Textile textures
How do you describe fabrics online?
If I could reach through my computer monitor to feel every fabric on the internet before I bought it, I totally would. Alas, until we invent touchy-feely technology, buying fabric from an online retailer is always going to be a little bit risky for those of us who really need our fabric to feel “right.” I’ve seen plenty of people who refuse to buy fabric online because the in-person shopping experience is so tactile, and they feel like that can’t be replicated with text and imagery. This is a concern for me, both as a disabled sewist and as the owner of a fabric store, Jersey Cat Fabrics.
If you have sensory sensitivities, like I do, then buying fabric online is even more tricky. That’s a perfectly valid reason to avoid online shopping. I can’t fault anyone for not wanting to order fabric that looks beautiful, only to receive it in the mail and find it to be scratchy and unpleasant to touch. But is this an inherent failing of online shopping, or is there something that fabric retailers can do to help out sewists? I think there is!
It’s impossible to express empirically how a fabric feels, since sensory information is so personal to each individual. However, I do believe that we fabric shop owners have the ability to convey a fabric’s texture over the internet. There are traditional methods for easing a potential buyer's fabric fears, like offering swatches for the price of shipping. You can also take a video of the fabric base in lighting that displays the texture, which is also great for showing off a fabric's weight and any stretch. If those options don't work, or if you want to offer more ways for people to investigate your fabric, then the information in this article on describing texture with words should prove useful.
Before we move on, I want to remind readers who don’t deal with sensory sensitivities that people who do aren’t simply being picky with their fabric. They could be Autistic or otherwise neurodivergent, or it could be the result of chronic illness or pain. It’s also not as simple as enjoying the texture of soft fabric and disliking the texture of rough fabric.
Some fabrics that are traditionally considered soft can be unbearable to touch for sensory sensitive people. In my own experience, microfiber cloths are so clingy in their texture that they feel like they’re almost abrading my skin if I touch them. For some people, rough fabrics (like some low quality wovens) and exposed seams and tags can make pieces of clothing unwearable. For myself, I would rather wear something with a coarse weave or crisp, smooth texture than something made of fabric that is meant to be soft but made too artificially or with cheap materials. All of that to say, you may be tempted to use this article’s information to only pick soft fabrics, or even be tempted to stretch the truth with your descriptions a little. Please don’t do either of these things. Sensory sensitive people do best when given information and multiple options, and we rely on you (the person who can touch the fabric) to convey reliable information without making assumptions about what is good or bad.
Below I’ve listed some different fabrics that I had on hand, and made a texture profile for each one. Please note that as much as possible, I’ve compared the fabrics to each other. If you’re a shop that offers more than one fabric base, having a list of each type of fabric with these qualities compared could be amazingly helpful. Again, this is to help people find what fabrics best suit their personal needs, not to decide what fabric is best.
In these profiles, I’m listing the qualities that fabrics have under four categories.
Cling/Friction, which describes how a fabric reacts and feels when you run your fingertips along the surface.
Pile/nap, which are fabric terms commonly used to refer to the raised texture of the fabric, with pile being the height of raised fibres, and nap referring to the presence of fibres that run in a set direction.
Softness, which I’m using to convey whether or not the fabric’s fibres are more smooth, naturally fuzzy, or brushed.
With the potential adjectives listed in each section, there are some descriptive words that you might use to relay additional information.
Those of you who aren’t running fabric shops, and are instead trying to learn the vocabulary for your own texture preferences, please take note of the provided images if you are able. They are very zoomed in to show the texture in greater detail.
Fabric texture profiles:
Organic Cotton Lycra
(94% organic cotton, 6% lycra)
Cling/Friction: Very minimal cling when running my fingertips along the surface, but there’s still a noticeable fuzzy texture and slight rib that creates drag with the fingers.
Pile/Nap: Virtually no pile as the knitted fibres are smooth. There is no nap, so the fabric feels the same no matter what direction you pet it.
Softness: The fabric is just slightly fuzzy, but as a result of the fibres it is knitted from, there is no brushing to increase soft feel.
Potential adjectives: smooth, minimally textured
Cotton Lycra
(92% cotton, 8% lycra)
Cling/Friction: Very minimal cling when running my fingertips along the surface, but there’s still a noticeable fuzzy texture and slight rib that creates drag with the fingers. However, there is less drag than with the organic cotton lycra.
Pile/Nap: Virtually no pile as the knitted fibres are smooth. There is no nap, so the fabric feels the same no matter what direction you pet it.
Softness: The fabric is just slightly fuzzy, but as a result of the fibres it is knitted from; there is no brushing to increase soft feel. The right side of the fabric, the side that is usually visible in a garment, is less fuzzy and smoother.
Potential adjectives: smooth, minimally textured
Cotton Lycra Ribbing
(95% cotton, 5% lycra)
Cling/Friction: When running my fingers down the ribs, there is minimal but noticeable friction. When running my fingers across the ribs, there is considerably more friction.
Pile/Nap: Virtually no pile as the knitted fibres are smooth. While there is not a furry nap, the fabric has more cling/friction across the ribs than along them.
Softness: The fabric is just slightly fuzzy, but as a result of the fibres it is knitted from-- there is no brushing to increase soft feel. It feels less soft than both listed cotton lycras.
Potential adjectives: ribbed, larger weave
Polyester Softshell
(100% polyester)
Cling/Friction: Very minimal cling when running my fingertips along the smooth/outer surface, but this action results in a swishing or rubbing sound, indicating some friction. On the other side, which is meant to be next to skin, there is more cling and the same rubbing sound.
Pile/Nap: The fabric has no pile on the outer/smooth side, but has a low, fleece-like texture on the inner/soft side. There is no nap, as the fabric on both sides feels the same in all directions..
Softness: The outer/smooth side is smooth, but not fibrous or brushed to be soft. The inner/soft side has a slight uneven and fuzzy texture, but is not brushed to be especially soft.
Potential adjectives: smooth, textured, double-sided
Quilting cotton
(100
% cotton)
Cling/Friction: Very minimal cling when running my fingertips along the surface, but there’s still a noticeable (though not fuzzy) texture that creates drag with the fingers.
Pile/Nap: Virtually no pile as the woven fibres are smooth. There is no nap, so the fabric feels the same no matter what direction you pet it.
Softness: The fabric is not fuzzy, but the natural fibres produce some texture. The weave is slightly coarse, which makes for a less soft textile.
Potential adjectives: smooth, minimally textured, woven
Double Brushed Polyester
(95% polyester, 5% lycra)
Cling/Friction: Slight cling when running my fingertips along the surface, with a slight fuzzy texture creating more drag than any of the listed cotton lycras.
Pile/Nap: Virtually no pile as the knitted fibres are smooth, though some might consider the brushing effect to create a slight pile. There is no nap, so the fabric feels the same no matter what direction you pet it.
Softness: The fabric is just slightly fuzzy as a result of the brushed finish
Potential adjectives: smooth, brushed
French Terry
(95% cotton, 5% lycra)
Cling/Friction: Virtually no cling on the smooth/outer surface. On the other side, which is meant to be next to skin, there is a tightly looped pile which creates minimal cling.
Pile/Nap: The fabric has no pile on the outer/smooth side, but has a tight, looped texture on the inner/soft side. There is no nap, as the fabric on both sides feels the same in all directions. However, petting the looped side along both main directions feels slightly similar to petting the ribbed cotton lycra.
Softness: The outer/smooth side is smooth, not brushed to be softer. The inner/soft side has a tightly looped texture, but is not brushed to be especially soft.
Potential adjectives: smooth, textured, looped, double-sided
Bamboo Lycra
(95% bamboo, 5% lycra)
Cling/Friction: Virtually no cling with a very smooth feeling.
Pile/Nap: No pile as the knitted fibres are smooth. There is no nap, so the fabric feels the same no matter what direction you pet it.
Softness: The fabric is incredibly smooth, but not brushed for extra softness. It is smooth to the point of being cool to the touch.
Potential adjectives: smooth, brushed, cool to the touch
Stretch Crushed Velvet
(unknown fibre content, pulled from my stash)
Cling/Friction: On the outer surface, there is considerable cling when going against the nap, and slight cling when going with the nap. On the other side, which is meant to be next to skin, there is slight cling against the fingertips.
Pile/Nap: The fabric has a low pile, perhaps one to two millimetres high, on the outer side. There is no pile on the inner side. The outer side has a pronounced nap in one direction.
Softness: The outer side is almost furry, and the fibres are smooth when petted with the nap. The inner side is smooth, but not at all brushed for softness.
Potential adjectives: smooth, textured, velvet, crushed, uneven, double-sided
So, here’s the twist: The fabric that actually is considered soft according to this list is double brushed polyester, due to its brushed finish. If you were to decide that soft was equivalent to good, you as a fabric shop owner might decide that double brushed polyester was the best fabric for sensory needs. Yet on this list, double brushed polyester is my least favourite fabric. I can stand it, but it feels almost too soft and clingy to my skin.
You might look at cotton woven and decide that it’s not worth stocking, because it has a coarser weave and might be irritating to touch. But for me, it’s far more pleasant than double brushed polyester, and of course it has its uses that give its inclusion further merit.
My favourite fabric to touch is the bamboo lycra. It’s smooth, but not fuzzy or too soft, and the inclusion of the adjective phrase cool to the touch sounds nice to me. If a shop listed a fabric as cool to the touch, smooth, and slightly soft, I would be likely to consider it even if it was not a base I was familiar with. That said, bamboo lycra is still not my favourite fabric to use - that’s probably cotton lycra.
It's also important to describe both sides of the fabric if they differ, as I have here. Explain which side of the fabric will likely touch bare skin. This is also a great time to introduce information on a fabric's clinginess with other garments, or its ability to skim past layers. While I worry more about how a fabric feels on my skin, knowing if it will stick to or bunch with other fabric can often relate to sensory issues as well.
Despite all of this, the best tools you have to accommodate sensory sensitive people (and even typically sensitive people who need a push to buy online) are variety and honesty. Give them a good variety of options, portray their characteristics through multiple formats, and be honest about each one. Putting in this effort to accommodate sensory sensitive people will do wonders to prevent friction in the buying process, both fiscally and physically.
Of course, if you're not a fabric seller but rather a fabric buyer (connoisseur?), you can check out Jersey Cat Fabrics, where every fabric has a texture profile in its descriptive!
Authored by Jennifer Black, owner of Jersey Cat Fabrics, which
sells custom designed knit fabrics, with an emphasis on cute animals and non-inspired prints.
I have joint issues. That's the most official way to say it, as I don't have a proper diagnosis for a multitude of reasons. In reality, I very likely have a form of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which essentially means that my joints are hypermobile (amongst other symptoms). Some rare days, I'm completely fine. Other days, I'm fine until I overexert myself. Others still, I wake up and my left knee is screaming for no reason.
I also specialise in Being Autistic, which guides a lot of how I sew for myself. I prioritise comfort and expressiveness over any sort of style trends or, er, social acceptability.
