FASHION INDUSTRY DICTIONARY

Define Yarn Types.

Yarns are made by twisting or otherwise binding fibers together and are used to construct fabrics. The fibers that are made into yarns can be long, continuous strands, called filaments, which can be twisted together loosely or more tightly. Filament yarns are made from either silk or manufactured fibers. Short, staple fibers (cotton, wool, linen, or manufactured fibers or silk cut into short lengths) must be twisted so that they will hold together to form a yarn. Yarns may be classified according to the number of parts. A single yarn is just one yarn, a ply yarn consists of two or more single yarns twisted together, and a cord yarn is made of two or more ply yarns twisted together. Yarns with a regular surface and diameter are called simple yarns. Those made to create decorative effects are known as novelty or fancy yarns. A novelty yarn can be a single yarn, such as a slub yarn in which some parts of the yarn are twisted tightly and other parts more loosely, or a ply yarn such as a boucle yarn in which a decorative yarn makes irregular, decorative loops around a base yarn. By varying the structure of yarns, an enormous number of different types of yarns and decorative effects can be created.