Woven Fabrics - Fairchild Books

Special Fabric Weaves
Various special fabric weaves besides the basic weaves
are also used. Three of the most common special
weaves are leno weave, pile weave, and weaves that
make a double cloth.
Leno Weave
In the simplest leno weave, the warp yarns twist back
and forth in pairs around each pick, firmly holding the
filling yarn in the figure-eight loops formed. Because the
filling yarns are firmly held in place, they cannot shift
in the warp direction (Figure 5.17). However, the warp
yarns can shift in the filling direction. Adhesive may
be used in finishing leno fabrics to cement the yarn in
place to further reduce slippage.
In counting yarns per inch in leno weave, the two
warp yarns that twist to form a loop for the filling count
as two separate yarns. They do not form a ply yarn.
These yarns twisting identify this as a leno fabric.
Leno weave is especially useful for reducing yarn
slippage in fabrics that require yarns spaced far apart. It
has greater firmness and strength than plain weave of
the same low cloth count. The construction is used in
mosquito netting, sheer curtains (e.g., marquisette), and
some summer apparel fabrics in open and see-through
constructions. It is used for industrial purposes and as
packaging for fruits and vegetables. It is also used to
make chenille yarns (see p. 80).
Pile Weaves
Woven-pile fabrics are material with a raised hairlike or
furlike surface. Two well-known fabrics with such a surface
are velvet and terry cloth. The surface is produced
with an extra set of yarns (warp or filling) known as pile
yarns. Thus, pile fabrics have the regular warp yarns and
filling yarns (called ground yarns) that are common to
Figure 5.17
Leno weave. Notice how each pair
of warp yarns twists to hold the
filling yarns.
WOVEN FABRICS
A 103 F
all wovens, plus an additional set of yarns to create the
pile surface.
There are two basic types of pile-weave fabrics:
the warp-pile fabrics, which have an extra set of warp
yarns, and the filling-pile fabrics, which have an extra
set of filling yarns. When the pile yarns are cut, the
resulting fabric is referred to as a cut-pile weave fabric.
These yarns are cut between interlacings to form many
cut ends, which point up on the surface of the cloth and
form the pile. If the pile yarns are not cut, an uncut-pile
weave fabric is produced. (See Figure 5.18.)
Velvet is an example of a cut warp-pile weave fabric,
and terry cloth is an example of an uncut warp-pile
weave fabric. (See Figure 5.19.) Filling-pile weave fabrics,
such as corduroy and velveteen, are always cut.
A napped fabric is different from a pile fabric. Nap
is a fibrous surface produced by brushing up fibers on
the cloth during a textile finishing process. (See p. 205.)
Extra yarns are not used to produce the surface effect.
When warp yarns are removed from corduroy or
velveteen fabrics, they are covered with short lengths of
fibers. The same occurs with filling yarns removed from
velvet. The pieces of pile yarns that were cut cling to the
yarns that were removed.
Cut-Pile Fabrics
Cut-pile fabrics are cut on the face after the fabric is
completely woven. Two methods are used for making
cut-warp pile fabrics. In one method, a double cloth is
woven (see p. 106) with pile yarns interlacing between
and connecting the two fabrics. The completed double
cloth is cut into two fabrics by cutting the interlacing
warp yarns. These cut yarns form the pile for each of the
resulting fabrics. In the second method, after a number
of filling yarns have been inserted, a special rod with a
blade at one end is interlaced instead of a filling yarn.
The harnesses operate so that only pile warp yarns pass
over the rod. After several more filling yarns have been