Understanding the terminology we use for dressmaking, quilting and furnishing fabrics.
At Fabrics Galore, we aim to make fabric shopping online simple and inspiring. Each of our product descriptions includes key information to help you choose the perfect material for your project.
This guide explains some of the most commonly used fabric terms you’ll see across our website — and what they mean for the sewing community.
Acetate Satin
We supply satin fabric made of acetate rather than polyester due to its superior drape and luxurious, silky texture. It is less prone to static cling than polyester which makes it ideal for dresses and skirts. Acetate is a semi-synthetic fibre made from wood pulp, unlike polyester which is made from petroleum. At Fabrics Galore all our satin fabrics meet OEKO-TEX 100 standard, which means that no harmful chemicals have been used in production.
Read the Dressmaker’s Guide to Satin Fabric to find out more about acetate satin.
Anti Pil spun polyester
Fleece fabrics are almost always made of polyester, although ther are different quality levels of polyester. All our polar fleece fabrics at Fabrics Galore are made from a special anti-pil spun polyester which retains its soft smooth texture without forming the small balls of fibre or “bobbles” which frequently occur after repeated washing.
Anti-Static
Everyone hates a dress or skirt which clings to the legs. Our collection of dressmaking linings in a full range of colours are all made of anti-static polyester which provide the best finish for your coats, dresses and skirts allowing the outer fabric to hang perfectly.
Boiled wool
Boiled wool undergoes a special process whereby it is washed in hot water causing the wool to condense and shrink. The resulting fabric is a thick wool which is warm to wear and doesn’t fray so that sewists don’t need to worry about special seam finishes. Boiled wool is perfect for coats, jackets and cardigans.
Read our Beginner’s Guide to Sewing with Wool .
Colourwoven
Colourwoven refers to a fabric where the design and colour layout is created during the weave process so that the pattern and colours are differentiated by the placement of the warp and weft threads. This contrasts with fabrics where the woven fabric is subsequently printed using screen printing to create the design.
Find colourwoven fabrics at Fabrics Galore in our Furnishing ticking stripe collection.
Cotton Elastane Jersey
At Fabrics Galore we describe the composition of our jersey fabrics as cotton elastane jersey as the small percentage of elastane fabric (usually 5%) provides the stretch element of our cotton jersey range.
Digitally Printed
Digital printing in contrast to screen printing describes the process of using inkjet technology to transfer a digital file of a fabric’s design directly onto the fabric. Digital printing allows for an unlimited number of colours and design details resulting in a high-quality printed fabric. Many of our designer fabrics from Liberty and William Morris are digitally printed.
Ditsy Floral
A ditsy floral is a pattern of small flowers scattered all over a fabric in a random, non-linear design. Although a ditsy floral is a busy design, the small size of the flowers means the print is quite subtle. Popular for summer dresses with a nostalgic, whimsical feel, our ditsy florals are always favourites for summer dressmaking.
Fusible (Interfacing)
Simply put, a fusible fabric (usually interfacing) has a heat-activated adhesive on one side which fuses with another fabric when ironed. Easy and convenient to use, it provides more structure and weight to a garment.
Learn more in our Guide to Interfacing Fabric .
Great Value
Fabrics Galore website visitors will see many of our fabrics marked with a pink Great Value sign in the top left of the product image. What does Great Value mean for our customers? Fabrics Galore boss Paul Johnston is occasionally able to source high quality fabrics, often cottons, at reduced prices which we are able to pass on to our customers. Our Great Value cottons are sold by the half metre at £2.50 per half metre.
Indian Batiks
Although people often associate batik fabric with Indonesia, batik fabrics originated in India about 2000 years ago. Although most production is now in Indonesia, India still produces some of the finest cotton batik fabrics available. At Fabrics Galore, we source all our batiks from a single supplier in India to bring you the depth of colour and design we associate with high quality cotton batik.
Explore our cotton batik collection.
Linen Handle
Linen Handle refers to fabrics which have either been blended with linen or woven in a certain way to create the slubby texture of linen. At Fabrics Galore our linen handle is 75% linen and 25% cotton so it has all the lovely qualities of linen with a slightly better drape and less creasing.
Discover our collection of 25 different colours of plain linen handle.
Made in Taiwan
At Fabrics Galore we source our polar fleece fabrics from Taiwan where we are able to source a superior quality anti-pil fleece which looks good for longer. Most of the regular fleece fabric originates in China and we want to emphasise the superior quality of our fleece collection with the “Made in Taiwan” description.
Madras Cotton
Madras cotton is a lovely lightweight handwoven cotton originating in the Indian city of Chennai (formerly known as Madras), using natural vegetable dyes. It is a perfect summer dressmaking weight and distinguished by its brightly coloured check pattern.
Novelty
At Fabrics Galore, we use the term novelty to describe any fabric which is a bit quirky or has a humorous design. Whether it’s for dressmaking, quilting or furnishing fabric, a novelty fabric is always fun and not only for children. From Christmas and Halloween prints to jungle and skull prints, there is something for everyone in our novelty fabric collection .
Special Purchase
Special Purchase at Fabrics Galore normally means that we have bought something at a better price than we normally pay. Rather than show a reduction we offer it at a lower price than an equivalent fabric.
Textured cotton
Textured cotton refers to our cotton fabrics which have a slightly raised texture resembling bark cloth rather than a smooth finish. The textured finish is created through the weaving technique.
Wide width
A wide width fabric typically refers to a fabric on the Fabrics Galore website which is at least 140cm wide, although many are up to 150cm wide. A wide width fabric is particularly useful for quilting projects.
Understanding Fabric Terminology
While not exhaustive, we hope these explanations help clarify the descriptive terms used across our site.
For more information, explore our guides:
Dressmaker’s Guide to Fabric Terminology
Furnishing 101 Guide to Textile Terminology
Guide to Quilting Terminology .
Have a question about a fabric term we haven’t covered? Message us — we’d love to add it to our glossary!
Authored by: Annabelle Rigg, Online and Store Manager at Fabrics Galore London
Reviewed by: Paul Johnston, Owner and Founder of Fabrics Galore London since 1992
