Fabric Mills Directory - Page 3

What This Page of the Directory Covers

This third page of the Fabric Mill Directory continues the alphabetical run of fabric categories from M to Q: Metallic, Mesh and Muslin open it, followed by Narrow fabric, Net and Non Woven Fabric, Novelty and Nylon Fabric, then Ottoman and Oxford, Percale, Pile, Pique and Pointelle, Polar Fleece, Polyester Fabric, Poplin and Printed fabric, and Quilted fabric to close. The category listings below are this page's complete set, and the navigation to pages 1, 2, 4 and 5 is in the menu at the foot of the page. These pages list textile and fabric mills from around the world; the mills themselves sit one click deeper, on each category page and in the Fabric Mills by Name profiles those pages link to.

The M-to-Q run is the directory's knit-and-everyday heartland. Mesh, net, nonwovens and narrow fabrics are constructions as much as fabrics - defined by how they are made rather than what they are made from - and their pages explain the machinery and methods behind them. Muslin, oxford, percale, poplin and pique are the classic woven shirting and sheeting cloths, specified by yarn count, weave and finish, and bought on consistency from season to season. Metallic, novelty and printed fabrics are the decorative end of the page, where the surface is the product. Polar fleece and quilted fabric close the run with two constructed warmths: one a brushed knit, the other a sandwich of face cloth, wadding and backing stitched into a single material. A buyer working this page is usually comparing constructions, which is why each category page leads with how its fabric is made.

How to Use the Directory Pages

Open the category for the construction you need and read its explanation before its listings: for nonwovens, the web-forming and bonding methods decide everything about the cloth; for pique and pointelle, the knit structure is the specification; for printed fabric, the print method - roller, screen, digital - sets the minimum order and the design cost. Then follow the category's mills to their Fabric Mills by Name profiles for directory records and contact details. Cross-check neighbouring categories when your cloth sits between definitions: polyester fabric and polar fleece overlap heavily in mill capability, as do pile and quilted fabrics on the coating and finishing side. This directory is a comprehensive fabric resource, and that rests on exactly this cross-linking.

Pages 1 and 2 behind this one carry the alphabet from the opening categories through L, including fiberglass, filter cloth, flame retardant fabric, flannel, fleece, flock and french terry, and pages 4 and 5 ahead carry R to the end of the alphabet. One practical note for readers working this page: several of its categories are bought under more than one name in different markets - muslin grades differ between countries, percale is a thread-count claim as much as a weave, and printed fabric covers everything from a rotary-printed cotton to a digitally printed silk - so the category pages' explanations, which pin each name to its construction, are worth reading before comparing quotations from mills in different regions. Thank you for using the Apparel Search Fabric Mill Directory, and for taking the time to learn more about the fabrics the clothing industry is made from.

Fabric Categories Listed on Directory Page 3