Fabrics

These are the fabrics that our seamstresses have available to make the clothing for your special day. Due to the trade agreements we have made, these will be the only fabrics used for your alterations.

Brocade
A heavy, exquisite jacquard (variegated weave or pattern) type fabric with an all-over raised pattern or floral design. A rich oriental silk fabric with raised patterns in gold and silver. A fabric characterized by raised designs.

Canvas
Closely woven, plain weave fabric made of natural or synthetic fibers. A firm closely woven material usually of linen, hemp, or cotton used for clothing.

Cotton
A unicellular, natural fiber that grows in the seedpod of the cotton plant. Cotton's strength, absorbency, and capacity to be washed and dyed also make it adaptable to a considerable variety of textile products.

Doeskin
The skin of does or the leather made from it. Soft leather from sheep- or lambskins. Generally applied to a type of fabric finish in which a low nap is brushed in one direction to create a soft suede-like hand on the fabric surface.

Felt
A non-woven fabric made from wool, hair, or fur, and sometimes in combination with certain manufactured fibers, where the fibers are locked together in a process utilizing heat, moisture, and pressure to form a compact material.

Fur
A piece of the dressed pelt of an animal used to make, trim, or line wearing apparel. An article of clothing made of or with fur. The hairy coat of a mammal especially when fine, soft, and thick.

Leather
Animal skin that has been chemically modified to produce a strong, flexible material that resists decay. Almost all the world output of leather is produced from cattle hides and calfskins, goatskins and kidskins, and sheepskins and lambskins. The variety of skins and the way they are processed can produce leather as soft as cloth or as hard as a shoe sole.

Linen
A fabric made from linen fibers obtained from inside the woody stem of the flax plant. Linen fibers are much stronger and more lustrous than cotton. Linen fabrics are very cool and absorbent, but wrinkle very easily, unless blended with manufactured fibers. Linen is one of the oldest textile fibers.

Satin
A traditional fabric utilizing a satin weave construction to achieve a lustrous fabric surface. Satin is a traditional fabric for evening and wedding garments. A basic weave, characterized by long floats of yarn on the face of the fabric. The yarns are interlaced in such a manner that there is no definite, visible pattern of interlacing and, in this manner, a smooth and somewhat shiny surface effect is achieved. The shiny surface effect is further increased through the use of high luster filament fibers in yarns which also have a low amount of twist. A true satin weave fabric always has the warp yarns floating over filling yarns.

Silk
A lustrous tough elastic fiber produced by silkworms and used for textiles. A natural filament fiber produced by the silkworm in the construction of its cocoon. Most silk is collected from cultivated worms; Tussah silk, or wild silk, is a thicker, shorter fiber produced by worms in their natural habitat. All silk comes from Asia, primarily China.

Suede
Leather with a napped surface. A fabric finished with a nap to simulate suede.

Velvet
A medium weight cut-pile constructed fabric in which the cut pile stands up very straight. It is woven using two sets of warp yarns; the extra set creates the pile. Velvet, a luxurious fabric, is commonly made with a filament fiber for high luster and smooth hand.

Watered Silk
A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger.

Wool
Usually associated with fiber or fabric made from the fleece of sheep or lamb. However, the term "wool" can also apply to all animal hair fibers, including the hair of the Cashmere or Angora goat or the specialty hair fibers of the camel, alpaca, llama, or vicuna.