Difference between Fabric and Material

When you go to any cloth shop, you notice the word material and cloth being used interchangeably. Ready-made apparel is referred to as garments while unstitched cloth is known as material or fabric. Many usually prefer to buy ready-made clothes like shirts, jeans, trousers and jackets because of the convenience factor. Sometimes you need to buy unstitched cloth for different purposes like curtains, upholstery for sofas, cushion covers and other items. Unless you are skilled with stitching, most people just go for ready-made clothing as the thought of buying unstitched fabric and putting together or hiring someone to stitch it can be quite bothersome.

The word fabric is often used when you go to the store to buy cloth which can be further used to make different items. The word is very common in furniture stores. When you order or purchase a sofa, they usually give you a choice of colours for the fabric you want to use to cover the seats. Shops are filled with numerous fabrics of different textures for curtains and sofas. Different fabrics are used to make skirts and shirts for women. Even when you go to a shop which sells stitched garments, you feel the dress and ask which fabric is used. Cotton, silk, terylene, polyester, denim, satin, corduroy and many others are all different types of fabric.

The word material is used in various contexts. When it is used in the clothing industry it usually means an element that is used to make a certain fabric or cloth. Material can be considered as the core composition that makes up the entire fabric or cloth. The textile industry uses various materials to put together many different types of fabric or cloth. We all know that denim is used to make jeans but few of you are aware of the fact that cotton is the material used to make denim. The same is the case with many different fabrics as the actual material is something that we are usually unaware of. Material also refers to the laces, fancy buttons, sequins and glitters used to make a dress.