The Figaret fabric guide
Once the cut, the colour and the collar have been chosen, the choice of material remains.
Depending on the weave, the number and the colour of the threads, the fabric will have a different appearance and a particular texture specific to its weave.
Here are the fabrics to know in order to make the right choice.
THE POPLIN
Cotton, wool or silk, poplin is the classic and most widely used weave. Woven with a warp thread that is finer than the weft thread, this fabric is pleasant to the touch. The tight and smooth weave gives it an excellent quality. Poplin is used to make elegant and comfortable shirts.
THE FIL-A-FIL
Fil-à-fil is a variation of poplin. The weaving is done with different coloured yarns, one with a dark and one with a light colour. The result is a light, solid-coloured shirt with a mottled look. Fil-à-fil is perfect for a summer look.
oxford
Oxford is a "grainy" fabric with a less precise weave than poplin. The weft thread is often coloured while the warp thread is white, which gives the fabric its "checkered" appearance. Robust but soft and easy to care for, oxford is the material for the most casual shirts.
THE twill
The diagonal weave of the twill makes it stand out to the eye. Twill is strong and does not wrinkle easily. It is also the fabric used in the manufacture of our denim shirts.
THE DOBBY
Dobby is a relief weave obtained by crossing various threads. Doby is the textured fabric par excellence. The effect is subtle and enhances your plain shirts.
THE chevron
With its twill weave, the chevron is immediately recognisable by its oblique stripes. The alternating direction of the threads creates a delicate "zigzag" pattern that makes it so distinctive.
THE DENIM
First used for trousers and called "toile de Nîmes", denim has since been democratized and is perfect for casual shirts. Dyed with indigo (the colour that used to be called "Genoa blue", which gave the name "jeans"), this twill weave fabric offers real solidity and washes out as the indigo wears off.
THE chambray
Chambray is a fabric built on a plain weave and most often in cotton. Quite light, it is similar to yarn to yarn because it is also constructed with a white or unbleached weft and a coloured warp dyed with indigo. It is this indigo which has a patina that gives this fabric its casual look.
THE flanNEL
Historically made of wool, flannel is a fabric that is said to be “scratchy“. Now mainly made of cotton for shirts it offers a fluffy appearance and a beautiful softness that are very popular in winter.
THE PIQUE JERSEY
Quilted cotton refers to cotton fabric with diamond, relief, line-stitch or square patterns. This fabric is stretchy, wrinkle-free and easy to care for. Its softness and suppleness make it the perfect fabric for a casual shirt.
THE PINPOINT
Thinner than oxford, thinner than poplin, pin point is soft and durable. Its particularity is linked to the fact that the weft thread passes over two warp threads and then over the next two warp threads. A good compromise for a casual but not too casual shirt.
THE LINEN
Our linen is a 100% European product, grown in Normandy and Belgium. An exceptional fabric that respects the environment - as it does not require fertilizing or watering, it is breathable, thermo-regulating, durable and biodegradable by nature, and is soft and silky on contact with the skin.
WEAVING
The fabric is the number one ingredient of the shirt and is one of the major elements that make its quality. If the construction of the fabric is sometimes difficult to understand, it plays an important role in the visual aspect of the shirt, but also in its use according to the occasions or the seasons.
Always composed of a warp (the threads along the length of the weave) and a weft (the threads along the width), fabrics are recognisable and differentiated by different constructions between these horizontal and vertical threads.
Although an infinite number of constructions exist, they are most often part of one of the three main types of weave: plain (a classic checkerboard pattern), twill (compact and oblique) and satin (brighter because the weft hardly appears)
The Type of Thread
There are two main types of yarn: single and double twisted. Single yarn is a yarn that has been spun by machine (spinning machine) and is the most basic type. Double (or triple) is a yarn made up of two or three single yarns that have been twisted together.
This technique makes the yarn softer, stronger and increases the diameter of the yarn for a better quality fabric. Egyptian cotton, known for its length and fineness, is often used to create double-twisted yarns.
The canvas WEAVE
This is the simplest weave, as the weft thread passes successively under the warp thread and then continuously over it. This type of uniform weave makes fabrics known as "grain", the two sides are identical, there is neither back nor front.
Poplin is the best example of a plain weave fabric.
THE SATIN WEAVE
Satin weave, as the name suggests, produces fabrics with a satin effect. The weave is similar to twill as there is only one binding stitch on each thread, except that here the stitches are scattered to avoid a slanting effect.
THE TWILL WEAVE
This weave is characterised by its oblique lines. This is achieved by the specific alternation of the threads; the weft thread passes under one or more warp threads and then over a larger number of warp threads, or vice versa. Depending on the weave, twill can be weft-effect or warp-effect.
Twill fabrics are flexible and easily recognisable by the diagonal weave. Note that the back and front of the fabric are different depending on the weft or warp effect.
The TiTling
The titling or "thread title" or "thread number" indicates the quality of the fabric used for the shirt. It allows the fineness of the yarn to be determined according to the weight/length ratio. The higher the number, the finer, lighter, silkier and more resistant the yarn will be, resulting in a good quality fabric.