A slub in textiles production refers to thickened areas of a

fiber Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. '' Thread'' is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern ...

. Slubbed or slubby fabric is woven from slubby yarn (yarn with a very variable diameter). Both high and low slubbiness may be sought. Slubs in spun fibers may be produced deliberately by varying spinning tension (see Novelty yarns#Slub). They are also produced when short, staple fibers are spun into a single yarn. Slubs may be valued or deliberately produced for aesthetic effect, but they may also be regarded as a defect caused by either uneven spinning or using low-grade, lumpy or short-staple fiber.

Types

Slubby cotton fabric includes: *

Madras (cloth) Madras is a lightweight cotton fabric with typically patterned texture and tartan design, used primarily for summer clothing such as pants, shorts, lungi, dresses, and jackets. The fabric takes its name from the former name of the city of Che ...

, woven from short-staple cotton *Some

denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more Warp (weaving), warp threads. This twill weave produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. Denim, as it is recognized today, was f ...

used for jeans; the slubs cause the cloth to fade unevenly, in a pattern called

Linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

is often slubbed.

Wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

fabrics, such as

tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

s, may also be slubbed. Hand Dyed Silk Noil

Silk is a

filament The word filament, which is descended from Latin ''filum'' meaning " thread", is used in English for a variety of thread-like structures, including: Astronomy * Galaxy filament, the largest known cosmic structures in the universe * Solar filament ...

fiber, and the only natural fiber type to come in filament length naturally (strands can be over 1.5 km long). However, some silk fibers are shorter in length, and must therefore be processed as shorter-staple fibers, not as filament fibers, to make cloth. These shorter fibers, known as silk noil, may also be used unspun (for instance, as wadding in a quilted garment), but are often plied into threads (which are then at least twice as thick as the filament) and used in the production of slubbed silks. Slubbed silks include: * Pongee * Shantung (fabric) * Dupioni * * * Thai silk *Some

tussah Tussar silk (alternatively spelled as tussah, tushar, tassar, tussore, tasar, tussur, or tusser, and also known as (Sanskrit) ''kosa'' silk) is produced from larvae of several species of silkworms belonging to the moth genus '' Antheraea'', incl ...

silk * Eri silk Slubby mixed-fiber fabric include: *

Bourette Bourette is a silk fabric with bumps often blended with other yarns made of Bourette fibers. The name " Bourette" is from its constituting fiber. It has a rough surface incorporating multicolored threads and knots of spun silk. The fabric is made ...

* "Antique" satin

Synthetic fiber Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants like cott ...

s can readily be produced in filament form, as very long lengths of consistent diameter, but it is sometimes slubbed for effect.

References

{{textiles Textiles