or caps; while medium, narrow and fine wale fabrics are usually found in garments used above the waist, or suits of corduroy. Corduroy was termed “poor man’s velvet”.
Crepe - a semi-transparent crinkled or plain fabric, often black. When it is very thin, this wrinkled surface fabric is called crêpe de Chine, which means Chinese crêpe. Crêpe de Chine – very thin crepe.
Crepe Lisse - smooth crepe.
Crinoline - a stiff, open cloth made of horsehair and linen or cotton. It also refers to a stiff hoop skirt or stiff petticoat.
Damask - a fabric with elaborately woven patterns of silk, linen, or wool.
Denim - a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under at least two warp fibers, resulting in the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric; and it’s that which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim was traditionally dye blue with indigo dye, resulting in what is now referred to as blue jeans. (“Jeans” actually denotes a different, lighter cotton textile). In 1789 George Washington toured a Massachusetts factory producing machine-woven cotton denim. In the mid-1800s, hemp cloth, processed in much the same way as linen, gave the cotton fabric denim a run for its money.
A similarly-woven traditional American cotton textile is the diagonal warp-striped hickory cloth, once associated with railroadmen's overalls. Blue or black contrasted with undyed white threads to form its distinctive woven pattern. Hickory cloth was as rugged as hickory timber and was worn by the lower working class men. Records of a group of New Yorkers headed for the California gold fields in 1849 show that they took along four "Hickory shirts" each. Hickory cloth later furnished some fatigue pantaloons and shirts in the American Civil War. Diaper - a type of cloth which was widely used during the period. Its distinction as a cloth to wrap around the behinds of babies grew from its soft and absorbent character, being a cloth typically ornamented with small figures (most commonly diamonds). Because of its almost universal application to babies’ behinds, the cloth and the baby undergarment came to own the same name.
Dimity - a finely ribbed fabric. While the most popular dimity was white or colored, it was also made in prints.
Drugget - a heavy wool fabric that was often used for coats.
Empress Cloth - a smooth cloth of wool, or of a blend of cotton and wool.
En Broché - see Broché.
En Coeur - the inward-curving trims or bodice opening curve that forms a heart shape as they descend from the top of the shoulders.
Faille - a soft, corded silk that is similar to gros grain, although finer.
Felt - fabric made by matting, condensing and pressing wool fibers together, as opposed to weaving them.
Flannel - a soft wool or wool and cotton cloth with a loose texture that varies from fine to coarse. It may or may not have a nap. It is commonly used to make clothing and bedsheets, and during the Civil War often was made into shirts for soldiers. Clothing made from it is usually worn in cold weather climates due to the warmness that the fabric is known for.
Foulard - often used to make handkerchiefs, the soft, lightweight fabric of silk, or silk and cotton, has a twilled weave. It may also have a satin finish.
French Cloth - a fine-twilled wool fabric that is used for wraps.
Gauze - a very thin, light, almost transparent silk fabric.
Georgian Cloth - a light-weight broadcloth that first became popular in the first decade of the 19th century.
Gingham – a fabric made from carded or combed, medium or fine, dyed cotton yarn where the coloring is on the warp yarns and always along the grain. Regarding color, there is no right or wrong side for gingham. The English name gingham derives from the Dutch rendering of a Malay word. When it was first imported in the 1600s, it was a striped fabric. However, from the mid-1700s when it was being produced in the mills of Manchester, England, it was being woven into checked or plaid patterns, most commonly blue and white. Grenadine - a thin, gauze-like fabric of wool or silk.
Gros - a heavy silk fabric with a dull finish.
Gros Grain Silk - also called grosgrain or grogorine, it is a sturdy silk fabric with heavy transverse cords.
Hickory cloth – similar to denim, it is a similarly-woven traditional American cotton textile which was once associated with railroadmen's overalls. Blue or black contrasted with undyed white threads to form its distinctive woven pattern. Hickory cloth was as rugged as hickory timber and was worn by the lower working class men. Records of a group of New Yorkers headed for the California gold fields in 1849 show that they took along four "Hickory shirts" each. Hickory cloth later furnished some fatigue pantaloons and shirts in the American Civil War.
Homespun - a coarse, tweedy fabric, often made at home. It was usually of one color, or at least intended to be of one color. Homepsun often dyed inconsistently.
Housewife - a small sewing kit for a soldier’s use.
Huckabuck - a period-accurate fabric for napkins or toweling. It is a relatively coarse weave of fabric, and may be found either plain or with colored patterns. Huckabuck fabric may be most familiar to us as the toweling we used to find in gas station restrooms in dispensers that allowed the continuous roll of huckabuck to revolve through the dispenser - not a very hygienic practice, to be certain.
Jean - a twilled cotton cloth that is used for corsets and shoe linings. Jean cloth was also supplied to slaves in the form of durable clothing, leading it to be termed "nigger jean cloth".
Kersey - a wool cloth that is usually coarse and ribbed. Sky blue kersey was originally designated for use only with the Federal artillery. However, it was widely used for trousers throughout the Federal Army's artillery, infantry, and cavalry in place of the higher-quality, more tightly woven, more expensive dark blue wool trousers that remained available - upon request - to officers in the Federal Army after the War began.
Lawn - a very fine linen or cotton fabric with a fairly open-weave texture, used in making dresses. A lightweight, sheer cloth, it’s more crisp than voile but not as crisp as organdy. Lawn is semi-transparent, and can range from being gauzy or sheer to an almost opaque effect, known as lining or utility lawn. The finish used on lawn ranges from soft to semi-crisp to crisp
Linen - one of many types of strong, durable fabric that are made from the flax plant, often bleached white. Linen has no elasticity. Linen is thermo-regulating, non-allergenic, anti-static and antibacterial. Because it can absorb up to 20 times its weight in moisture before it feels damp, linen fabric feels cool and dry to the touch.
Linsey-Woolsey - a coarse fabric of linen and wool, or of cotton and wool; combining both animal and plant fibers. Linsey-woolsey historically has been made with warp threads of linen for strength and weft threads of wool providing bulk and warmth. Colonial quilts were commonly backed with linsey-woolsey, adding to their longevity. Many conservators today believe most early quilts survived because of the use of linsey-woolsey as their backing. Many considered it the fabric of the poor, but it certainly was durable. Mentions of it are common in slave narratives. In Norman Yetman's Voices from Slavery: 100 Authentic Slave Narratives, James Lucas, age 104, describes the "clean rough clothes" that he wore "around at de Big House and to town…I wore rough clothes. De pants was white Linsey-Woolsey... De womens wore linsey-woolsey dresses and long leggin's like de soldiers wear." Harriet Jacobs in Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl noted, "I have a vivid recollection of the linsey-woolsey dress given to me every winter by Mrs. Flint. How I hated it! It was one of the badges of slavery."
There’s a fascinating article on linsey-woolsey by BonnieBlueFlag1 at
http://groups.msn.com/BonnieBlueToo/historicalbit:
“…There seems to be a good deal of misunderstanding of what the original Linsey – Woolsey was like.… Linsey – Woolsey was a fabric of necessity.... Imports of fabrics from England were unreliable and even then, were mostly expensive fabrics for the wealthy that lived along the seacoast. Farmers, other colonists, and the less well-to-do did not have either the access or the money to afford imported fabrics.
But colonial farmers did have sheep and they could grow flax. Although it was labor-intensive, flax fiber could be spun into a strong linen yarn with low tech processing. The stalks of the flax plant, which generally grows 3 to 4 feet, were cut down and allowed to “ret” in the fields. This exposure to the elements allows microscopic bacteria to begin decomposition that allows the linen fiber to be removed. The stalks would then be crushed and hackled. Hackling could be accomplished by taking the crushed stalks and pulling them through a simple set of upright nails to form a primitive comb.
It was back-breaking work to rip the fibers from the stalks by hand (I did this once in Ireland for a few minutes- that was enough). Once you had the fibers removed from the flax plant, they could be carded by a finer comb than nails. It would probably have been the same comb that was used to process the wool (more on the wool later). The purpose of the carding (in the machine age combing took on a meaning of it’s own as a separate machine process) would be to make the linen fiber as parallel as possible. The end result of this would be termed sliver and would be a fairly thick strand of fiber ready for the spinning wheel where fingers and the skill of the spinner would determine how fine, even and strong the yarn was spun. Finally after growing, cutting, retting, crushing, hackling and spinning, there would be a yarn ready for weaving. Because of its inherent strength and durability, linen yarn was the preferred yarn for the warp yarns in a linsey – woolsey fabric as it was less likely to break during hand weaving than a handspun wool yarn.
The wool yarn would have gone through a different growth cycle, in that shearing would take place in the spring when the sheep still had their winter coat and the wool fiber was at its longest. One sheared, the “grease wool” as it would have been known, would have had the lanolin removed in order to make a shirt or pants or blanket.
The lanolin could be removed by washing the fiber and would have been saved to make – you guessed it – hand creams and a base ingredient in any number of balms. While I have seen lanolin being removed in a mechanical scouring process, the lanolin would have required further purification as directly off the sheep it is a rather dirty and smelly affair as well as having seeds and whatever else was stuck in the sheep’s fleece.
Once the fibers were cleaned, a carding process was begun of running the fibers over a “card’ (a grouping of fine wires), using either a hand card (or a round drum type). Again, a sliver would be produced, but unlike linen, wool fiber would not be as parallel for spinning as linen because wool has an inherently different shape and because of its natural curl.
Again a spinning wheel would have been used to spin from the relatively heavy, thick sliver down to the final yarn size. Although both fibers have a natural tendency to create variation in the yarn, the wool would have been subject to more obvious changes in diameter creating weaker and stronger areas. Since the linen yarn’s job was to hold the wool in place, these variations were not a problem for a hand weaver making perhaps a few feet of fabric in many hours.
Getting color onto the yarn and thus in the fabric was also a time consuming effort. Various native plants could be used, the most famous being indigo. (Originally from India) Plants can be found in most climates to create a range of colors. The natural dye would be pulverized or crushed as much as possible and put in a kettle to boil. In Colonial America most would have been dyed once the wool had been cleaned, but before the spinning to get the best color. This process is also the origin of the term “Dyed in the Wool”.
At the point the dyer felt the color was “right” a mordant would be added to “fix” the color. This could be as simple as salt or tin, but could also be a variety of other ingredients, as often the mordant chosen would change the color of the final yarn color. The fiber would have to be dried and carded into a sliver (also called roving depending on the fiber and type of spinning process – but that’s a story for another time).
Now the yarns could be put on a warp – usually a cylinder, which the yarn was wrapped around. This allows the weaver to make a longer piece of cloth than say, tying all the yarns to a tree (a tried and true ancient technique). The weave was a plain weave of one end of wool going over one end of linen yarn and under the next.
Finally after many hours of weaving, a fabric would be produced that could be cut and sewed into a garment or blanket. Because of linen’s strength and wool’s insulating and durability, the fabric would have a long life.
Mancheron - a short, flat oversleeve.
Merino - a fine fabric made of merino wool, or of fine wool and cotton.
Moiré - a watermarked effect given to fabrics by the pressure of engraved rollers that displace and flatten threads to form the moiré pattern.
Mull - a thin, soft muslin with no stiffening.
Mungo - reclaimed wool of poor quality and short staple.
Muslin - a stout, light, open cotton fabric of varying fineness. The term is sometimes applied to fabrics similar to it, such as cambric, lawn, and mull. It is often used to make summer dresses, and is available plain or printed or dyed. Muslin was first introduced to Europe from the Middle East in the 17th century. It is named for the city of Mosul, in what is today Iraq.
Nankeen - a firm, durable cloth made from a yellow-brown cotton that was used for linings. The name comes from its origin - in China.
Nun's Veiling - a thin, fine, soft smooth wool fabric that is used for dresses and veils.
Organdy Lawn - a fine quality organdy.
Organdy - a thin, fine muslin that may be plain or figured. It was often stiffened, and used for dresses.
Orleans - a dress cloth of worsted and cotton that are alternated on the surface.
Osnaburg - a coarse linen that was originally made in Oznaburg province, Hanover.
Paisley - a wool shawl employing the pattern we call "paisley", similar to a cashmere shawl, which was originally made at Paisley, Scotland, a town near Glasgow. Popular in the antebellum and War periods.
Palmleaf - a pattern from India that looks much like the paisley pattern.
Passementerie - flat braid trims applied to garments, the trim may be as simple as a plain soutache braid appliqued in place to a more complex pattern woven from gimp or a similar cord.
Pekin - a silk fabric originally from China, usually flowered or striped.
Pekin Satin - a heavy satin with stripes of the same color woven into the fabric.
Percale - smooth, fine, soft, tightly-woven cotton fabric, much like cambric. It was used for shirting and for nursery clothing, and was often printed on one side.
Petersham Cloth - a rough, heavy, knotted wool cloth used for men's coats.
Pinking - the edge of unhemmed fabric that has small scalloped, or V-shaped pieces cut from it. It may also refer to the act of cutting fabric in that fashion.
Pique - a firm, ribbed or raised-figure cotton fabric that was very popular for children's clothing.
Plush - a fine quality cotton fabric with a nap of silk; softer than velvet.
Pongee - a thin, soft, undyed silk fabric from India or China.
Poplin - a smooth, heavy, strong fabric with a plain silk warp and coarse silk weft, thus giving it a ribbed appearance. It may also be made of cotton or wool. The ribs run across the fabric from selvage to selvage. They are formed by using coarse filling yarns in a plain weave. It derives its name from papeline, a fabric made at Avignon, France in the 1400's. The fabric was so named for the papal residence there.
Poplinette - a wool or linen fabric that resembles poplin.
Print - a plain fabric, often made from cotton, that has a figure stamped on one or both sides. It is commonly referred to as "calico".
Quilling - small pleatings used as a trim, often made from ribbons or fabric, and often cylindrical in shape.
Rouleau - a trimming of fabric made by puffing material into a tubular shape.
Sateen - a cotton or wool fabric that has a glossy, satin-like surface. It is commonly used for dress linings and corsets.
Satin - a thick cloth with a glossy surface and a dull back, it is traditionally made of silk.
Satin de Chine - a Chinese firm silk that has a dull satin finish.
Satinet - an imitation satin; it may also be a thin satin.
Serge - twilled cotton, or wool, or silk, or a blend of wool and silk; it has diagonal lines or ridges on both sides, made with a two-up, two-down weave. The worsted variety is used in making military uniforms, suits, and great coats. Its counterpart, silk serge, is used for linings. French serge is a softer, finer variety. In 1567, Calvinist refugees from the Low Countries included many skilled serge weavers, while Huguenot refugees in the early eighteenth century included many silk and linen weavers, all contributing to the growth and worldwide dominance of the English in textiles.
Shantung - a plain, rough fabric made from wild silk.
Shoddy - a term reputedly of Welsh origin that originally meant inferior-quality quarry stone or coal of inferior burning quality, it came into popular use during the War Between the States and was used to describe something cheaply imitative, or hastily and poorly done. The term also refers to a wool of better quality and longer staple than mungo (reclaimed wool of poor quality and short staple) made from materials that are not felted (felting being a process in which wool, fur, and natural fibers together make a fabric through the action of heat, moisture, pressure, and chemicals). Typically the process began with old woolen rags that were passed through a machine that reduced them to wool, then saturated with oil or milk, mixed with new wool, and then run into large shallow pans, partially dried, and finally pressed between cylinders to make new cloth. The recycled end product had the appearance of good wool, but had a short life span in use. Many of the Federal uniforms of 1861 were made of shoddy.
Another version of the origin of the name "shoddy" asserts that a manufacturer called Shoddy Manufacturing in Easton, Massassachusetts provided wool clothing made from blended wool scraps to the Federal War Department. The wool was notorious for its inferior quality and brevity of life; being nothing more than scraps of wool pasted together with a glue of sorts, it even separated or fell apart when it got wet. The Massachusetts manufacturer’s mill was located by a pond called "Shoddy Pond", and it was from that pond that they derived the name of Shoddy Manufacturing. Once the War Department canceled its contract with them, such was the reputation of the manufacturer that, ever after, anything provided to the government that was found to be substandard was referred to as "shoddy".
Shot Silk - woven with the warp and weft threads of different colors in such a way that the fabric changes in tint according to the angle from which it is viewed.
Silk - a strong, lustrous fabric made from threads produced from cocoons of the silk worm. Highly elastic, it can be woven in many ways, and silk accepts dye well. One cocoon produces roughly three miles of extraordinarily fine silk thread.
Silk Serge - twilled silk fabric that is most often used for linings.
Silk Tissue - a fine, transparent silk fabric.
Stockinette - a knitted fabric with an elastic quality, it is sometimes used to make stockings.
Sizing - typically made of flour paste, china clay, and glue, it was used to add stiffness to fabric.
Tabby - a heavy silk taffeta that is shiny with a watered finish. It is also used to describe a plain weave.
Taffeta - a fine, even-textured, smooth silk fabric that has a luster.
Tartan - a wool fabric cross-barred by narrow bands of different colors (which may be complementary or contrasting) that form what we often refer to today as a "Scottish plaid".
Tissue - a fine, gauzy fabric that is sometimes used for veils.
Tweed - deriving its name from its place of origin (originally, it was made on the River Tweed), it is a soft, flexible wool fabric in plain or twilled weave, often woven from two colors of threads.
Twill - a type of fabric woven with a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs. It is made by passing the weft threads over one warp thread and then under two or more warp threads. Examples of twill fabric include gabardine, tweed and serge.
Valencia - a fabric for waistcoats. The weft is of wool and the warp is of cotton or silk.
Velvet - a silk fabric that has a dense pile on right side, and may have a cotton back. Cut velvet has the pile loops cut so that the pile is of single threads; uncut velvet is called pile velvet, and the loops are not cut A tufted fabric in which the cut threads are very evenly distributed gives it its distinct feel. Velvet can be made from any fiber. A special loom is used to make velvet. Two pieces of velvet must be woven at the same time. They are then cut apart and the two lengths of fabric are wound on separate take-up rolls. Looms which weave velvet must have two take-up rolls.
Velveteen - a cotton fabric that mimics velvet.
Voile - a thin dress fabric of cotton or wool, woven from hard-twisted yarns with an open texture.
Volan - small flounces and flounce-like trims used for sleeves or bodices.
Warp - the long threads of fabric.
Weft - the short threads of fabric.
Wool - a fabric woven from the soft, wavy or curly hypertrophied undercoat of sheep. The chief advantages of wool include its insulating properties; and due to the tightness of its weave, its tendency to repel water. The insulating property of wool helps preserve the wearer’s body heat, an advantage in winter. It also does not support combustion, meaning that it will burn so long as a flame is held to it, but will cease to burn as soon as the flame is removed from it. For that reason soldiers were required to wear wool clothing, especially the No.1 and No.2 positions on a cannon.
Worsted Wool - long-staple wool fabric made of well-twisted yarn that has been combed to lay the fibers parallel to one another. The cloth has a hard, smooth texture.
