Fabrics
A key aspect of the shirt would be the fabrics from which it is made. We wrote this modest article to serve as a short manual to discern and understand what you’re paying for at any tailor outfit. More often than not while selecting our fabrics, we’ve been thrown obscure Italian names, high threadcount numbers or the very commonly misused terms “100% Egyptian Cotton” or “100% Sea Island Cotton”. While not delving into the technical, we hope this article gives you insight into your shirtings and steer you correctly in your purchase. Below is also a simplified process to give you some background of how your shirt comes about.
A key aspect of the shirt would be the fabrics from which it is made. We wrote this modest article to serve as a short manual to discern and understand what you’re paying for at any tailor outfit. More often than not while selecting our fabrics, we’ve been thrown obscure Italian names, high threadcount numbers or the very commonly misused terms “100% Egyptian Cotton” or “100% Sea Island Cotton”. While not delving into the technical, we hope this article gives you insight into your shirtings and steer you correctly in your purchase. Below is also a simplified process to give you some background of how your shirt comes about.
Thread Count VS Yarn Count
As the subject above, both counts are definitely one of the main discussed upon factor in understanding fabrics. To those unfamiliar, it seems that the higher the number the better. What actually is threadcount and yarn count how does it affect our fabrics? To address a common misconception, both alone are in fact not an accurate gauge of how good a fabric is. Thread count simply tells how many horizontal and vertical threads that runs through a square inch of a fabric. The horizontal threads that run through the length of the fabrics are called the warp while the vertical threads that run through the width are called the weft. Yarn count refers to the fineness of the yarn. They can run from a yarn count of 30 for a regular t-shirt and up to even the 300s from the best cotton fibres.
It is true that, extremely high yarn count fabrics can only be spun from the very fine extra long staple cottons, but technology has made it possible for certain high yarn counts to be spun from lesser cottons. The higher the yarn count, the more luxurious and softer a fabric is to touch but two similar fabrics in the same high yarn count weaved from two different locations can feel extremely different. High yarn count fabrics may seem fragile, but the longevity and strength of the fabric very much actually depends on the fibres that make up the yarns. As mentioned earlier, yarn count at times are but just a number but there are more to the softness and durability of the fabric which we will cover in the sections below.
As the subject above, both counts are definitely one of the main discussed upon factor in understanding fabrics. To those unfamiliar, it seems that the higher the number the better. What actually is threadcount and yarn count how does it affect our fabrics? To address a common misconception, both alone are in fact not an accurate gauge of how good a fabric is. Thread count simply tells how many horizontal and vertical threads that runs through a square inch of a fabric. The horizontal threads that run through the length of the fabrics are called the warp while the vertical threads that run through the width are called the weft. Yarn count refers to the fineness of the yarn. They can run from a yarn count of 30 for a regular t-shirt and up to even the 300s from the best cotton fibres.
It is true that, extremely high yarn count fabrics can only be spun from the very fine extra long staple cottons, but technology has made it possible for certain high yarn counts to be spun from lesser cottons. The higher the yarn count, the more luxurious and softer a fabric is to touch but two similar fabrics in the same high yarn count weaved from two different locations can feel extremely different. High yarn count fabrics may seem fragile, but the longevity and strength of the fabric very much actually depends on the fibres that make up the yarns. As mentioned earlier, yarn count at times are but just a number but there are more to the softness and durability of the fabric which we will cover in the sections below.
Fibre Characteristics
Fabrics are weaved from yarns, and yarns are spun from the very fibres that are grown and harvested from different regions around the world. These fibres spun into yarns are actually the very backbone of fabrics. When tailors actually mention Sea-Island Cotton or Egyptian Cotton, they are actually referring to the fibres grown and harvested from the specific region not where the fabrics are woven. The weaving of the fabric and the raw materials harvested are commonly not from the same place.
The longevity and comfort of fabrics are heavily determined by the raw yarns used to weave them. Most of the rare and prized cottons in the world descended from the highly revered Sea Island Cotton that is still being grown in the West Indies.
Fibres are generally split into short staple, long staple or the extra long staple. There are two major reasons why the extra long staple cotton should be the fibres of choice for your shirts. When spun into yarns, short staple cottons will leave many short ends exposed. The short ends will lead to more abrasion and piling causing your shirts to eventually fray after multiple washes. Below is a comparison between the different fibres.
Fabrics are weaved from yarns, and yarns are spun from the very fibres that are grown and harvested from different regions around the world. These fibres spun into yarns are actually the very backbone of fabrics. When tailors actually mention Sea-Island Cotton or Egyptian Cotton, they are actually referring to the fibres grown and harvested from the specific region not where the fabrics are woven. The weaving of the fabric and the raw materials harvested are commonly not from the same place.
The longevity and comfort of fabrics are heavily determined by the raw yarns used to weave them. Most of the rare and prized cottons in the world descended from the highly revered Sea Island Cotton that is still being grown in the West Indies.
Fibres are generally split into short staple, long staple or the extra long staple. There are two major reasons why the extra long staple cotton should be the fibres of choice for your shirts. When spun into yarns, short staple cottons will leave many short ends exposed. The short ends will lead to more abrasion and piling causing your shirts to eventually fray after multiple washes. Below is a comparison between the different fibres.
Short Staple
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Long Staple
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As you can tell, the long staple fibre upon weaving will have less ends exposed as opposed to the short staple with many loose ends.
More short fibres are also required to make a yarn with the same strength as one from the long staple fibre. With more short fibres required, the yarn will turn out to be thicker. This affects the fineness of the yarn, restricting the amount of yarns to be woven into a square inch, thus reducing threadcount and hence the luxury of the fabric.
More short fibres are also required to make a yarn with the same strength as one from the long staple fibre. With more short fibres required, the yarn will turn out to be thicker. This affects the fineness of the yarn, restricting the amount of yarns to be woven into a square inch, thus reducing threadcount and hence the luxury of the fabric.