Textiles, Clothing, and Apparel Design
Domain 4, Textiles, Clothing, and Apparel Design, tests fiber and fabric science, garment construction, pattern work and fit, apparel labeling law, and design principles applied to dress. Expect items that ask you to predict how a fiber or fabric will perform, diagnose a fitting problem, or interpret labeling and care rules.
Fibers and fabrics
- Natural cellulosics: cotton (absorbent, cool, wrinkles, weaker wet than dry), linen (strong, stiff, lint-free). Natural proteins: wool (warm, elastic, felts with heat, moisture, and agitation; harmed by chlorine bleach), silk (strong, lustrous, degraded by sunlight and perspiration).
- Manufactured cellulosics: rayon and acetate, absorbent but weak when wet. Synthetics: polyester (strong, quick-drying, holds oily stains), nylon (high abrasion resistance), acrylic (wool substitute, pills), spandex (high stretch, damaged by chlorine and heat), olefin (floats, used in activewear).
- Yarn: spun versus filament; more twist adds strength and reduces loft.
- Fabric: woven (plain, twill, satin), knit (weft jersey stretches crosswise), nonwoven (felt).
- Finishes: mercerizing adds strength and luster to cotton; sanforizing controls shrinkage; durable press and flame-retardant finishes.
- Laws: Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, Wool Products Labeling Act, Flammable Fabrics Act, and the FTC Care Labeling Rule.
Patterns and construction
- Grainline must be parallel to the selvedge; the bias, at 45 degrees, stretches most.
- Nap, pile fabrics (velvet, corduroy), and one-way prints require every piece laid in one direction, so yardage increases.
- Staystitching stabilizes curves; clipping lets inward curves spread; notching lets outward curves lie flat.
Worked example
A pattern drafted for a B cup fits at the shoulders but pulls across the bust, and the front waistline rides up. What alteration fits? Reasoning: the symptoms are too little width and too little length in the front bodice only, exactly what a full bust adjustment corrects by adding width and length to the front bodice and rotating the bust dart while leaving the back unchanged. Sizing up enlarges the shoulders and back; letting out the side seams adds width without the needed length.
Traps that cost marks
- Buying napped-fabric yardage for a fabric with no nap, which wastes money, or ignoring nap on velvet, which yields a two-tone garment.
- Assuming cotton is weaker when wet; rayon is the fiber that loses strength wet.