Layers of Meaning

Glossary of Textile Terms

An Introduction to Textile Terms is a short, four page pdf document produced by The Textile Museum in Washington D.C. It's a solid glossary of most of the terms that one will encounter in the world of textiles (note: the world of 'fiber' may be a good bit broader than this.)

Entries run the gamut from batik to yarn. It covers not only the basic concepts, but gets into some deeper detail. 'Dyeing' takes up a little over half a page and describes the basics about several processes and resists. 'Couching" explains both what the stitiching is: "An embroidery stitch in which threads are laid on fabric and sewn down with another thread," as well as why it was done: "Decoration with metallic or metallic-wrapped thread is often couched both for economy (no precious metal is wasted on the back) and practicality (the metallicwrapped thread is not fine or flexible enough to be easily pulled through cloth).

A good beginning resource or classroom reference to textiles!