This guide is meant to help buyers become informed consumers by defining many of the terms sellers might use in describing their fabrics.  We have tried to avoid technical terms and descriptions, and have used as many pictures as ebay would allow to illustrate some of the terms. Types of fabrics are covered in our Guides to Home Decor Fabrics, Part I: A through I and Part II: J through Z.   If you do not find a term you are looking for here, please check our other guides . Due to ebay's space limitations in the size of guides, we have tried not to duplicate content we cover elsewhere. We hope you will find this information useful.

A

Abrasion resistance
The ability of a textile or surface material to withstand abrasion and friction without color changes or changes to other physical properties.  The higher the abrasion resistance, the more durable the fabric is, which is important in choosing heavy-duty upholstery fabrics.

Absorbency
The ability of a textile to absorb liquid.

Aniline Dye
Fabric and leather dye made from coal tar.

Antron
Dupont's brand of nylon.

Appliqué
Decorations sewn onto fabric or added to an existing surface.

Argyle
A particular diamond-shaped plaid pattern, named for the tartan of a clan in the county of Argyll, western Scotland.

Awning Stripe 
Heavyweight canvas fabric with evenly spaced stripes of contrasting colors.

B

Backing
A material or coating used on the back of a fabric to reduce fraying, slipping, stretching out of shape, and raveling.  Backing is also used to add durability.

Balanced Stripes
Any striped pattern with background and stripe the same width. bengal and candy stripes are both balanced stripes.

Bast Fiber
Strong, soft, woody fibers, such as flax, jute, hemp, and ramie obtained from the inner stems of plants.

Bengal stripes
Fairly narrow, equal width stripes.

Blends
A mix of different fiber types combined to create a yarn or fabric.

Burn-out, Burnout
A dimensional pattern effect created on fabric (usually velvet) through the application of a chemical during the printing process that burns out part of the fibers creating a design.

C

Calendering
A finishing process which such special effects as high luster, glazing, embossing, and moiré are added to fabrics.

Candy stripes
Equal sized stripes that are broader than Bengal stripes.

Carding
A yarn manufacturing process in which short fibers are eliminated before fiber is spun into yarn. Carding also removes any foreign matter that may still be in the fibers.

 Chinoiserie
A style depicting fanciful Asian or Chinese motifs such as scenery, people, pagodas, and exotic birds and flowers.

Colorfastness
Describes a dyed fabric's ability to resist fading due to exposure to sunlight and washing.

Colorway
The colors a fabric (or wallcovering) is available in.

Combed, Combing
A step beyond carding (see above) that removes additional short fibers and arranges them in parallel fashion, producing high quality, uniform, very fine, strong yarns.

Crewel
An embroidery technique that creates a design motif from stitiches in wool yarn, that adds color and/or texture to a fabric. (See Paisley for a Photo of Crewel Work.)

Crocking
The rubbing-off of dye from a fabric. Crocking can be the result of incorrect dyes or dyeing procedures, or the lack of proper washing procedures and finishing treatments after the dyeing process.

D

Denier
A system of measuring the weight of a continuous filament fiber.  The lower the number, the finer the fiber; the higher the number, the heavier the fiber. Numerically, a denier is the equivalent to the weight in grams of 9,000 meters of continuous filament fiber.

Doeskin
Generally applied to a type of fabric finish in which a low nap is brushed in one direction to create a soft suede-like hand on the fabric surface

Durability
The ability of a fabric to resist wear.

E

Embossed
A raised design impressed into a surface.

  Embroidery
A decorative design sewn (by hand or machine) on fabric with colored threads.

Embellished
With additional decoration or ornamentation.

F

Face
The front or finished side of a fabric; the side designed to be seen.

Fiber
A natural or manufactured material that is spun into yarn and then woven into a fabric.

Fill yarns or Filling
The weft or horizontal threads of a woven fabric.

Flame Resistant
Describes a fabric that burns very slowly, or has the ability to self-extinguish upon the removal of an external flame.

Flame Retardant
Means a chemical has been applied to a fabric during or after production which significantly reduces a fabric's flammability.

Flocking
Fibers applied to a fabric with adhesive to create a raised pattern.

G

Glen Plaid
A woven design that pairs small checks with larger ones of similar colors. Named for Glen Urquhart, a valley in Inverness-shire, Scotland.

H

Hairline stripes
Thinner than pinstripes. The name comes from the width of a hair.

Hand
The way a fabric feels and drapes.

 Heather
A yarn or fabric of two or more colors blended together to create another. Gray heather, for example, is created from blending black and white fibers. Heathers tend to have a soft coloring and appearance.

J

Jacobean  
A 17th century style floral imitating embroidered crewelwork.

L

Leno Weave
A method of weaving that creates a very sheer, yet durable fabric. Also called Gauze Weave.
Frequently used for window treatments.

Loom
A machine used for weaving fabrics.

M

Matte
A usually smooth, even surface that is without any sheen.

Mercerized
Cotton fabric or thread treated with an alkali to strengthen it and make it more lustrous and receptive to dyes.

Mille stripes
Stripes formed by individual threads that alternate in color that you have to look closely at to see that fabric is not a solid.

Motif
The dominant theme or design.

N

Nap
The short fibers that form a soft surface on a fabric such as velvet or corduroy. A fabric can be napped on one or both sides.  Nap lies in one direction and is usually shiny in one direction and matte in the opposite direction.

Needlepoint
Stitching on canvas in a petit (small) point or gros (large) point manner.

Nub
A small amount of colored fiber added to yarn during carding to add color or texture to a fabric.

O

Ombre
A graduated or shaded tone or color.

P

   Paisley
A distinctive curvilinear printed pattern originating in India.

Panel fabric
A fabric that is ideally suited for furniture panels.

Pattern
A design that is either woven into a textile or applied after weaving using dyes or printing.

Patina
A lustrous, aged finish.

Pattern repeat
Intervals at which the pattern is (usually vertically) duplicated. One repeat is one full pattern.

Pencil stripes
Narrower than a Bengal stripe but wider than a pinstripe.

Pick
A single horizontal yarn (fill or weft) in a woven textile.

Piece-dyed
Fabrics that are dyed after they are woven, usually in a single color.

Pilling
Fiber filaments that break in yarn due to friction leaving small clumps of loose fibers on the surface

Pincord/pinwale
Fabric with a very narrow wale or rib. Also called Baby Cord.

Pinstripes
Originally referred to stripes the width of a pin, now used to refer to any fabric that has narrow lines in it.

Plain weave
A one up, one down warp and filling weave arrangement that creates a plain fabric.  It is the simplest weave construction.

Q

Quilting 
A fabric construction in which a layer of down or synthetic fill is placed between two layers of fabric, and then held in place by stitching or sealing in a pattern.

R

Railroad/Railroaded
A fabric that is made with the design running horizontally instead of vertically to avoid unwanted seaming in upholstery applications.

Ravel
Wear that causes individual yarns in a knitted or woven textile to wear out, separate or pull away.

Resiliency
The ability of a fabric to spring back to its original shape after being twisted, crushed, or wrinkled.

S

Selvage
Finished sides along the lengthwise edges of the fabric that prevent raveling.  The width of a fabric is measured selvage to selvage.

Slub
A portion of twisted yarn that is thickened.  This effect can occur naturally (i.e. silk slubs) or it can be created deliberately for added texture. Slub yarns are used to create random surface interest in textiles.

Solution-dyed
Fiber dyed by injecting colored pigments into the spinning solution prior to the extrusion of the fiber through the spinneret. Fibers and yarns colored in this manner are quite color-fast.

Stain Resistance
The term stain resistance refers to any finish that repels water, oil, and most stains.

Stain Release
Refers to a special finish that minimizes most stains, repels liquids, and releases most stains during normal washing.

T

Tattersall
A classic pattern of dark lines forming squares or checks on a light background.

Tissue Pick
Yarns running along the back of the fabric are brought through the front to create embroidered detail on the face of the fabric.

Trapunto
A quilted effect created by outlining a design with single stitches, and adding padding from the back to give a puffed appearance.

   Trompe l'oeil
French term meaning fool the eye; a two-dimensional or flat design that looks three-dimensional.

U

Unbalanced Stripes
Stripes of unequal width.

V

Variegated
Having streaks, marks or patches of different color or weave.

W

Wale
One of a series of cords, running vertically or lengthwise.

Warp
The lengthwise threads in a woven fabric that are interwoven with the fill (weft) yarns.

Waterproof
A term applied to fabrics whose pores have been closed, and therefore, will not allow water or air to pass through them.

Water Repellent
A term applied to fabrics that have been treated with a finish which causes them to shed water, but are still air-permeable.

Weft
In weaving, the filling yarns that run perpendicular to the warp yarns.

Windowpane
A large check pattern that gives the effect of a window divided into small panes. 

Worsted
A yarn created by spinning long fibers using the worsted system. Characterized by both smoothness and luster.

Y

Yarn
A continuous strand of textile fibers created by twisting individual fibers together. The longer yarns are used to create knitted or woven fabrics.

Yarn-dyed
A fabric woven or knitted with yarns that have been dyed prior to fabrication of the cloth (i.e., plaid) is called yarn-dyed. Considered a sign of quality, because yarn-dyeing makes the fabric resist fading.