Twill is a common name for a whole group of fabrics that have a characteristic appearance and similar consumer properties. First of all, it is a light and pleasant to the touch material of a diagonal weave with a short pile. There is a reliable way to distinguish twill from other fabrics: you need to look at it from a slight angle so that the characteristic diagonal pattern is clearly visible.
A bit of history
Where and when twill was first produced is not known for certain. The first mention of him is found in the autobiographical book "Remembering Windsor", written by the English king Edward VIII. According to a comic story he told, around 1830 rolls of twill fabric, called Tweels by the merchant, were sent to a London merchant from the Scottish town of Hawick. Parsing the letter, an inattentive Englishman decided that it was a Tweed fabric, which got its name from the river of the same name, which flows through a region with a developed textile industry.
The twill fabric sent was widely advertised and sold under the tweed brand. This name was subsequently assigned to it, and the error that occurred still misleads many people who are not familiar with the nuances of materials science.
Appearance and manufacturing method
Modern twill fabric is a twill weave that is shiny and soft to the touch. The original production on it is formed by shifting the weaving patterns by 1 thread with each weft insertion. The direction of the diagonal can be right (positive) or left (negative). Most often fabrics with the right diagonal are produced. For example, twill for jeans is made by weaving right-hand twill (RHT) or herringbone pattern.
Twill weave can have 3 or more threads in repeat. Depending on the number, density and type of threads used to make the material, both the width and the bulge of the scar on it vary. On fabrics with a small rapport, it is almost invisible, so this twill can be quite thin. It is usually made from cotton-based blended fibers. This is how the very popular twill satin fabric, which is widely used today for the manufacture of bed linen, is produced.
The higher the rapport, the clearer and more convex the scar becomes. At the same time, the density of such twill decreases, so this variant of the twill weave is used for denser woolen fabrics. The most common types are tweed, chinno and gabardine.
Composition
Twill fabric, which can be found in any textbook on materials science, was first made exclusively from cotton or wool. In the future, to improve consumer properties, many manufacturers began to add spandex fiber to its composition. Gradually, the proportion of synthetic fibers in the material increased to two-thirds. That is why modern twill is a blended fabric containing from 30 to 65% polyester.
Properties
Twill fabric is one of the few fabrics that is both dense and drapes well. Due to the high density of threads, twill has good wear resistance and durability, well protects against dust. In addition, it is characterized by a number of positive properties, namely:
- virtually does not wrinkle;
- does not cause allergic reactions when in contact with skin;
- moisture resistant;
- breathable;
- does not stretch with regular washing;
- does not deform and holds its shape well;
- dries quickly.
Twill fabric characterizes not only a beautiful appearance and high consumer properties, but also a variety of colors. Most often, twill is produced plain-dyed. In this case, its front side has pronounced diagonal stripes of various widths. Its dense structure ensures high quality dyeing and allows the twill to retain vibrant colors for a long time during use.
Clothes and twill products
Most often men's and women's trousers, skirts and jackets are sewn from twill. Some of its types are used to make tight women's dresses. All twill products have a solid appearance, so they are most often used as casual or office wear.
Lightweight jackets and raincoats are usually made of water-repellent material, which allows them to keep their shape for a long time. Twill is often used for sewing all kinds of uniforms and special clothing with increased durability. For example, in the Soviet years, all full dress officer uniforms were made only from gabardine, which is one of the varieties of twill.
Twill fabric, reviews of which characterize it as a wear-resistant material, is widely used for the manufacture and decoration of upholstered furniture. Durability and wrinkle resistance also prompted a new use for twill, which is now being used to make trendy designer bags.
