know your fabric: japanese dobby

Dobby – technically, dobby encompasses any fabric made on a dobby loom. At Orimono Imports, we use the term dobby to refer to those cotton fabrics having a regular/random slub pattern in both the warp and weft directions. Dobby has a slightly looser weave than quilting cottons, but good structure and not a lot of drape; it weighs around 145 gsm. Its looser weave makes it an excellent choice for hand stitching. We have used cotton dobby successfully in pieced quilting projects, as a base fabric for sashiko stitching, and in home dec/bagmaking/garment construction. Our favorite dobby manufacturer is Morikiku; other dobby fabrics come to us from Cosmo, Sevenberry, Kokka, Hokkoh, and Senyo. Most of our dobby prints feature Japanese designs, ranging from traditional to more contemporary/modern.

Shantung is another cotton fabric made on a dobby loom. Shantung differs from dobby in that the slub runs in one direction only. Occasionally, a shantung fabric may be satin-faced, giving it a very smooth and shiny appearance, while still retaining the distinctive raised slub pattern. As with dobby, printed patterns on shantung mostly feature Japanese designs. Shantung fabrics come to us from Cosmo, Sevenberry, Hokkoh and Kanayasu.

Crepe fabrics can fall under the “dobby” category, as they have a texture and weave pattern outside the usual plain or twill weaves. Sometimes the crepe texture is achieved with twisting of the threads, and sometimes due to the weaving process itself; in both cases, the crepe texture will not disappear due to laundering or ironing. Our cotton crepe fabrics tend to be lighter in weight, like sheeting or shirting, but offer more drape. Our main crepe brand is Hokkoh, although we have seen some fabrics labeled as crepe from Cosmo (mainly we classify these as seersucker, since their textured/dimpled pattern comes from a difference in thread tension applied during the weaving process).

Barkcloth is a type of crepe with longer runs of thread over the surface of the fabric. Its nostalgic nature means the prints seen on barkcloth can tend toward vintage/retro. We have seen barkcloth from time to time from Kokka and Hokkoh.

Image: Morikiku dobby fabric in a reorderable print