Today I'm thinking about how many fabric names are applied to more than one distinctly different fabric.
Case in point is the fabric of the day: Fleece
What makes this fabric name confusing is that...
Fleece is the thick covering of hair fiber on an animal, especially a sheep, or this covering used to make a piece of clothing.
It is also the tanned skin of a sheep with the fleece left on; used for clothing—synonymous with sheepskin.
It is also a verb that means shearing the wool from the animal, and the verb that means rip off; charge an exorbitant amount.
And it's the fleece that takes up a disproportionate amount of space in fabric stores today. That fleece’s full name is polar fleece, and I will get to writing about it for the fabric resource, but haven’t been in a rush about it...
There's also sweatshirt fleece—again, not at all the fleece I wanted to talk about today.
The fleece I'm talking about is made of woven wool, and you are most apt to see it cut into a good-quality vintage coat.
Fleece is made of wool, mohair (as well as other specialty hairs) and blends. The nap covers the fabric’s construction which is usually right-hand twill or satin weave. With its soft nap all brushed in one direction, woven fleece has a longer, hairier nap than duvetyn.
Uses: Coats, hats
See also:
Duvetyn
Sweatshirt fleece
This is a thickly napped wool fleece
This is less thick wool fleece
Here is a 1940s Lilli Ann ad which mentions "heavenly rich soft fleece" and I believe the coat pictured is of this fabric.
This is an thickly napped mohair/wool-blend fleece:
This is a coat by Sophie Gimbel. If you click HERE you can zoom in to see the fabric better (I love that feature in Google Arts & Culture).
Woman wearing fleece jacket made of wool and Orlon acrylic (Credit: Hagley Collection. You can zoom in HERE)
Case in point is the fabric of the day: Fleece
What makes this fabric name confusing is that...
Fleece is the thick covering of hair fiber on an animal, especially a sheep, or this covering used to make a piece of clothing.
It is also the tanned skin of a sheep with the fleece left on; used for clothing—synonymous with sheepskin.
It is also a verb that means shearing the wool from the animal, and the verb that means rip off; charge an exorbitant amount.
And it's the fleece that takes up a disproportionate amount of space in fabric stores today. That fleece’s full name is polar fleece, and I will get to writing about it for the fabric resource, but haven’t been in a rush about it...
There's also sweatshirt fleece—again, not at all the fleece I wanted to talk about today.
The fleece I'm talking about is made of woven wool, and you are most apt to see it cut into a good-quality vintage coat.
Fleece is made of wool, mohair (as well as other specialty hairs) and blends. The nap covers the fabric’s construction which is usually right-hand twill or satin weave. With its soft nap all brushed in one direction, woven fleece has a longer, hairier nap than duvetyn.
Uses: Coats, hats
See also:
Duvetyn
Sweatshirt fleece
This is a thickly napped wool fleece
This is less thick wool fleece
Here is a 1940s Lilli Ann ad which mentions "heavenly rich soft fleece" and I believe the coat pictured is of this fabric.
This is an thickly napped mohair/wool-blend fleece:
This is a coat by Sophie Gimbel. If you click HERE you can zoom in to see the fabric better (I love that feature in Google Arts & Culture).
Woman wearing fleece jacket made of wool and Orlon acrylic (Credit: Hagley Collection. You can zoom in HERE)