PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN AND APPLICATION

Lesson 9: Effects of Yarn, Weave, Colour and Finishes on Textiles

Variations of plain weave

Ribbed weave

• By varying yarn count of one of the series, interesting ribbed effects can be produced, may be in warp-way or weft-way.
• A ribbed fabric will not be durable if the ribs are too pronounced, because the coarse yarns that produce the rib tend to pull away from adjacent fine yarns (Fig. 10.16).
  
  

  
  

Basket (Matt) weave

• The ‘matt’ or ‘basket’ or ’hopsack’ is another variation of plain weave.
• Another class of diversity produced by interlacing two or more warp yarns with two or more weft.
• Basket weaves create checkered or dice effect as shown in Fig.10.17.
  
  

  
  

Role of yarns and plain weave in creating designs

• Interlacing simple yarns (single, ply, cable or double) with fancy or complex yarns (slub, snarl, boucle etc.) in plain weave produce variety of fabrics that serve as draperies and furnishings (Fig. 10.18).
  
  

  
  

  
  
• Seersucker fabric produced by drawing–in the warp yarns of differential tensions slack and taut, from two separate warp beams and interlaced with a constantly beaten pick. Seersucker is a true structural design produced when a single colour or multi colour length-wise puckering created (Fig. 10.19).
  
  

  
  

  
  
• Sheer, soft, crisp finish plain weave fabrics of close weave are generally made with high twist yarns (crepe fabric).
• Coloured yarns in plain weave makes structural woven designs such as stripes and checks. Two or more colour vertical stripes are the effects of sequential and orderly arrangement, interwoven with single colour weft (Fig. 10.20)
  
  
  
• The horizontal / width-wise stripes are produced by interlacing single colour warp but changing pick colour on drop box mechanism.
• Similarly varieties of checkered patterns (Fig. 10.21) are simply produced by interweaving two or more colour warp yarns with two or more colour weft yarns. Stripes and checks are often considered as all over patterns that decorate utilitarian items like mattress, bed linen etc. Smaller checks are suitable for shirting, school uniforms; medium checks are appropriate for shirt, tops, dresses, bed linen, uniforms, table linen and similar clothing; plaids are the checks relatively larger and most apt for bed sheets, bed covers, blankets etc.