Shirt Fabric

Looking for the ultimate quality cotton shirt? All Shirt Studio shirts are made from two ply cotton - when two threads are twisted together into a yarn. The twisted Two-Ply yarn, because of its inherent physical characteristics, resists the normal tendency of yarn to shed or ‘pill’. Therefore, fabrics woven of this Two-Ply yarn will have a much greater durability and longevity. The cotton is grown using only organic fertilizers and then woven to an extremely high yarn count, producing shirts with a unique combination of great strength, silky lustre and incredible softness.

There are many types of yarns and finishes which create a different feel and texture. Below are some of the types of cotton shirts found at Shirt Studio.

Twills

The Twill is the weave type and is characterized by the weft (crosswise yarns) passing over multiple warp yarns and then under one warp yarn. This creates a pronounced diagonal rib effect. The important characteristic of twill is that it is the most durable of cloths and the least likely to soil.

Oxfords

Oxford, named for Oxford University by the Scottish mill which first wove it, is a basket weave. These range from simple, plain Oxfords, usually woven - except in the case of white - from two different colored yarns. In most instances, the second colour of yarn is white. Basket weaves are simple weaves. What differentiates them from the plain weave is that each warp and/or weft yarn passes over and under multiple yarns. These multiples generally range from two to four and can create quite an exciting array of fabrics. Here is demonstrated the basic weaving pattern for a 2x1 and 2x2 Basket Weave. Do not confuse these denominations with ply - they signify how many yarns are being passed over and under

Herringbone

One of the most popular cotton business shirts is made from this twill weave and named for its likeliness to the backbone of the fish of the same name. It also utilizes a regular and equilateral twill construction - but the construction reverses direction every certain number of yarns in order that the diagonal ribs change direction by ninety degrees.

Dobby/Jacquard

Dobbies and Jacquards are both methods of creating a design on cloth without using colors to do so. Their most obvious difference lies in the size of the design they can produce. Dobby looms are capable of producing small, uncomplicated designs whereas Jacquard looms can create the most complex designs of any size desired. This is used frequently in our wedding and formal style mens cotton shirts.

End On End/ Fil A Fil

In the simplest terms, end-on-end is a plain weave just like a poplin. It is characterized by the interspersion of coloured yarns with other coloured yarns. Though one of the colours is most frequently white, a great diversity of end-on-ends has arisen in recent years. The simplest and most common - the medium blue broadcloth end-on-end often associated with the white collar & cuff style - is constructed from a warp of alternating white and blue yarns and a weft of white yarns. This yields the familiar 'crosshatched' appearance.

The Finishing

Cloth is not ready for stitching until it is "finished". After weaving, fabric then goes through one or all of a variety of 'finishing' processes. These include dying, sizing, sanforization, and pre-shrinking to name just a few common ones. Each of these processes has a direct effect not only upon the appearance of the cloth, but on its performance characteristics as well. Many of the more feminine ladies cotton shirts will present a soft silk-like finish.