A non-woven fabric comprises a batt of substantially parallel fibres extending in the widthwise direction which is provided with elongate spaced apart rows of stitches extending in a direction perpendicular to the fibres and passing from one face of the batt to the other, the rows of stitches being formed of two elongate yarns having one stitch component in the row of stitches and another component between the rows of stitches to form interconnecting threads therebetween to give greater stability to the fabric. The fibres preferably pass from an opening machine i.e. a carding machine, to a cross-lapping device, disposed above a conveyor, in the form of a batt with lengthwise extending fibres. The fibres are then deposited on the conveyor in the form of a batt with widthwise extending fibres and are conveyed to a stitching apparatus having a plurality of needles, the resultant batt is then passed through a napping apparatus where the batt is napped to a sufficient depth to cover the stitches. The yarn used for stitching is preferably spun staple yarns to prevent breaking of the yarns during napping. Examples of suitable fibres are cotton, wool, nylon, polypropylene, or viscose or acrylic fibres.
展开▼
