Plate No. 025fabric
Grey Marl
Camel
Slate
- First documented
- 1600s
- Origin
- Wales, United Kingdom
- Fiber
- wool, cotton
- Weave
- plain or twill, napped
- Family
- twills
Plate No. 025 · fabric
Flannel
Flannel is a soft cloth defined by its finish rather than a single weave: the woven surface is napped, brushed so the fiber ends lift into a downy pile that traps air and blurs the weave beneath. It began as Welsh wool and became the cold-weather workshirt cloth of North America in cotton. The brushed surface is why flannel feels warm the instant it touches skin, and why the plaid patterns printed or woven into it look softly out of focus.
Named for
Likely from the Welsh gwlanen, a woolen cloth, from gwlan, wool.