It’s exciting to step into a textile store, brimming with possibilities for your next project. To make the most of your visit and ensure you select the perfect materials, familiarizing yourself with a foundational understanding of fabric terminology is incredibly helpful. As a fabric supplier in Cebu, join GFT in revisiting the basics about fabrics for your next visit to a textile store with confidence.
What to Know Before You Go Fabric Shopping
Here’s a concise guide to key fabric knowledge that will empower your textile store experience:
- Fabric Weight: This indicates how much a fabric weighs per unit area, typically measured in grams per square meter (g/m²) or grams per meter (g/m).
- Smaller values: Lighter, thinner fabrics.
- Larger values: Heavier, denser fabrics.
- Fabric Width: Refers to the full width of the fabric as it comes off the bolt.
- Western Clothing Standards: Single-width (approx. 71cm), double-width (approx. 142cm), yard-width (approx. 91-92cm), and wide-width (approx. 110cm).
- Asian Fabric Standards: Small-width (approx. 36cm), medium-width (approx. 45cm), and large-width (approx. 72cm).
- Effective Width: The actual usable width of the fabric, often listed in sample books. This can sometimes differ slightly from the full fabric width due to manufacturing nuances.
- Lengthwise and Crosswise Grain: Fabrics have an inherent direction.
- Lengthwise grain: Runs parallel to the fabric’s selvage (finished edge).
- Crosswise grain: Runs perpendicular to the selvage.
- Bias grain: The 45° line diagonal to both grains.
- Selvage: These are the finished edges of woven or knit fabrics, designed to prevent unraveling. They may sometimes feature brand names, dye colors, or unique patterns.
- Single Yarn and Double Yarn: Describes the construction of the threads themselves.
- Single yarn: A single strand of thread.
- Double yarn: Created by twisting two single yarns together (e.g., 60/2 indicates a double yarn of size 60).
- Prewash and Postwash: These terms relate to when the dyeing process occurs.
- Prewashing: Yarn is dyed before weaving or knitting, typically resulting in a more even and stable color.
- Postwashing: Fabric is dyed after it’s been produced, often a more cost-effective method for mass production, but may have a higher potential for color fading over time.
- Irregular Winding: This simply refers to variations in the length of fabric rolls. It often occurs due to shrinkage that happens during the dyeing or finishing processes.
Types of Fabrics and Their Uses
The type of fabric used significantly influences a product’s comfort, durability, and aesthetic. Let’s explore some common types of fabrics and their primary uses.
- Natural Fabrics
These fabrics are derived from natural sources, offering unique characteristics and timeless appeal.
- Cotton
- Characteristics: This soft fabric is breathable and highly absorbent, making it comfortable for wear in all seasons.
- Top Uses: From apparel and bedding to medical supplies and industrial applications, the uses of cotton are extensive.
- Linen
- Characteristics: Linen is known for its strength, absorbency, and breathability; it’s a lightweight fabric that wrinkles easily—a trademark feature that gives it a casual, lived-in look.
- Top Uses: From airy summer dresses and structured suits to home decor pieces like curtains and upholstery, you’ll find linen in many applications due to its appealing texture and durability.
- Wool
- Characteristics: Known for its excellent insulation and elasticity, wool is a highly durable fabric that can effectively resist wrinkles and maintain its shape for a long time.
- Top Uses: Wool is a popular choice for winter clothing such as sweaters, scarves, and blankets, as well as for high-quality suits due to its warmth and elegant appearance.
- Cashmere
- Characteristics: Cashmere is distinguished by its remarkable softness, superior insulation properties, and lightweight texture; it’s a breathable fabric that adjusts to body temperature, making it a wearable choice for varying climates.
- Top Uses: Cashmere holds a special place in the fashion industry, with high-end sweaters, cardigans, shawls, and scarves being its major applications; some even venture into luxury bedding and homeware products made from cashmere.
- Silk
- Characteristics: Not only is silk inherently lustrous and smooth, but it also boasts astounding lightweight strength and excellent insulation properties, making it a year-round preference.
- Top Uses: Silk is the top choice when it comes to creating high-end fashion garments like blouses and dresses, elegant home decor like drapery and upholstery, and deluxe accessories like scarves and ties.
- Leather
- Characteristics: Leather is robust, flexible, and naturally resistant to wind and water; it also boasts a unique ability to ‘age gracefully,’ becoming more appealing and individual with time.
- Top Uses: Its durability and chic appeal make it ideal for a variety of goods such as jackets, shoes, handbags, furniture, and even car interiors.
- Synthetic Fabrics
Engineered for specific performance characteristics, synthetic fabrics offer durability, stretch, and resistance to various elements.
- Polyester
- Characteristics: Polyester is known for its durability, high strength, excellent resilience, quick-drying capabilities, and resistance to wrinkles, shrinking, and abrasion.
- Top Uses: Preferred for clothing that needs to withstand wear and tear, being widely used for shirts, jackets, hats, bedding, and upholstery.
- Nylon
- Characteristics: Nylon is recognized for its high resilience, excellent elasticity, and ability to withstand wrinkles and shrinkage.
- Top Uses: It is commonly used in products such as hosiery, swimwear, rainwear, and sportswear due to its quick-drying properties and resistance to mildew.
- Acrylic
- Characteristics: It’s known for its lightweight yet warm nature, similar to wool, its resilience, and its colorfast qualities; this fabric also offers excellent resistance against sunlight degradation, and it has great wicking properties.
- Top Uses: You’ll mostly find acrylic woven into sweaters, sportswear, rugs, and upholstery due to its warmth-retaining and hard-wearing capabilities.
- Polypropylene
- Characteristics: Polypropylene is lightweight, colorfast, and highly resistant to staining, making it a favorite for both indoor and outdoor garments.
- Top Uses: Because of its moisture-wicking properties and heat retention, polypropylene is often used in lining and insulation materials for athletic wear, winter clothing, and outdoor gear.
- Vinyl
- Characteristics: Vinyl is known for its durability and resilience, often offering a shiny, sleek aesthetic that’s water-resistant, which makes it great for various outdoor and rugged uses.
- Top Uses: You’ll often find vinyl being used for jackets, raincoats, upholstery, slick fashion items, and even bags due to the material’s waterproof qualities and eye-catching luster.
- Spandex
- Characteristics: Spandex is synonymous with stretch; it’s capable of expanding up to 600% of its original size and then returning to its original shape without getting distorted, making it a marvel in the textile world.
- Top Uses: Spandex is predominantly used in sportswear, undergarments, and performance wear due to its elasticity and strength; it’s commonly found in workout clothing, swimsuits, cycling jerseys, and dancewear.
- Semi-Synthetic and Special Fabrics
These fabrics often combine natural and synthetic elements or have unique manufacturing processes that give them distinct properties.
- Viscose
- Characteristics: It exhibits a soft touch, high breathability, and excellent draping properties, allowing clothing made from viscose to flow and hug the body in a comfortable manner.
- Top Uses: It’s extensively used in dresses, linings, shirts, shorts, and even home decor, balancing chic aesthetics and practical purposes.
- Microfiber
- Characteristics: Microfiber is known for its lasting durability and its strength despite its thinness; it is highly absorbent and soft to the touch.
- Top Uses: It is used in various items such as cleaning products like mops and dusters, sportswear, upholstery, and top-tier quality clothing.
- Modal
- Characteristics: Modal is known for being soft, stretchy, lightweight, and absorbing moisture well, all while retaining its shape and rich color even after multiple washes.
- Top Uses: Due to its softness and slight sheen, it’s often used in activewear, underwear, bed linens, towels, and bathrobes.
- Artificial Silk
- Characteristics: Sporting a luxurious sheen, artificial silk is lightweight yet robust, and it drapes beautifully in garments, just like its natural counterpart.
- Top Uses: Its sleek appearance makes it ideal for creating elegant evening wear, flowing blouses, and scarves; it’s also used extensively in home décor for cushion covers and drapes.
- Faux Fur
- Characteristics: Faux fur is created to mimic the look and feel of real fur; it’s soft, warm, and comes with the bonus of being resistant to insects—a real deal in durability and style.
- Top Uses: From coats, jackets, and vests to decorative throws and cushions, faux fur adds a touch of soft glamor to apparel and home furnishings alike.
- Repreve
- Characteristics: Repreve is praised for its durable, high-performance nature, excellent color fastness and resistance to shrinkage; additionally, it’s breathable, wicking, and UV-protective, emulating the properties of high-end synthetic fabrics.
- Top Uses: Due to its versatility, Repreve fabric is commonly used to make swimwear, activewear, and outerwear, where it effectively stands up to the rigors of extensive wear and varying weather conditions; it’s also utilized in home textiles, such as curtains and upholstery, offering durable, eco-friendly alternatives.
- Blended Fabrics
Blended fabrics combine different fibers to leverage the best characteristics of each, resulting in enhanced performance and aesthetics.
- Polyester-Cotton (Polycotton)
- Characteristics: Polycotton is known for its lightweight texture, offering durability, breathability, and resistance to wrinkles.
- Top Uses: This fabric type is widely used in the clothing industry, especially for items like t-shirts, beddings, and even outdoor clothing.
- Cotton-Polyester (CVC)
- Characteristics: Known for its reduced pilling, improved wrinkle resistance, and extended durability, CVC fabric brings the strength of polyester and the comfort of cotton together.
- Top Uses: Its versatility and durability make it an excellent choice for everyday clothing items like t-shirts, bed linens, and athletic wear, not to mention its popularity in the hospitality industry.
- Viscose Blends
- Characteristics: Known for their soft touch and breathtaking draping ability, viscose blends combine the natural breathability of cellulose-based materials with the strength of their synthetic counterparts.
- Top Uses: Their stunning drape makes them a go-to choice for flowy dresses, skirts, and tops, while their lightweight nature is perfect for scarves and shawls.
- Cotton, Polyester, and Rayon Triblends
- Characteristics: Cotton, polyester, and rayon triblends are revered for their incredible softness, exceptionally lustrous finish, and remarkable durability, blending cotton’s breathability, polyester’s resilience, and rayon’s silky smoothness into a single fabric.
- Top Uses: This fabric blend shines in a variety of applications, especially in athletic apparel and t-shirts that need both comfort and longevity.
- Tweed
- Characteristics: Tweed is usually distinguishable by its distinct thick texture, resilience, moisture resistance, and warmth.
- Top Uses: It is extensively used in making winter clothing, such as suits, blazers, trousers, and caps; it is also extensively used for upholstery work and heavy curtains.
- Woven Fabric Types
The way fibers are woven together significantly impacts a fabric’s texture, strength, and drape.
- Plain Weave Fabric
- Characteristics: Known for the balanced weave pattern, these woven fabrics are a sturdy and economical choice, offering durability rarely seen in other textiles.
- Top Uses: From your crisp cotton shirt to delicate organza curtains, breezy summer dresses to sturdy canvas bags, plain weave fabric’s applications are as diverse as they are abundant.
- Twill Weave Fabric
- Characteristics: Twill fabric is recognized for its diagonal patterns, dense weaving, and resistance to wrinkles and drapes.
- Top Uses: Given its durability and flexibility, twill weave fabric is commonly used in making durable clothing items like jeans, jackets, and workwear, as well as for upholstery.
- Satin Weave Fabric
- Characteristics: Its glossy front coupled with a dull back is the result of the unique weaving technique used in its construction.
- Top Uses: It is used in making evening wear, lingerie, baseball jackets, athletic shorts, and even home décor items like pillow covers and upholstery.
- Specialty Fabrics
These fabrics possess unique characteristics or intricate designs that make them suitable for specific, often more elaborate, applications.
- Organza
- Characteristics: Organza stands out with its stiff texture, sheer appearance, and mesmerizing luster—think of it as the quintessence of glitz and glamor in fabric form.
- Top Uses: Organza is the premium choice for evening wear, bridal wear, ballet costumes, and even classy home décor like curtains and draperies due to its ornate appeal.
- Tulle
- Characteristics: Tulle is a lightweight fabric, typically made of nylon or silk, known for its net-like appearance and distinctive stiffness.
- Top Uses: Tulle is the go-to fabric for creating fluffy tutus, dramatic veils, and wedding decorations, as well as overlaying on evening gowns for a voluminous effect.
- Jacquard
- Characteristics: Jacquard fabric is woven on a special loom and presents a highly detailed yet robust material that’s significantly durable and holds its shape very well.
- Top Uses: Jacquard’s elaborate detailing and texture make it a hit for evening gowns, upholstery, ties, tablecloths, and even heavy curtains.
- Lace
- Characteristics: Lace is delicate, light, and has an intricate pattern that can add charm and sophistication to any design.
- Top Uses: Often used in wedding gowns, prom dresses, lingerie, tablecloths, and home decor items, lace offers an unmistakable touch of grace and class.
- Georgette
- Characteristics: Georgette is a lightweight, semi-sheer fabric with a crinkled surface, imparting a unique bouncy texture; it’s fluid, holds dye well, and allows for a vivid display of colors.
- Top Uses: It shines the best in dresses, blouses, scarves, and skirts, where its natural drape creates fluid and ethereal designs; its soft, matte surface also fares well in layered styles, making it a go-to option for evening wear and wedding attire.
- Velvet
- Characteristics: Velvet is characterized by a dense pile and a rich, soft texture that shines under light, creating an illusion of color depth and variation.
- Top Uses: The opulence of velvet becomes more pronounced in evening wear, costumes, upholstery, and statement home décor pieces.
- Suede
- Characteristics: Defined by its signature napped surface, suede is soft, flexible, and durable, yet it manages to retain its delicate and luxurious aesthetic.
- Top Uses: Loved for its versatility, suede lends itself beautifully to a broad range of items, including jackets, boots, gloves, bags, and even furnishings.
- Chiffon
- Characteristics: Chiffon is loved for its slight shimmer, airy nature, and mesh-like weave that gives it a transparent appearance.
- Top Uses: It’s heavily utilized in evening wear, including prom gowns, bridesmaid dresses, and scarves, due to its eye-catching sheen when exposed to light.
- Canvas
- Characteristics: Canvas is heavy-duty, tightly woven, and highly durable, with a slightly rough texture that is nonetheless appealing for certain types of clothing and accessories.
- Top Uses: Known for making items that require strength and durability, canvas is ideal for bags, shoes, and workwear clothing items; it’s also a favorite for use in home décor items like throw pillow covers and wall art.
GFT Cebu’s Top-Tier Services
When it comes to sourcing the finest fabrics and receiving exceptional service, GFT Cebu truly stands out as a top-tier textile store in Cebu. Our commitment to quality, combined with a comprehensive range of services, truly sets us apart as the premier shop. We guarantee:
- Extensive Services and Advanced Tools:
- GFT Cebu offers a complete suite of services, from expert fabric consultation to precise cutting, all supported by state-of-the-art tools and machinery.
- We are fully equipped and prepared to assist with large-scale or business orders, ensuring seamless execution and timely delivery for all your commercial needs.
- Enhanced Shopping Experience at GFT Cebu:
- To ensure you make the perfect choice, fabric samples are readily available, allowing you to experience the texture and true color of our materials firsthand before committing.
- Tailored Custom and Wholesale Solutions:
- GFT Cebu specializes in both custom orders, allowing for personalized specifications to bring your unique visions to life, and wholesale services designed to meet the demands of businesses of all sizes.
We invite you to experience the GFT top-tier services for yourself. Visit our textile store in Cebu today and discover why we are the trusted partner for countless designers, businesses, and individuals seeking the best in textiles.