Staples.—Staples is a term used to designate those fabrics which are woven in the same way year after year, varying only in the colouring given to them, which may change in accordance with the demands of fashion and of the buyer.
The principal dress goods staples are Brilliantines, Sicilians, Mohairs, Imperial Serges, Storm Serges, Cheviots, Panamas, Batistes, Taffetas, Voile, Muslins, Nun's Veiling, Cashmere, and Shepherd's Checks.
Surah.—A light, soft, twilled silk.
Swansdown.—Like Cotton Flannel and Flannelette, Swansdown is a fabric made of cotton with a "raised" or "napped" surface. Being raised but on the back of the cloth, it is "single raised": heavy and closely woven Swansdown is a typical raised cotton cloth. The weave is on the satin-weave principle.
Swiss Embroidery.—This process of ornamentation closely resembles lappet spots, but, unlike lappet spots, they are in reality the result of a subsequent process of weaving. The essential difference in the manner of attaching the thread which is used for the figuring to the cloth can readily be seen. In Swiss Embroidery there is an equal amount of floating thread used to form the spot on the face of the cloth and on the back, thus producing what may be termed a solid spot on both sides and therefore reversible.
Swivel Figures.—High-class fabrics are often ornamented with swivel spots and figures, which are easily distinguished from the lappet or extra warp figures. In this style the figure is interwoven with extra weft by small shuttles into the ground cloth structure. Each figure is produced by an independent weft thread quite distinct from the weft pick forming the ground structure or body of the fabric. The figure threads are well bound into the cloth, the bulk of the material being on the surface. Where no figure is required in the space between, the shuttles remain idle in the loom, and the single thread from each shuttle joining the swivel figures is often cut away. Often used where a silk figure or a mercerised cotton figure is required on a cotton or worsted ground.
Tapestry.—A yarn-dyed figured fabric composed of two sets of warp and weft threads, woven on a Jacquard loom.
T-Cloth.—An all-cotton plain-woven fabric, usually woven from low-quality yarns, generally sold in the grey or unbleached state. Most of the T-Cloth imported into China is a heavily sized cheap grey cloth, usually 30 to 32 inches wide, 24 yards per piece, with a woven coloured heading somewhat similar to the heading in Grey Shirtings. Some T-Cloth is imported measuring 36 inches wide by 24 or 40 yards per piece. These Grey T-Cloths are generally packed 50 to 75 pieces per bale. Bleached T-Cloths, 31 and 36 inches wide, are also imported in small quantities. These are generally packed in cases of 50 pieces. The fabric derives its name from the mark T under which it was first exported. T-Cloth is also known as "Mexican."