SILK GLOSSARY
Glossary for Silk Textiles
Want to learn more about silk? Check out our extensive glossary for definitions of common terms used in silk.
We’ve covered everything from the different types of silk and weaving types, to the methods of digital silk printing and screen printing. Switch the tabs below to browse your chosen category.
Common terms used to describe the methods involved in silk production, the different types of silk and the different weaves used to create a number of finishes on silk.
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Bombyx mori
Latin name for the domestic silkworm moth, used in sericulture (silk production).
Brocade
A heavy silk fabric characterised by its raised figured or floral designs, introduced during the weaving process. Often made with metallic threads.
Brocaded
A fabric which is embellished with a raised pattern, made by wefts to create an elaborate design.
Charmeuse Silk
A lightweight, soft and delicate silk with a satin side and a matte back.
Chiffon Silk
An elegant and sheer lightweight plain-woven silk with a crepe-like texture.
Cocoon
A small protection layer woven by silkworms. This is the hardened pupa case of moths and butterflies.
Colourway
Describes any range of colour combinations available in a designed fabric.
Complementary threads/elements
Structurally integral parts of the weave of silk, usually consisting of contrasting colours woven into the silk to create a design.
Continuous threads
Threads of silk which extend to the full length or width of the piece of fabric.
Count, thread
The number of warp and weft threads woven together in a square inch on a piece of fabric, counted lengthwise and widthwise. A higher thread count indicates fine, thin threads and vica versa.
Crepe Silk
A thin, lightweight fabric with a textured or puckered surface.
Crêpe de Chine Silk
A lightweight, plain-woven fabric made with highly twisted yarns to give its irregular surface.
A reversible silk fabric with a crepe side and a satin side. Also known as crepe-backed satin.
Cultivated Silk
Refers to silk that is harvested from silkworms raised in captivity.
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Damask
A heavy weight silk fabric with a woven pattern, such as a jacquard print.
Degumming
The process in which natural gum or sericin from silk yarn is removed.
Discontinuous weft
The opposite of a continuous weft, where the thread does not extend to the full width of the fabric but instead are only used in smaller areas for design purposes.
Duchesse Silk
A heavy silk fabric made with yarn-dyed naturial silk. The fabric has a semi-lustrous satin-like sheen and is also known as duchess satin.
Dupioni
Means double. Dupioni silk is a double thread silk thread with a tightly woven surface, resulting in an uneven texture with a lustrous sheen.
Filament
A continuous fibre created by natural or man-made processes, i.e. the results produced by silk cocoons.
Gauze Silk
A lightweight and sheer silk fabric, made with tightly woven fibres which are crossed and uncrossed to create a transparent appearance.
A type of silk crepe fabric, similar to chiffon but stronger and slightly less sheer. Georgette is woven using tightly twisted yarns weft in opposite directions, giving a slightly crinkled texture.
H-R
A plain-weave, soft and lightweight silk fabric with a smooth and glossy finish. Habotai is a Japanese word for ‘soft as down’.
Handle
The feel of the material in terms of its stiffness, hardness or softness, roughness or smoothness.
Momme Weight
Unit of measurement traditionally used to describe the weight of silk fabric. Mommes express the weight in pounds. The word momme is pronounced ‘mummy’ and is indicated by the symbol ‘mm’.
Mulberry
The name of the Morus alba tree which is the food of the silkworm moth, Bombyx Mori.
Mulberry Silk
A type of silk which contributes around as much as 90% of silk production in the world.
A sheer, fine and lightweight open-weave silk fabric with a smooth sheen and a crisp texture.
Plain weave
A type of weave in which the weft threads cross at right angles – one-over, one-under.
Raw silk
Silk which has not yet had the sericin removed from the filaments (see Degumming).
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Satin
A type of weave that produces a fabric with a glossy, smooth surface and a dull back.
Sericin
The sticky protein substance which coats the silk fiber filaments and bonds them together. This is removed via degumming in the silk making process.
Shantung (Silk)
A plain-weave silk fabric, thin and lightweight with a slightly irregular surface and a subtle sheen.
Silk
The strong natural fibre produced by silkworms in cocoons.
Silkworm
The caterpillar of Bombyx Mori, the domesticated silk moth. Silkworms spin a silk cocoon to produce silk fibres.
Spin/spun
The process in which fibres are alligned and drawn out before being twisted to form the silk thread.
Tafetta Silk
A plain-weave silk fabric with closely woven fibres which create a smooth and crisp fabric with a lustrous sheen.
Twill (Silk)
A light or mid-weight silk fabric, with a smooth and shiny surface, made with a classic Twill weave.
A medium-to-heavy-weight silk fabric with multiple warps and wefts to create a dense pile with a soft surface and a lustrous sheen.
Warp
The set of threads which are held lengtheise on the fabric loom, providing support for the weft.
Warp-faced Weave
A weave in which the warp threads are prominant on the face of the fabric, and the weft threads are hidden.
Weft
Horizontal threads which run at right angles to the warp, interlocked to create a structured weave.
Weft-faced Weave
A weave in which the weft threads are prominant on the face of the fabric, and the warp threads are hidden.
A list of common terms used in the silk screen printing and digital silk printing processes, explained.
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Bleed
When ink migrates to an area of the fabric where it shouldn’t be.
CMYK Printing
Stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black) which are the four colours used in the digital printing process. CMYK printing is also known as four colour process printing, referring to the process used to overlap these four inks to reproduce other colours.
Colour Separations
A process used to prepare a design for screen printing, whereby the colours of the print are separated into layers using a computer-aided design software in order to prepare each individual silk screen.
Curing
The process of drying or steaming a fabric to ‘cure’ or seal the ink for the finished design.
D-G
Digital Printing
A silk printing process in which the dyes are printed directly on to the fabric using inkjet technology.
Direct to Garment (DTG) Printing
The process of printing designs or artwork directly on to a garment, such as a t-shirt.
Directional Print
When a print or design only looks right one way, so must be printed according to the position in which the design faces.
Discharge Ink
A water-based ink which essentially removes the dyes in the fabric and replaces them with another colour, typically used on dark coloured garments.
Flat bed printing
The process of screen printing where the fabric is laid flat on a printing table, and printed accordingly with individual screens.
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Hand
Refers to the ‘feel’ of a fabric and indicates how soft or rough it is to the touch.
Ink
Indicates any substance used to print on to a fabric.
Mesh Count
Refers to the amount of threads on a screen per centimetre of area, and indicates the number of small holes in a screen. This is dictated by the detail of the design, and the thickness of the ink which will be used.
Non-Directional Print
Describes a print design which works in any direction and can therefore be cut, printed or sewn in a multitude of ways.
Placement Print
A design that is specified to be printed in a certain position on a garment or piece of fabric.
Reclaiming
In screen printing, this is the process of removing ink from a screen and dissolving the stencil so that the screen can be prepared for the next print.
Reducer
A substance added to ink to make it thinner, which will usually reduce the opacity of the ink as a result.
Roll-to-Roll Printing
Also known as direct-to-fabric printing, this is the process of printing directly on to a roll of fabric.
S-Z
The traditional method of printing designs on to fabric, using a number of mesh screens for each individual colour layer.
Screen
Crucial to the screen printing process, screens are used along with emulsion to create the stencil which will allow for the ink to be printed on to the fabric in the desired pattern.
Squeegee
In screen printing, this is a rubber blade which is pushed over the mesh screens in order to penetrate the fabric with a layer of ink.
Strike off
A sample-sized length of fabric which has been printed with the submitted design and is used to check the print and colours before full-scale production.
Stroke
In screen printing, this is the method of using the squeegee to push the ink through the mesh screen.
Substrate
Refers to the fabric or garment which is being printed on.
Under Cured
When the printed ink design has not been cured properly. This happens when it hasn’t been cured for long enough or not at the right temperature, and can lead to the artwork fading or washing out.
Underbase
Typically used to achieve vibrant colours on dark fabric, an underbase will be applied as the first layer of ink before the desired artwork.
Vector Image
The preferred method of submitted artwork for textile printing, vector images can be scaled up highly without pixelating the design.
Water Based Ink
A type of environmentally-friendly ink used in textile printing.
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