Fabrics are made from yarns (held together by weaving or knitting), or fibres which are stuck together.

Different woven fabrics are made by interlacing two sets of yarns. The weft travels up and down and the warp travels right to left.

Twill weave is the simplest weave

With Twill weave the weft yarn goes over four or more warp threads and under one.

Plain weave is the cheapest weave to produce and is used to make lots of fabrics especially cotton based ones.

Non woven fabrics are layers of fibres held together by bonding or felting.

Non woven fibres fray and there is a lot of waste when cutting

Bonded fabrics are made by combining pressure, moisture and heat to interlock a mat of fibres.

Felted fabrics are made by combining pressure, moisture and heat to interlock a mat of fibres.

Non woven fabrics are very strong and have good stretch

Twill weave is stronger and drapes better than plain weave.

Knitted fabrics are made by interlocking one or more yarns together using loops

Weft knitted fabrics have yarns that run up the fabric

Knitted fabrics are good insulators

Warp knitted fabrics can stretch and lose their shape easily.

Warp knitted fabrics are hard to unravel and are less likely to ladder

Weft knitted fabrics can be produced by hand or machine

This is an example of weft knitted fabric construction.

This is an example of weft knitted fabric construction

This is an example of plain weave fabric construction