Fabric Manufacturing (Weaving and Knitting)
Weaving fundamentals
A woven fabric is formed by interlacing warp and weft. Know the three basic weaves - plain, twill and satin - and their derivatives (rib, basket, herringbone, sateen). Understand the loom cycle: shedding, picking, beat-up, and let-off/take-up. Warp preparation includes winding, warping, sizing and drawing-in; sizing adds abrasion resistance to protect warp yarns.
Knitting fundamentals
Weft knitting (single jersey, rib, interlock) uses one yarn per course; warp knitting (tricot, raschel) uses many yarns per course. Learn the stitch types - knit, tuck, float - and the properties each gives: jersey curls, rib stretches widthwise, interlock is stable on both faces.
Fabric geometry and traps
Cover factor, ends per inch, picks per inch, crimp and areal density (GSM) are standard calculations. Traps include confusing warp with weft in cover factor, forgetting crimp reduces linear density, and mixing weft with warp knitting. Remember that in plain weave the maximum ends and picks per inch are limited by yarn diameter.
Worked example
If a fabric has 100 ends per inch of 40 Ne warp and 80 picks per inch of 40 Ne weft, the warp cover factor is ends/inch ÷ √Ne = 100/√40 ≈ 15.8, and weft ≈ 12.6. Adding these and subtracting their product/28 gives the cloth cover factor.