Ribbon yarn or tape yarn is a kind of
novelty yarn
Novelty yarns include a wide variety of yarns made with unusual features, structure or fiber composition, such as slubs, inclusions, metallic or synthetic fibers, laddering and varying thickness introduced during production. Some linens, wools t ...
. It is made of
ribbon
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...
, but generally not the kind of ribbon used in
sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening pieces of textiles together using a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeo ...
and
millinery
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners made and sold a range of accessories for clothing and hairstyles. ...
. Rather, they are ribbons made especially for
knitting
Knitting is a method for production of textile Knitted fabric, fabrics by interlacing yarn loops with loops of the same or other yarns. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done Hand knitting, by hand or Knitting machi ...
or
crocheting
Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', which means 'hook'. Hooks can be made from different ...
, with some in a tubular form, some woven flat, and some similar in appearance to
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 ...
. Ribbon yarns can be composed of many materials, from
synthetics to
silk
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
to
plant fibers.
Yarn
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