Originally Posted by
littlebitoheaven
Very interesting. Hadn't thought of that. How do YOU tell if the fabric is woven or printed? Y
There are two basic types of fabric, woven and knitted. A woven fabric can have a design woven into it like a damask. In a damask the design shows up on one side as a positive and on the other side as a negative but it's all one color. A woven can be a yarn dyed where the individual yarns are dyed before they're used to weave the fabric. This is generally used in plaids and homespuns are one type of yarn dyed woven. If a fabric has a colored design woven into it you'll see the colored thread carried across the background part on the wrong side of the fabric. This is generally used in fancy silks.
Other than homespuns, quilt cottons are all printed fabrics. Some are printed on high speed rollers and some are vat dyed like batiks.