Clothing terms demystified – Jersey
A Jersey fabric is a special type of knit textile, either pure cotton or a cotton and synthetic blend. It’s most common uses are T-shirts, polo shirts and some stretch jumpers, because it is warm, flexible, stretchy, and quite insulating, making it a popular choice for clothing that is worn against the skin. It is also the fabric of choice for the new animal clothing market!
Lots of people claim that its named for the island of Jersey, but there is absolutely no evidence for this, and it’s more likely that the name is a corruption of an Indian word for stretch, because – of course – Jersey is not known for its cotton production but India is!
Like many other knit fabrics, jersey has a right and a wrong side – the right side bears a series of thin lines which run vertically while the wrong side has a horizontal grain, this means it can stretch up to 25% percent along its grain.
Usually, jersey garments should be washed in warm water with similar colours. Bright shades will, of course, stay vivid for longer if they are washed on 30 degrees or even a cold wash and not tumble dried. Some jersey fabrics will bleed when new, so don’t wash them with whites.
Dog jersey photograph by Elaine Vigneault, used under a creative commons attribution licence
Add comment December 3rd, 2007
