Slub (textiles)

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Open-weave cloth showing extremely slubby warp and weft threads MET 2002.386 20x image 7.jpg
Open-weave cloth showing extremely slubby warp and weft threads

A slub in textiles production refers to thickened areas of a fiber or yarn. Slubbed or slubby fabric is woven from slubby yarn (yarn with a very variable diameter). Both high and low slubbiness may be sought.

Slubs in spun fibers may be produced deliberately by varying spinning tension (see Novelty yarns#Slub). They are also produced when short, staple fibers are spun into a single yarn. Slubs may be valued or deliberately produced for aesthetic effect, but they may also be regarded as a defect caused by either uneven spinning or using low-grade, lumpy or short-staple fiber.

Types

Slubby cotton fabric includes:

Linen is often slubbed. Wool fabrics, such as tweeds, may also be slubbed. [1]

Unspun short-fiber silk noil; see sericulture Hand Dyed Silk Noil.jpg
Unspun short-fiber silk noil; see sericulture
Tsumugi cloth, showing slubs Coin purse made of Ushikubitsumugi.jpg
Tsumugi cloth, showing slubs

Silk is a filament fiber, and the only natural fiber type to come in filament length naturally (strands can be over 1.5 km long). However, some silk fibers are shorter in length, and must therefore be processed as shorter-staple fibers, not as filament fibers, to make cloth. These shorter fibers, known as silk noil, may also be used unspun (for instance, as wadding in a quilted garment), but are often plied into threads (which are then at least twice as thick as the filament) and used in the production of slubbed silks. Slubbed silks include:

Slubby mixed-fiber fabric include:

Synthetic fibers can readily be produced in filament form, as very long lengths of consistent diameter, but it is sometimes slubbed for effect. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile</span> Various fiber-based materials

Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarn</span> Long continuous length of interlocked fibres

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing. Embroidery threads are yarns specifically designed for needlework. Yarn can be made of a number of natural or synthetic materials, and comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses. Although yarn may be dyed different colours, most yarns are solid coloured with a uniform hue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linen</span> Textile made from spun flax fibre

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile arts</span> Form of arts and crafts using fibers

Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satin</span> Shiny, fragile fabric weave pattern, with long floats

A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave and twill weave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noil</span> Short strands rejected from fiber combing

Noil refers to the short fibers that are removed during the combing process in spinning. These fibers are often then used for other purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metallic fiber</span> Thread wholly or partly made from metal

Metallic fibers are manufactured fibers composed of metal, metallic alloys, plastic-coated metal, metal-coated plastic, or a core completely covered by metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile manufacturing</span> The industry which produces textiles

Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pongee</span> Type of slub-woven fabric

Pongee is a type of slub-woven fabric, created by weaving with yarns that have been spun by varying the tightness of the yarn's twist at various intervals. Pongee is typically made from silk, and results in a textured, "slubbed" appearance; pongee silks range from appearing similar to satin to appearing matte and unreflective. Though pongee is typically made out of silk, it can be woven from a variety of fabrics, such as cotton, linen and wool.

The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns yarn into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Units of textile measurement</span> Systems for measuring textiles

Textile fibers, threads, yarns and fabrics are measured in a multiplicity of units.

A staple fiber is a textile fiber of discrete length. The opposite is a filament fiber, which comes in continuous lengths. Staple length is a characteristic fiber length of a sample of staple fibers. It is an essential criterion in yarn spinning, and aids in cohesion and twisting. Compared to synthetic fibers, natural fibers tend to have different and shorter lengths. The quality of natural fibers like cotton is categorized on staple length such as short, medium, long-staple, and extra long. Gossypium barbadense, one of several cotton species, produces extra-long staple fibers. The staple fibers may be obtained from natural and synthetic sources. In the case of synthetics and blends, the filament yarns are cut to a predetermined length.

Antique satin, also called satin-back shantung, is any five- or eight-harness (shaft) satin weave that uses slubbed or unevenly spun yarns in the weft (filling). It is reversible in that one side is satin and the other is shantung. It is used for simulating 17th and 18th century silks, and clothing such as blouses, lingerie and evening wear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novelty yarns</span> Any yarn with special effects introduced in spinning or plying

Novelty yarns include a wide variety of yarns made with unusual features, structure or fiber composition such as slubs, inclusions, metallic or synthetic fibers, laddering and varying thickness introduced during production. Some linens, wools to be woven into tweed, and the uneven filaments of some types of silk are allowed to retain their normal irregularities, producing the characteristic uneven surface of the finished fabric. Man-made fibres, which can be modified during production, are especially adaptable for special effects such as crimping and texturizing.

Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest human activities. The oldest known textiles date back to about 5000 B.C. In order to make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fibre from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving to create cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. Cloth is finished by what are described as wet process to become fabric. The fabric may be dyed, printed or decorated by embroidering with coloured yarns.

Bourette is a shoddy silk fabric with bumps often blended with other yarns made of Bourette fibers. The name "Bourette" is from its constituting fiber. It has a rough surface incorporating multicolored threads and knots of spun silk. The fabric is made with silk bourette and wool or cotton yarn. Bourette is a lightweight single cloth with a rough, knotty, and uneven surface.

<i>Tanmono</i> Traditional bolt of narrow-loom Japanese cloth

A tanmono is a bolt of traditional Japanese narrow-loomed cloth. It is used to make traditional Japanese clothes, textile room dividers, sails, and other traditional cloth items.

<i>Tsumugi</i> (cloth) Japanese cloth woven from hand-joined slub silk threads

Tsumugi (紬) is a traditional slub-woven silk fabric from Japan. It is a tabby weave material woven from yarn produced using silk noil, short-staple silk fibre. The short silk fibres are degummed and, traditionally, the yarns are hand-joined to form a continuous length before weaving, a technique also used for cheaper bast fibres. Yarns are joined by twisting the ends to be joined in the same direction, then twisting both ends, bundled together, in the other direction, to make a two-ply yarn at the overlap. It might alternately be loosely handspun, with few twists per unit length. Because of this structure, tsumugi is rough-surfaced, soft and drapey, softening further with age.

A blend is a mixture of two or more fibers. In yarn spinning, different compositions, lengths, diameters, or colors may be combined to create a blend. Blended textiles are fabrics or yarns produced with a combination of two or more types of different fibers, or yarns to obtain desired traits and aesthetics. Blending is possible at various stages of textile manufacturing. The term, blend, refers to spun fibers or a fabric composed of such fibers. There are several synonymous terms: a combination yarn is made up of two strands of different fibers twisted together to form a ply; a mixture or mixed cloth refers to blended cloths in which different types of yarns are used in warp and weft sides.

<i>Meisen</i> (textile) Type of silk fabric

Meisen is a type of silk fabric traditionally produced in Japan; it is durable, hard-faced, and somewhat stiff, with a slight sheen, and slubbiness is deliberately emphasised. Meisen was first produced in the late 19th century, and became widely popular during the 1920s and 30s, when it was mass-produced and ready-to-wear kimono began to be sold in Japan. Meisen is commonly dyed using kasuri techniques, and features what were then overtly modern, non-traditional designs and colours. Meisen remained popular through to the 1950s.

References

  1. "Vintage Fashion Guild : Slub-textured Fabrics". vintagefashionguild.org.
  2. P, Jamie (14 December 2021). "What is Slubbed Fabric? - MyHomeDwelling". MyHomeDwelling.