Materials of Design and Decoration - pt. 1

Vocabulary flashcards about fabrics and materials of decor.

Fabric

Also known as textile or cloth; flexible material made up of a network of natural or artificial fibers.

Textile

Any material made up of interlacing fibers.

Cloth

Refers to a finished piece of fabric.

Fiber

The fine, hairlike strands that form the basis of a yarn.

Yarn

Formed by twisting fibers together to create a continuous strand.

Staple Fibers

Short fibers, randomly arranged and loosely twisted, resulting in softer yarns.

Filament Fibers

Long and continuous fibers, measured in meters or yards, laid parallel to one another and tightly twisted to produce smooth, strong yarns.

Spun Yarn

Composed of staple fibers twisted together.

Cotton

Most widely used plant fiber, comes from the balls of the cotton plant that grows in warm climates.

Kapok

"Poor man's cotton" also derived from seed; too brittle to be spun into fiber but soft enough to be used as cushioning.

Flax (Linen)

Probably the oldest fiber ever woven into fabric; a vegetable fiber, grayish in color with a silky luster.

Jute OR Burlap

Resembles flax but is made from stem and stalk of the jute plant.

Hemp

Comes from the plant located in a temperate zone; its coarse fibers are used in ropes and sacks.

Manila Hemp/Abaca

The fiber is obtained from the outer layer of the leaf; finer fibers are often used for weaving clothing.

Ramie

An inexpensive fiber from East Asia, oftentimes used as a substitute for flax; is strong and has a natural luster comparable to silk.

Natural Rubber

The latex (liquid part) is extruded into fiber; highly elastic, flexible and impermeable to water and air.

Jusi

Made from banana fibers.

Piña Fiber

Made from the leaves of pineapple.

Wool

Sheared from domesticated animals, primarily sheep.

Thai Silk

Fiber formed by two silkworms that spun their cocoons together in an interlocking manner.

Asbestos

Mineral with fluffy strands which are generally combined with cotton to produce a textile; completely fireproof.

Rayon

First synthetic fiber; produced in 1939.

Acetate

Thermoplastic; invented by the Celanese corporation in 1924; also called acele, avisco, celanese, chromspun, estron; made from wood pulp and cotton liners.

Lyocell

Made up of 100% cotton; introduced in the 1900s; manufactured fiber composed of solvent-spun cellulose.

Tri-Acetate (Arnel)

Derived from cellulose by combining cellulose with acetate from acetic acid and acetic anhydride; appearance and properties are very similar to those of acetate but washable.

Nylon

Developed by E.I. Dupont de Nemours & co. Inc in 1939; a polymer fiber made from petroleum byproduct with other elements; one of the strongest of all fibers.

Acrylic

Developed by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and co. Inc in the United States 1950; produced from acrylonitrile, a petrochemical.

Modacrylic

Developed by Union Carbide in 1949; made of polymer resins - elements of natural gas, coal, air, salt and water fibers dye easily, washable and drip dry.

Glass Fiber

Developed by Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation in 1936; resistant to flame; strong and does not absorb moisture and dyes well.

Polymide Nylon

Chemical fiber with the make-up similar to nylon; outperforms existing synthetics in washability, wrinkle resistance, and ease of care.

Vinyl (Saran)

Used for outdoor upholstery and screening; unaffected by sunlight, easy to care for, wrinkle resistant, crease retention and dyeability.

Spandex

Strong, durable, stretches and recovers; can be blended with other fibers to add elasticity and resilience to a fabric without altering appearance.

Polylactic Acid Polymer (PLA)

Made through fermentation of the corn plant; known as biodegradable polyester.

Aramids

Flame resistant and is used for draperies and casement cloths; marketed under the trade names Normex and Kevlar.

Olefins/Polypropylene

Developed by Hercules Inc. in 1961 from a by-product of petroleum; upholstery-weight textiles are strong, light in weight and generally bulked.

Polyester

Introduced by Du Pont Co. In 1953; most popular synthetic fiber to use as fabric; considered as workhorse fiber of the industry.

Felting

Matting together of fibers to form a web by moisture, pressure, and heat.

Filming

Produced in sheet forms by extrusion through a wide dye, forming in molds or rolling between rollers.

Knitting

Utilizes machinery wherein blunt rods or needles are used to form a single continuous yarn into a series of interlocking loops.

Braiding

The interweaving or intertwining of three or more strands of yarn or other material.

Weaving

Intertwining and sometimes knotting of yarns that run in two or more directions.

Plain Weave

Made by the simple interweaving of warp and weft threads; each yarn passes over and under the weft yarns.

Twill Weave

Regular twill: the long threads of floats pass over and under the same number of yarns; irregular: the floats pass over and under a different number of threads.

Satin Weave

Emphasizes the continuous weft yarn with as few interruptions of warp as possible; the warp yarns skip four to seven weft yarns.

Pile Weaves

Fabrics that are woven in such a way as to create loops or piles that stand out from the surface of the fabric.

Temporary Finish

A finish that lasts until the fabric is washed or dry-cleaned.

Durable Finish

Lasts longer than temporary but it may become unsatisfactorily with the passing of time.

Permanent Finish

Lasts until the garment is of service.

Dyes

Liquid form colorant-soluble substances which penetrate into the fabric and are fixed by a chemical action, heat or other treatment.

Pigment

Powder form colorant- insoluble color particles which are held on the surface of a fabric by a binding agent

Block Printing

Oldest method of printing design on fabrics.