Blue jeans are staples of most fall wardrobes, but cords might be another of your go-to choices. Denim and corduroy are also great fabrics for hats. Both are durable and primarily made from cotton, but differ in their look and hand feel.
The manufacturing processes of denim and corduroy gives each its classic look. The “twill weave” is commonly seen in blue jeans. Warp yarns (vertical yarns) are dyed with indigo and weft yarns (horizontal yarns) are left undyed. Twill is made by offsetting rows of weft yarns woven over and under warp yarns. For example, the weft might be woven over three warp yarns and under one warp yarn. The result is a fabric with a diagonal pattern.
Corduroy is produced from a base of primary warp and weft yarns woven together. Using a technique called “cut-pile”, an extra set of yarns is interwoven into this base fabric, then cut and brushed to form the characteristic textured lines of corduroy. These ridges formed by the upright cut fibres are called wales or cords and give corduroy its plush, textured feel. The wale number determines how closely bunched the ridges are. For instance, standard wale corduroy has 10-12 lengthwise pile rows per inch and wide wale has 6-10.
Both denim and corduroy soften, fade and age with time. Denim fades with washing and wearing for two reasons. When warp fibres are indigo-dyed, the dye doesn’t penetrate to the core of the fibres. The surface dye washes and wears off. At the same time, the undyed weft fibres become more prominent. On the other hand, corduroy loses its dye and fades in high wear/stress points with the channels between cords maintaining some of the original dye. Both fabrics are extremely durable. Denim gets better with age, while corduroy needs a little extra care (wash garments inside out and iron carefully on the wrong side) to avoid flattening of the pile and development of shiny spots.
Hats by Tracy J 