What is knitted fabric?(Guide for beginners)

Knitted fabrics and woven fabrics are the two most common types of fabrics used to make clothing.

Knitted fabrics are made by threads connected to a needle making loops, which are interwoven with other loops to form fabrics. Knitted fabrics are one of the most common types of fabrics used to make everyday clothing. It is significant to know that knitted fabrics are divided into weft and warp knitted fabrics. Although both types of fabrics are made from interwoven yarns, they differ slightly in appearance.

The other most common type of fabric is woven fabric. In order to understand how woven fabrics are made, just remember the process used to make clothing fabrics hundreds of years ago.  Fabrics are made by weaving and layering threads. Imagine a goal net or a multi-layered tennis racket net, but criss-cross these patterns and you get a woven fabric!

Different types of knitted fabrics

Knitted fabrics is a general term that covers three sub-types of fabrics with different textures.

1, Weft knitted fabric

To get an idea of the weft knitted fabric method, just think of hand-knitted sweaters, where the material is made by weaving threads around itself. So when you look at a weft knitted fabric, the weave pattern of the fabric has a very obvious V-shape.

Weft knitted fabric is the most common type of knitted fabric that you will come across in your daily life. It is made on a circular knitting machine and is not as strong as the warp knitted fabric. The fabric is easier to disassemble and if there is a hole in the weft knitted fabric, it is easier to  grow over in a shorter time. However, weft knitted fabric is easier to stretch if elastic materials are not used.

2Warp knitted fabric

Warp knitted fabric is also made with weaving yarns or threads around itself, but the pattern is a little more complicated. The V-shape of the yarns is not so obvious, but the patterns are also stripe-like.

Before making warp knitted fabrics, the individual threads must be straightened from the spools to a warp beam where all of the individual yarns can then be knit together. Since many yarns are knitted at the same time when making warp knitted fabrics, they are made much faster and in larger quantities than weft knitted fabrics. Warp knitted fabrics are more durable than weft knitted fabrics.

3Flat knitted fabric

The common idea of flat knitted fabric is similar to weft knitted fabric, but the length and width of these knitted fabric are limited so it’s often used for collars, cuffs, hems, socks, and gloves.

Fuzhou Huasheng Textile Co., Ltd. was established in 2004. It is a professional supplier of knitted fabrics. If you have any questions regarding knitted fabrics or have any knitted fabric needs, please feel free to reach out to us.


Post time: May-17-2022