Knit fabrics with face-to-back differentiation

A method of making fabric on a double bar warp knitting machine, with the fabric having a technical face with a velour or fleece surface and a first set of appearance characteristics, and the fabric having an opposite, technical back with a pile velvet surface and a second set of appearance characteristics, the second set of appearance characteristics of the technical back being different from the first set of appearance characteristics of the technical face, said method comprising the steps of:

• selecting one or more different pile yarns to provide the fabric with the technical face having the first set of appearance characteristics and the technical back having the second set of appearance characteristics,
• the first set of appearance characteristics of the technical face selected from among:
• depth of color upon dyeing, degree of raising, degree of air permeability, susceptibility to selected dye formulation, reaction to heat, and degree of coarseness, bulk, cross-section and/or denier;
• and
• the second set of appearance characteristics of the technical back selected from among:
• depth of color upon dyeing, degree of fiber straightness, degree of fiber curl, degree of fiber shrinkage, degree of fiber crimp degree of raising, reaction to heat, degree of yarn coarseness, bulk, cross-section and/or denier;
• knitting a three-dimensional fabric structure on the knitting machine, said structure having two fabric substrates formed from the backing and stitch yarns, each defining a technical face, with a plurality of the pile yarns extending between and interconnecting the fabric substrates;
• cutting the pile yarns to separate the fabric substrates, with ends of the pile yarns extending from each fabric substrate to define a technical back;
• dyeing the fabric substrate;
• processing the technical face of the fabric substrate by pulling pile yarns from the technical back to the technical face to form the velour or fleece surface on the technical face;
• and
• processing the pile yarns at the technical back of the fabric substrate to form the velvet surface.