Identification of Grain in designing of woven textiles and garment designing

Identification of Grain

Grain is a very important aspect in designing of woven textiles and garment designing. Grain play a vital role in fashion garments. Grain enhances the look and finish of both textiles and garment. Therefore, knowledge about grain is necessary for future fashion designers, garment constructers and members working with textiles.

Grain

Grain is described as the direction of the yarn in woven material. The yarn which runs parallel to the selvage of the fabric is called warp or lengthwise yarn. The yarn which runs perpendicular to the selvage is the filling or crosswise yarns. Selvage is the finished edge of the fabric. In this reference, grain is defined as the geometry or position of warp yarns relative to filling yarns in the fabric (Figure).

Depending upon the placement of the yarns, grain can be divided as on grain and off grain. 'On grain' is established when the warp and weft yarns are placed at right angles to each other. On grain is also described as perfect grain. It is very important with reference to garment making, because if a pattern is cut on a material, which is not perfect, then the drape of the garment is not good, resulting in unfit.

'Off-Grain' is established when the warp and weft grain are not running perpendicular to each other. In other words the yarns are not at right angles. Every fabric is checked for grain before it is use for sewing (Figure.).

Straight grain is always used for construction garments. This gives a neat appearance and good drape. Cross grain is used for collar patterns or cup pattern of sari blouses, because they need good elasticity.