Pointelle Fabric Guide

What Pointelle Fabric Is

Pointelle is a stitch pattern, not a fibre: on a fine-gauge knitting machine, selected loops are transferred sideways before knitting, which opens a small hole at each transfer point and builds the hole positions into repeating motifs across the cloth. The ground is a lightweight single jersey, most often cotton, cotton blends or fine synthetics, and the openwork is integral, knitted in rather than embroidered, punched or burned out afterwards. That matters in use: pointelle has the stretch, softness and edge behaviour of jersey, so it can be cut and sewn with knit techniques, while presenting the patterned, airy face of a lace.

Patterns range from a simple scattered eyelet, the school-uniform and babywear staple, through chevrons and stripes to floral panels that imitate broderie anglaise. Because every hole is a place where yarn has moved, pointelle is less stable than the jersey it starts from: it ladders more readily if a yarn is cut, curls at cut edges, and loses pattern definition if it is overstretched in wear or in the wash. Quality shows in the regularity of the motifs and in whether the holes stay open and even after laundering, which separates well-set pointelle from cloth that relaxes into a vague texture.

Where Pointelle Fabric Is Used

Pointelle's home is anywhere a garment wants softness with decoration built in: women's and girls' tops, camisoles and cardigans, lingerie and nightwear bodies and trims, baby and toddler clothing where its breathability and gentle pattern suit small garments, and layering pieces such as fine thermal tops, where the eyelets ventilate. It trims as well as it covers, collars, cuffs, yokes and inserts of pointelle on a plain ground are a long-running children's and women's wear device, and in white and pastel cotton it is a christening and heirloom sewing fabric. Heavier pointelle in wool blends serves light knitwear with a lacy face that still knits on standard machines.

The three listings below are this directory's pointelle mills, each linked to its Fabric Mills by Name profile: Carolina Cotton Works, Inc. and Lincoln Textile Sales, Inc of the USA, and Shahtex (Leicester) Limited of the United Kingdom. A short list fits a specialty pattern: pointelle is a small, fashion-sensitive corner of the knit trade, produced by fine-gauge houses rather than by every jersey mill. None has been removed: no listing was verified dead, and this directory's standing rule is to keep a listing when in doubt. Thank you for using the Apparel Search Fabric Mill Directory.

Specifying and Caring for Pointelle

Specify pointelle by fibre, gauge, pattern name or sample, and weight, and always judge it from a washed sample, because the motif after laundering is the motif the customer will live with. Check that the eyelets are even, that the cloth recovers across its width without the pattern distorting into ovals, and that cut edges are finished in the garment plan, since pointelle edges curl and its openwork should not be left to carry a seam alone. In sewing, use a ballpoint needle, support seams in stress areas, and avoid stretching the cloth under the foot, which opens the pattern unevenly along the seam line.

Care should be gentler than for plain jersey. Wash pointelle inside out, on a gentle cycle or in a mesh bag, because the transferred-stitch structure snags more easily than a closed knit, and dry it flat or on a line rather than in a hot dryer that can distort the motifs. Fold pointelle garments instead of hanging them, since a fine openwork knit grows under its own weight on a hanger. Ironing, when needed, is a cool iron on the reverse that avoids flattening the pattern into the ground; steam held just above the surface relaxes creases without pressing the eyelets shut.

Pointelle Fabric Mills Listed Here