WOOL FABRICS & WOOL WEAVES FABRIC
GLOSSARY
Beaver cloth is a heavy woollen overcoating, napped and pressed down to resemble beaver fur.
Botany/Merino wool is a fine wool fabric made from worsted wool yarn.
Broadcloth is an all woolen or worsted fabric with a velvety feel.
Challis a light weight soft wool fabric in plain weave, has a printed or woven design or flowers.
Cheviot usually Scotch wool is a soft, fine wool that is heavier than serge.
Chinchilla cloth is a heavy, spongy woolen overcoat fabric with a long nap that has been rubbed into a curly, nubby finish.
Donegal was originally a thick and warm homespun or tweed woven by Irish peasants in Donegal, Ireland. Donegal now describes the wool tweed that has colorful thick slubs woven into the fabric.
Felt fabric is a compact sheet of entangled, not woven wool or fur fibers. The felt is produced by processing a mat of fibers with moisture, heat, and pressure.
Flannel wool is a soft, lightweight fabric with a nap on one or both sides.
Gabardine is a tightly woven wool twill with a high sheen. This fabric is excellent for tailoring and wears well.
Glen checks are usually seen in menswear and originated in Scotland. It is characterized by a variety of small, even check designs.
Harris tweed is a hand woven fabric from Scotland with a soft feel.
Heather Mixture describes tweeds and homespun’s that have colors of heather and sand of the Scottish heather fields.
Herringbone wool is woven in a twill that is reversed at regular spacing, creating a sawtooth line.
Homespun is a loose, strong, durable woolen woven either by hand or machine with a coarse feel.
Houndstooth check has a four pointed star check in a broken twill weave.
Jersey is a knit fabric that is usually knit in fine wool but can also be found in silk, and man-made fibers.
Laine is French for “wool”.
Lambsdown is a heavy knit fabric that has a spongy fleeced nap on one side.
Linsey-woolsey is a coarse fabric first made in Lindsey, England, of wool combined with flax or cotton.
Loden fabric is a thick, soft, waterproof, windproof, wool used in outerwear that has a characteristic green color.
Mackinaw fabric is a heavy double fabric in striking colored patterns.
Melton a heavy, thick, short napped woven fabric that has been fulled.
Merino wool is soft and luxurious, resembling cashmere. This term is also used to describe the finest wools.
Oatmeal Cloth is a durable, soft wool with a pebbled face.
Panama Cloth a plain woven worsted wool, sometimes resembling the texture of Panama hat.
Petersham a very thick, waterproof woolen coating, usually dark blue, is used for men’s trousers or heavy coats.
Pilot Cloth is a coarse, heavy, stout twilled woolen that is heavily napped and navy blue. Used by seamen.
Poodle Cloth is made with a boucle yarn and resembles the Poodle dog.
Rabbit Hair is used in woven wool’s as a substitute for vicuna to give a soft effect in the fabric.
Sharkskin is woven with warp and filling yarns of alternating white with black, brown or blue.
Tartan is a twilled plaid design, originally Scottish.
Tweed is a rough textured wool, originally homespun and slightly felted. This fabric is sturdy with a mottled color.
Virgin Wool Fabric It is wool that has never been processed into wool fabric.