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Fabric Friday: Warp and weft piqué

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Workshops - specialty vintage topics' started by denisebrain, Apr 8, 2022.

  1. denisebrain

    denisebrain VFG Vice President Staff Member VFG Past President

    Once you have identified weft piqué it will stick with you, it is so distinctive. It was one of my “mystery” fabrics when I started working with vintage clothing, and most often I have found summery cotton Hawaiian dresses made of this. Compare weft piqué to warp piqué and I’m pretty sure you will not forget either one.


    Warp and Weft Piqué

    Piqué is French for “quilted,” and all piqué fabrics have a slightly padded look in their raised designs. Created on a dobby loom, warp piqué has vertical cords and a reverse that is distinctly different from the face. Weft piqué features a horizontally corded texture on its face, and a distinctly different reverse side. These are made of cotton or cotton blends.

    Uses: Dresses, blouses, sportswear, children’s clothing

    1950s cotton warp piqué I had as yardage
    _big_vintagefashion-new_122443-1.jpg

    Reverse of the above
    _big_vintagefashion-new_95986-1.jpg

    1960s cotton warp piqué swimsuit coverup made in Hawaii by Kahala
    whbrightflowerhiswimcoverjj5.JPG
    Here you can see the reverse side as well
    whbrightflowerhiswimcoverjj6.JPG


    and here's the weft version
    _big_vintagefashion-new_18641.jpg

    _big_vintagefashion-new_58713.jpg


    This is the dress that those close ups come from. It was made by R&K but definitely had an island vibe
    Screen Shot 2022-04-08 at 2.58.18 PM.png

    We can dig into other piqués and dobby weave in coming weeks. :)
     

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