Glossary of frequently-used textile, manufacturing, development, production, and commercial shipping terms in the apparel industry.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Waistband	Straight Waistband - The waistband pattern edges are parallel and cut on the straight grain. Contour Waistband - A band formed to fit the body’s curve, accommodating differences in measurement between top edge of waistband and waistband seam. Curtain Waistband - A waistband with a self-fabric outer face supported by a bias strip designed to hang below the waistline seam. Used for tailored trousers and skirts.
Warp Knit	A wide range of machine-knitting techniques that involve a prepared “warp” of yarns, similar to weaving. This “warp” of parallel yarns is inter-looped in various diagonal, sideways and back and forth patterns to knit the fabric together. Warp knits include: tricots, raschel, power-nets, milanese, lace machines, etc. Warp knits can create both fashion and high performance fabrics and less expensive utilitarian fabrics depending on the equipment.
Washdown	A change in appearance to give a worn or laundered look resulting from washing, scouring, chemical, mechanical, or other treatments, or combination of treatments.
Water Repellency	The characteristic of a fiber, yarn, or fabric to resist wetting or saturation.
Water Resistance	The characteristic to resist wetting and or easy penetration by water. This treatment is often non-permanent.
Waterproofing	A garment made with water-resistant fabric with the addition of taping or flexible cement on all seams or stitching lines to prevent water penetration at those points.
Weaving	The process of interlacing yarns at a 90-degree angle. The mechanism for weaving textiles is a loom. Warp threads (yarn) run the length of the fabric and are usually prepared on a drum or “beam.” The warp yarns can be thousands of yards in length (often determining the minimum customer order). The warp yarns can be dyed for creating fancy patterns or left undyed for piece dyeing or other treatments. Weft (fill) threads interlace or “weave” the warp threads together and run back and forth across the fabric from selvage to selvage.
Weight (Fabric)	Usually given in weight per sq. yard or sq. meter.
Welt Jacquard	A weft knitting technique that carries the various colors and yarns for a fancy textile on the reverse side until they are required in the surface design. The reverse side of the fabric looks like horizontal colored stripes. Birds-eye-back is a similar technique but the reverse side looks like multicolored dots.
Welt Pocket	A pocket that is set-in or cut-in and has one or two folds of fabric that bind or pipe the opening. It is also called a Besom or Reece Pocket.
Wicking	The ability for a fiber or fabric to draw moisture or perspiration away from the body in order to improve evaporation and comfort.
Width (Fabric)	The cuttable width of a given fabric. This will affect the “yield” in cutting out the garment pieces.
WIP	(Work-in-Progress Report) This shows an update of each step involved in a season’s production.
Work in Progress	See: WIP
Worsted	Long staple woolen fibers that go through the additional process of combing prior to spinning and produce a smoother, more lustrous and harder finished fabric.