Bias Cut
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woven Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics, often created on a loom, are made of many threads woven in a warp and weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one anot ...
textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
s, grain refers to the orientation of the weft and warp threads. The three named grains are straight grain, cross grain, and the bias grain. In sewing, a pattern piece can be cut from fabric in any orientation, and the chosen grain or orientation will affect the way the fabric hangs and stretches and thus the fit of a garment. Generally speaking a piece is said to be cut on a particular grain when the longest part of the pattern or the main seams of the finished piece are aligned with that grain. Non-woven materials such as
felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...
,
interfacing Interfacing is a textile used on the unseen or "wrong" side of fabrics to make an area of a garment more rigid. Interfacings can be used to: *stiffen or add body to fabric, such as the interfacing used in shirt collars and cuffs *strengthen ...
or
leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...
do not have a grain.


Straight grain

The straight grain is oriented parallel with the warp threads and the
selvedge A selvage (US English) or selvedge (British English) is a "self-finished" edge of a piece of fabric which keeps it from unraveling and fraying. The term "self-finished" means that the edge does not require additional finishing work, such as hem ...
. The straight grain typically has less stretch than the cross grain since the warp threads will be pulled tighter than the weft during weaving. Most garments are cut with the straight grain oriented top to bottom.Howard, Pamela. "For woven fabrics, it's important to go with the grain". Threads (Taunton Press) April/May 2005.


Cross grain

The cross grain runs perpendicular to the selvedge and parallel to the weft threads. The cross grain generally has more stretch than the straight grain since the weft threads are generally looser than the warp during weaving. Most garments (like
pants Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants (American English, American, Canadian English, Canadian and Australian English) are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separatel ...
or
shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...
s) are cut on the straight grain with the cross grain parallel with the floor when the wearer is standing. This allows more stretch through the width of the garment, such as in a pants leg which needs more circumferential than vertical stretch. Garments are sometimes cut on the cross grain, generally because the pieces are too wide to fit on the straight grain.


Bias

The bias grain of a piece of
woven Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics, often created on a loom, are made of many threads woven in a warp and weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one anot ...
fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...
, usually referred to simply as "the bias", is any grain that falls between the straight and cross grains. When the grain is at 45 degrees to its
warp and weft In the manufacture of cloth, warp and weft are the two basic components in weaving to transform thread and yarn into textile fabrics. The vertical ''warp'' yarns are held stationary in tension on a loom (frame) while the horizontal ''weft'' ...
threads it is referred to as "true bias." Every piece of woven fabric has two biases,
perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', ⟠...
to each other. A garment made of woven fabric is said to be "cut on the bias" when the fabric's warp and weft threads are on one of the bias grains. Woven fabric is more elastic as well as more fluid in the bias direction, compared to the straight and cross grains. This property facilitates
garments Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of ma ...
and garment details that require extra elasticity, drapability or flexibility, such as bias-cut skirts and dresses,
necktie A necktie, long tie, or simply a tie, is a cloth article of formal neckwear or office attire worn for decorative or symbolic purposes, resting under a folded shirt collar or knotted at the throat, and usually draped down the chest. On rare o ...
s, piping trims and decorations, bound seams, etc. The "bias-cut" is a technique used by designers for cutting clothing to utilize the greater stretch in the bias or diagonal direction of the fabric, thereby causing it to accentuate body lines and curves and drape softly. For example, a full-skirted dress cut on the bias will hang more gracefully or a narrow dress will cling to the figure. Bias-cut garments were an important feature of the designs of
Madeleine Vionnet Madeleine Vionnet (; June 22, 1876, Loiret, France – March 2, 1975) was a French fashion designer best known for being the "pioneer of the bias cut dress". Vionnet trained in London before returning to France to establish her first fashion hou ...
in 1920s and 1930s and bias-cut styles are revived periodically. Before her time, bias cut was rare in women's clothing and in men’s garments was highly unconventional to the point of being outré. As an example, in the early 1800’s, the specially designed clothing of the
dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance and personal grooming, refined language and leisurely hobbies. A dandy could be a self-made man both in person and ''persona'', who emulated the aristocratic style of l ...
and
celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...
Alexis Soyer Alexis Benoît Soyer (4 February 1810 – 5 August 1858) was a French chef, writer and inventor, who made his reputation in Victorian England. Born in north-east France, Soyer trained as a chef in Paris, and quickly built a career that was bro ...
were remarked on by
George Augustus Sala George Augustus Henry Fairfield Sala (24 November 1828 – 8 December 1895) was an author and journalist who wrote extensively for the ''Illustrated London News'' as G. A. S. and was most famous for his articles and leaders for ''The Daily Tele ...
, on meeting Soyer in the
Hungerford Market Hungerford Market was a greengrocer, produce market in London, at Charing Cross on Strand, London, the Strand. It existed in two different buildings on the same site, the first built in 1682, the second in 1832. The market was first built on th ...
:
"...an extraordinary oddity was added to his appearance by the circumstance that every article of his attire, save, I suppose, his gloves and boots, was cut on what dressmakers call a "bias", or as he himself, when I came to know him well, used to designate as à la zoug-zoug."
In the Middle Ages, before the development of knitting,
hose A hose is a flexible hollow tube or pipe designed to carry fluids from one location to another, often from a faucet or hydrant. Early hoses were made of leather, although modern hoses are typically made of rubber, canvas, and helically wound w ...
were cut on the bias in order to make them fit better. The old spelling was byas, or (less common) byess.


See also

*
Bias tape image:lavender 0.25 inch double-fold bias tape.jpg, left, An example of double-fold bias tape Bias tape or bias binding is a narrow strip of fabric, typically plain weave, cut on the bias (textile), bias. As the weaving, weave of fabric is at ...


References

{{sewing Textiles Sewing