Pongee

Though pongee is typically made out of silk, it can be woven from a variety of fabrics, such as cotton, linen and wool.

In the early 20th century, pongee was an important export from China to the United States.

Pongee varies in weight from 36 to 50 grams per square metre (0.12 to 0.16 oz/sq ft); lighter variants are known as Paj.

Pongee is created through weaving yarns that have been twisted unevenly at various points; the resulting fabric typically has horizontal "slubs" running along the weft, where yarns increase and decrease in thickness.

Pongee fabrics vary in their weight, fibre types, weave and yarn types; though some types of pongee display large, visible slubs, others, such as tsumugi, may only display minimally varying yarn thickness, resulting in a still-textured, but far more uniform, pongee fabric.