Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
Narrow fabrics are textiles having a width of twelve inches or less and a woven selvage on either side. They are small strips of fabric, often designed for a specific and practical purpose: braid, ribbons, tapes, bindings, elastics, cords, braids and lanyards. The apparel industry uses a wide variety of knitted, woven and jacquard elastics and non-elastic webbings in the manufacturing of clothing, footwear and accessories, and narrow fabrics are woven on special looms.
What are narrow fabrics?
Narrow fabrics refer to the width of fabric and apparel trimming.
Narrow goods are essentially textiles having a width of 12 inches or less and a woven selvage on either side. They are small strips of fabric, often designed for a specific and practical purpose. Cords, braids, and lanyards are commonly used items that are also narrow fabrics.
Narrow fabrics can include braid, ribbons, tapes, bindings, elastics, etc. The apparel industry utilizes a wide variety of knitted, woven, jacquard elastics and non-elastic webbings materials during the manufacturing of clothing, footwear, and accessories..
From underwear and intimates to outerwear, athletic wear, hosiery, hats and shoes, narrow fabrics can help hold garments in place, provide comfort, support, branding and decorative elements.
They are woven on special looms.
Note: Narrow fabrics can also possibly reference fabric that is wider than 12 inches. The term can be utilized when discussing wide width goods or narrow width goods for garment fabrics that are not typically for trimming.
Find narrow fabric manufacturers in our factory section.
Learn about various narrow tapes for apparel.
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Because the goods are narrow by definition, they are woven on special looms built for the purpose, which form a finished selvage on both edges as the fabric comes off the loom — no cutting from wide cloth and no hemming of raw edges is needed. Alongside woven goods, the category includes knitted elastics, jacquard elastics that can weave a brand name or pattern directly into the band, and non-elastic webbings strong enough for straps and belts. That variety of construction is why one small category supplies everything from lingerie straps to luggage webbing.
Selection starts with the job the strip has to do. A waistband elastic is judged on stretch and recovery after repeated washing; a binding is judged on how cleanly it folds and holds an edge; a decorative ribbon is judged on color and hand; a webbing strap is judged on breaking strength. Branding is a real factor too — woven tapes and jacquard elastics carry logos inside waistbands, along seams and on footwear, which makes a functional component double as a label. Width, fiber content and stretch should be specified as precisely as the main garment fabric, because a failing elastic or a bleeding ribbon ruins an otherwise sound garment.
Few product categories are untouched by narrow goods. Intimates need straps, elastics and picot edges; athletic wear needs drawcords, gripper elastics and reflective tapes; hosiery needs welt bands; hats need inner sweatbands and outer hat bands; shoes need laces, elastic gussets and pull loops. The manufacturers linked from this page specialize in exactly these components, and the broader trim category collects the related vocabulary of tapes, bindings and trims.
Twelve inches or less, with a woven selvage on either side. The term can occasionally be used more loosely for garment fabrics that are narrow compared with typical wide-width goods, but the twelve-inch trimming definition is the standard one.
Braid, ribbons, tapes, bindings, elastics, cords and lanyards, plus knitted, woven and jacquard elastics and non-elastic webbings used in underwear, intimates, outerwear, athletic wear, hosiery, hats and shoes.
They help hold garments in place and provide comfort, support, branding and decorative elements — an elastic waistband, a binding at a neckline, a woven brand tape and a shoelace are all narrow fabrics at work.