PRELIM-COURSE PACK

for
BTVTED – GFD 213

FABRICS and GARMENTS DESIGNING

TECHNIQUES

PREPARED BY: VENUS Z. LOREMIA,Ph.D.

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 DID YOU KNOW
● Recycled plastic bottles now make up to 50 to
89% of the content of fake fur, fleece, and other
fluffy fabrics.

● A fleece jacket can be made entirely from

melted down bottles (about 25 per jacket).
● Recycled plastic can also be made to
resemble denim, pointelle, broadcloth,
jersey blends, and canvas.
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● One company recycles 2.4 billion bottles a
year into polyester fiber, saving enough
raw petroleum to power the city of Atlanta
for a year while producing strong fibers
that resist fading, wrinkling, and moths.

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● Basic component of fabric is fibers

● Fibers

● Tiny strands that, when twisted together

make up yarns

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● Natural fibers
● Fibers that come from plants or animals
● Absorb moisture
● Allow air to reach your skin
● Comfortable all year round
● Warm in winter, cool in summer
● Require more care than other fabrics

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● Cotton
● Most common plant fiber
● Comes from seedpod of
cotton plant

● Linen

● Another common plant

fiber
● Comes from stalk of flax
plant

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● Wool

●Comes from fleece of sheep

Camels, alpacas, goats, and rabbits also
provide hair used for special types of wool

Silk
● Made by the silkworm
● Fibers come from cocoon silkworm spins

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 Ramie
● Ramie

● Comes from stems of china grass

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 Fiber Characteristics
● Natural Fibers
● Cotton – soft, comfortable, absorbent,
wrinkle-resistant
● Linen – is durable, comfortable and
absorbent, wrinkles and shrinks
● Wool – warm, resist wrinkles,
water-repellent, shrinks with heat and
moisture (dry clean)
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● Silk – lightweight, flexible, strong, natural
luster, dry clean, damaged by chlorine
bleach

● Ramie –strong and absorbs moisture,

natural luster, washable, combined with
other fibers
● See page 590, Figure 61.1

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 Characteristics of Manufactured
Fibers
● Acetate – silk like look, soft, drapes easily,
wrinkles and fades, dry clean
● Acrylic – soft, lightweight, yet warm, resists
wrinkles and blends well with other fibers, dry
clean or wash
● Polyester – resists wrinkles, retains pleats,
blends well with others, wash and dries quickly
but holds oily stains
● Spandex – high degree of stretch and recovery,
washable but weakened by chlorine bleach
● See page 591, figure 61.1

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 Manufactured Fiber
● Fibers formed completely or in part by
chemicals

● Created to replace or copy natural fibers

● Nylon = silk acrylic = wool

(sweaters)

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 Yarns
● Strands that are formed when fibers are
twisted together

● Long, straight fibers = smooth, silky yarns

● Short, curly fibers = softer, fluffier yarns

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● Blended is a yarn made from two or more
different fibers

● Can be made of natural like cotton & linen

● Manufactured like rayon and acetate

● *Percentage of each fiber in a blend

determines which characteristics will
dominate (60% polyester, 40% cotton)

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● For both natural and manufactured fibers,
one important test of quality is how it feel
to the touch.
● This is called its hand.

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● High-quality fabrics are made from tightly
spun or woven fabrics.
● They tend to feel soft and smooth and
hang well, flowing smoothly over the
body.
● A tightly spun cotton can feel like
expensive cashmere.

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● Manufactured fibers also can produce
quality garments that breathe like cotton,
hang like fine wool, and retain color better
than silk.

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 Fabric Construction
● Yarns are made into fabric, which is
material or cloth

● 3 basic methods
● Weaving
● Knitting
● bonding

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 Woven
● Weaving is interlacing yarns to form
woven fabric
● Yarns are interlaced at right angles
● Can be done by hand with a loom

● Warp = lengthwise yards lined up in

parallel rows
● Filling = crosswise yarn which is passed
over and under
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● Industrial looms make a variation of basic
weaves

● Each weave produces a different fabric

● Pile fabric like corduroy and velvet (made
of 3 sets of yarns)
● Twill = filling yarn passes over 2 to 4 warp
yarns, producing a diagonal line in fabric

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 Weaves
● Twill weave – filling yarn passes over 2 –
4 warp yarns, producing a diagonal line

● Non woven fabric – fibers are matted or

bonded with heat, moisture, agitation,
pressure, chemicals or adhesives

● See page 593, Figure 61.2

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● Knit – loops of yarn are interlocked, one
row after another on special knitting
machines
● Plain weave – filling yarn passes over
and under a warp yarn
● Satin weave – each filling yarn passes
under 4 or more warp yarns then over 1
warp yarn
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 Knit Fabrics
● Done with a single strand of yarn
● Hand knitting
● Knit = loops of yarn are interlocked one
row after another on special knitting
machines
● Stretch with movement, return to their
original shape
● Don’t wrinkle or fray, but may run if
snagged
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 Non-woven Fabrics
● Bonded
● Their edges do not fray, ravel when cut
● No need for special finishing

● Felt, fusible webbing (melts when heat is

applied)

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● Bonded fabrics are simply two fabrics
glued together.
● Laminated fabrics have 3 layers, the
fabric, a sheet of foam, and a backing.
● During lamination, heat melts the foam,
causing the fabric and its backing to stick
together

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 Color & Finishes
● Dyeing is the process of using a substance
to change the natural color of a fiber, yarn
or fabric

● Can be done at any stage of fabric making

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● Some dyed yarns and fabrics are colorfast;
others bleed so easily the color rubs off on
hands or other clothing.

● Many conditions affect color permanence,

including sunlight, acids in perspiration,
airborne chemicals, and heat.

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● Finishes is a substance added to a fabric
to change the appearance, feel, or
performance of the fabric

● May make fabric feel more appealing

● May affect performance of fabric
● Wool = made shrink resistant
● Raincoats = water-repellent finishes
● May be permanent or temporary

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● Gore-Tex is a very thin fabric that is
layered between sturdier fabrics to make a
garment water repellent and wind
resistant, yet allowing it to breathe.
● Bob Gore invented this fabric after
stretching Teflon nonstick coating into a
thin membrane to insulate wire.
● He discovered that the pores in the
membrane were to small for the water
vapor to enter but large enough for it to
escape. 30
 Activity
● Develop a new super-fabric;
● It is made by blending any combination of
existing fibers, retaining only the best
characteristics of each one, into the most
versatile clothing material known

● List 5 qualities you find most valuable

● List fiber combinations that will result in
such a product
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