Feel

See HAND.

Feeler motion

A mechanical device used to detect when the weft on a pirn in a shuttle is becoming exhausted.

Feiting

The matting together of fibres during processing or in use (see milling (fabric finishing) and felt).

Felimongering

The process of pulling wool from sheep skins. (See also skin wool.)

Fell

1. The end of a piece of fabric that is woven last. 2. In weaving the last filling pick laid in the fabric at any time.

Fell (of the cloth)

The line of termination of the fabric in the loom formed by the last weft thread.

Felling (making-up)

The flattening of an overseam by stitching it down, usually with a single chainstitch.

Felling simili

A binding made from mercerized cotton yarns throughout, in a 3/1 broken-twill weave in imitation of satin, distinguished by well-pronounced selvedges raised on the face.( Sub Category of binding)

Felt

A textile fabric characterized by the entangled condition of many or all of its component fibres. Three classes of felt can be distinguished:
(i) pressed felt (mechanical or sheet felt), which is formed from aweb or batt containing animal hair or wool, consolidated by the application of moisture, mechanical action and heat which cause the constituent fibres to mat together;
(ii) woven or knitted felts formed from staple fibre fabrics having some wool or animal hair content. These are subjected to the processes identified in
(i) to such a degree that the original fabric construction is completely obscured by the smooth felted surface;
(iii) needlefelt.

Felted yarn

A wool-rich yarn produced from sliver, slubbings, rovings, yarn, or by feiting. (See also continuous yarn felting.)

Felting

1. The process of exposing wool fibers alone or in combination with other fibers to mechanical and chemical action pressure moisture and heat so that they tangle shrink and mat to form a compact material. Felting is generally carried out in a fulling mill. (Also see FULLING.) 2. See NEEDLEPUNCHING and NEEDLED FABRIC.

Felting needle

A barbed needle mounted] in a needleloom, (see needleloom (nonwoven)) to cause fibre reorientation and entanglement during needling.

Fents

Short lengths of fabric cut from an end, piece, or lump of fabric. They may or may not be of imperfect material.
Note.. The term 'remnants' has been used as a synonym for fents. These are usually short lengths of fabric that accumulate in the marketing of textile material.

Fester

A faulty area in fabric caused by local interference with the shed during weaving, that results 1 2 6 in a concentration of stitches or floats (see stitch (defect)), and is sometimes accompanied by broken ends.
Note: One common cause of a felter is a broken end that becomes entangled with adjacent ends.

Festoon Dryer

A dryer in which cloth is suspended in loops over a series of supporting horizontal poles and carried through the heated chamber in this configuration.