What is Pique Fabric & why use it for your shirts?
When you’re exploring different fabric types, you’ll most likely come across a variety of terms and types of fabric that you’re not familiar with. Pique fabric is one of the less talked about fabric, and may be something you haven’t heard of before, so we’re here to answer the questions and let you know exactly what this fabric is, why it’s useful and where it is best used.
First of all, it’s important to understand how a pique fabric is created. The fabric is initially made using a dobby loom attachment and it’s typically woven or knit. You’ll notice on most pique fabrics, that there is a fine ribbing to the texture, or even a fine cording. Pique fabrics generally tend to be medium weight fabrics, and are made up of a cotton and cotton-polyester blend.
Understanding how pique differs
It’s the textured ribbing or cording that makes pique fabric so different from other fabrics. For example, simple jersey material lacks the texture and depth that a pique fabric can offer. Jersey t shirts tend to have a very smooth and soft feel to them, but pique fabric boasts that waffled and weaved look that many people find so appealing.
Advantages of pique fabrics
There are many advantages to choosing pique fabric over standard or classic jersey fabric. We’ll talk about a few of these advantages here, so you can start to think whether pique fabric is the right choice for your garments or merchandise.
Advantage 1: One of the main side-effects of using the dobby loom attachment, is that the shirt is instantly more breathable because of the kind of weave it produces. Because the weave is airy, and gives the wearer additional ventilation – it’s a great choice for summer t shirts and polo shirts for summer sports. For outdoor sports such as golf (for example) where the wearer will be outdoors in the heat, a nicely ventilated pique shirt can make a big difference in how comfortable the wearer feels.
Advantage 2: The type of weave / knit for pique shirts tends to look slightly more formal that ordinary jersey. This is a great advantage is that aesthetic aligns with your product or brand. Also, more formal shirts tend to retail for more money – meaning the profit on pique shirts could be higher.
Advantage 3: Pique shirts are very durable, which means they last extremely well. This is a big advantage because it gives your customer a long-lasting and high quality product, that will stand the test of time.
Advantage 4: They show less sweat. Why? We think it’s because of the texture and weave, but somehow pique polo shirts tend to disguise sweat better than standard jersey counterparts. For most wearers, this will be a huge benefit and a reason to opt for pique above another materials – especially in the hotter months of the year.
How does pique perform with printing?
When it comes to printing, especially screen printing, you’ll want to consider how high quality to pique is on your shirt. For a faultless screen print, you’ll want to ensure a smooth and even surface, without much yarn fraying away.
The fine pique that we offer at Garment Printing is high quality and means that printing onto pique fabrics is absolutely possible, and the end result looks fantastic.
A classic garment to have in your wardrobe
In conclusion, pique polo shirts are great items to have in your wardrobe, and it’s a fantastic choice for personalisation and merchandising too. Pique fabric creates a sophisticated look, and means you have flexibility and comfort too.