Flannels and tweed

[Guest]

Both come from woolens. What is the difference between them?

[Guest]

They both come from woolen yarns; however, different grades of yarn are used for each. The old distinction used to be between "saxony" woolen yarns (finer and softer) and "cheviot" woolen yarns (thicker and rougher). The former were woven into flannels, the latter into tweeds. The terminology has since blurred, but the basic principle still holds: finer yarns go into flannel, rougher yarns go into tweeds.

Beyond that, each type is woven differently and made in colors and patterns that are traditional for its type. Hence (for instance) you see a lot of herringbone and gun club tweeds, and a lot of solid and chalk stripe flannels, but not the reverse.