What is Gabardine Fabric? Types & Characteristics

Gabardine fabric is a woven fabric that comes with tightly twill woven and has vast popularity in the textile industry. While gabardine fabric was manufactured with wool in the past, nowadays, this fabric is also produced from cotton, polyester as well as blended fabric.

Since the fifteenth century, gabardine has been utilized as a fabric for clothing. While gabardine, like other woven twill fabrics, does have a propensity to wrinkle, it is frequently given a wrinkle-release treatment, making it much simpler to maintain. These days, fabric manufacturers use gabardine material because of its adaptability, style, as well as durability. Let's explore the facts about this fabric.

What is Gabardine Fabric?

Gabardine fabric is a resilient, tightly woven twill fabric that occasionally has a high gloss and a recognizable diagonal cord. It is one of the most popular and widely used fabrics in making formal pants, suits, blazers, and formal coats. It may be made entirely of natural fibers like cotton as well as wool. But nowadays, gabardine is also made of synthetic materials like polyester, rayon, and their blend. 

There are various types of gabardine fabric available in the textile industry based on the manufacturing materials. Since this fabric is manufactured with a tight woven twill process, it is an excellently durable fabric. Gabardine fabric comes with numerous advanced features. This fabric has excellent breathability and water resistance features.

For a very long time, gabardine has been a popular fabric of preference when durability and fashion are the order of the day. This fabric can be used to manufacture a lot of garment applications. Clothing manufactured with gabardine is typically marked as being only suited for dry washing.

History of Gabardine Fabric

Gabardine fabric is a popular twill woven fabric that was first produced in 1879 and was first patented in 1888 by Thomas Burberry. Thomas Burberry was the founder of the Burberry fashion house, and he aimed to produce a durable and versatile fabric blend. As a result, he invented this fabric in the 19th century.

Burberry gave this fabric the title gabardine in homage to the Gabardina of the Middle Ages. Beggars frequently wore the Gabardina, a long, loose garment that was primarily knotted about the waist and used as protection from the weather. Because it is so simple to maintain, gabardine is a common fabric for bottoms and outerwear.

With time, gabardine blends gained popularity, including cotton as well as synthetic materials, in the fabric's composition. A high glossy fabric that nonetheless functioned effectively as twill was made possible by the inclusion of fibers apart from wool. Gabardine's shine makes it perfect for both women's and men's clothing.

What is Gabardine Fabric Made Of?

Generally, Gabardine fabric is manufactured from wool. Worsted wool or even wool and cotton combination made up the fabric's initial composition. The wool was woven, with one side having a smooth outlook and feeling and the other having a ribbed look. As time went on, blended gabardine gained popularity, including cotton and synthetic materials in the fabric's composition. Nowadays, polyester and Lyocell are also used to manufacture this fabric.

Properties

Types of Gabardines

Gabardine fabric is available in different types. This fabric is mainly classified based on the manufacturing materials. So, let's take a look at different types of Gabardine fabrics available in the textile industry.

1. Cotton Gabardine

Cotton-based gabardine is a twill-woven fabric. More designers utilize it than wool gabardine to create skirts, dresses, pants, coats, uniforms, and other items. Despite being more durable and slightly softer to the touch than its wool relative, it is more lightweight.

2. Wool gabardine

Wool gabardine is a special type of wool fabric made from well-twisted worsted weight yarn, which results in a tightly woven gabardine fabric. Because it is so strong and will last a long time, suits made of this worsted wool gabardine fabric are used for jackets, skirts, as well as trousers.

3. Polyester Gabardine

Polyester Gabardine is a delicate Woven Heavyweight Polyester with Linear Patterns that are only noticeable up close to the eye. In particular, Polyester gabardine is a highly durable woven fabric with a distinguishable twill twist. Excellent for suits, garments, skirts, dresses, pants, and jackets for both men and women.

4. Blended Gabardine

This type of gabardine fabric is a mix of cotton and polyester. It can be a blend of polyester and rayon with a small portion of spandex. Grain amounts and mixture ratios change depending on the application. This product is a combination of polyester as well as cotton gabardine fabrics, which are frequently used in work clothes and uniforms for the army.

5. Lyocell Gabardine

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The semi-synthetic fabric called Lyocell is frequently used as an alternative to cotton or silk. This type of fabric is a kind of rayon, and the main ingredient is cellulose, which comes from wood. Lyocell Gabardine Fabric is highly durable and a popular type of fabric that comes with different excellent features.

Characteristics

Now it is time to talk about the characteristics or features of gabardine fabric. This fabric comes with different advanced and excellent features like good durability, excellent breathability, as well as water-resistant features. Let's explore the features of this fabric.

Highly Durable

Gabardine is a tough, water-resistant fabric that is densely woven. It is highly durable, long-lasting, and can withstand the time test. This makes it a wise investment and a long-lasting, sustainable decision. Overcoats are frequently made with gabardine due to their durability.

Water-Resistance

The garment made of gabardine has excellent water resistance features. Gabardine fabric has a strong weave that makes it water resistant. It is used to make water-resistant outerwear, including raincoats, for this reason. This does not imply, though, that wearing a gabardine jacket will totally shield you from rain.

Eco-Friendly Fabric

Worsted wool, cotton, texturized polyester, or even a combination of these can be used to create gabardine. Depending on the processes used to turn it into the fiber, unprocessed wool can be completely biodegraded in 1 to 5 years. So, it will not harm the ecological nature.

Heat Retain Ability

Gabardine fabric has excellent heat retention ability. People typically wear it during the winter and are familiar with it for its tighter weave. These warm-keeping gabardine materials perspire a lot. The gabardine textiles make the body sweat rather than burn, thanks to their structure. People don't like it in the summer because of this.

Which is gabardine best for summer or winter?

The clothing may be appropriate for the coldest or even least rigid time of the year based on the materials used to make the gabardine fabric. This fabric is supposedly ideal for the middle of the year since it can accommodate the fashion demands of those days despite the unpredictable weather as well as temperature.

A smooth, well-draped, excellent ventilated textile that is resilient to wear, does not distort when wet, and is excellent for exposure to high humidity levels. So, it can be said that gabardine fabric is best for both summer and winter based on the manufacturing materials.

Applications

A wide variety of clothing and accessories are made from gabardine fabric. The cloth has a long history and several applications. They include everything from clothing and sewing supplies to home decor. Clothing like suits, jackets, overcoats, uniforms, and trousers is made of gabardine fabric. Business suit pocket linings are frequently made from cotton gabardine by customized tailors.

Wrap Up

You may now add gabardine to your selection for your very next project because you are aware of what it is and its advantages. It is a well-known strong fabric that is thin, water-resistant, as well as tightly knit. Additionally, this fabric has a fascinating past and has undergone significant change to become the perfect material for making fashionable clothing for men and also women.