Fabric and fibre are words that are commonly heard in connection with textiles or clothes. We use the word fabric to refer to the material or ingredient used in making the fabric. There is another word fibre that is used to refer to the material of the dress or the cloth that makes the situation very confusing. There are people who cannot make out whether it is fabric or fibre that they should use to describe the textile or the cloth. This article attempts to highlight the differences between fabric and fibre to enable readers to know the right word to use when talking about textiles.
Fibre
To begin with, any cloth or textile is a result of fibers of a substance woven in a pattern. Fibers are strands of materials that are spun together to make yarn. This yarn is the basic material used for manufacture of cloth or textile. For example, mankind has been making use of cotton since time immemorial to make clothes. Cotton balls are obtained from the cotton plant and turned into strands that can be woven to be finally converted into clothes or textile. There are many sources of fibre but for the purpose of clothing natural plant and animal sources are preferred for comfort and safety. Wool from animals is another natural fibre that has been used for thousands of years to make warm garments to provide protection during winters.
Fabric
What is this dress made up of, satin or silk? This is a statement that sums up to describe the meaning of the word fabric. Fabric is the end result of a process called weaving that makes use of fibre as the ingredient. You know that the undergarment you wear is made up of cotton. In this case, both the fabric as well as fibre is cotton. When a fibre is taken and weaving is performed on it, fabric is what is created. To be sure, what we seen in retail shops selling dress materials or textiles are fabrics. When we decide to change the curtains of our home, what we finalize in upholstery shops is fabrics that are finally made into curtains. Similarly, when a person is so out of shape that he does not get readymade trouser or shirt to dress up, he has to make do with fabrics that are tailored to stitch shirt and jeans for him. The individual has lots of options in front of him when it comes to choosing fabrics as he can try cotton, silk, terrycot, polyester, and so on.
What is the difference between Fabric and Fibre?
Fibre is the material or the ingredient that goes into making fabric. Thus cotton fiber is used to make cotton fabric. The process of converting a fibre into a fabric can be weaving or knitting. For example, wool fibre can be converted into woolen fabrics by making use of weaving to manufacture woolen coats and trousers or it can be used to be converted into sweaters and pullovers through the process of knitting.Fabric is the finished product that we see being sold in textile and dress material shops as well as upholstery shops. On the other hand, fibre is obtained from natural sources such as plants and animals or it could be synthetic, having been made in factories.