SCULPTURED PILE FABRIC HAVING IMPROVED AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS

摘要

The present invention provides a sculptured pile fabric (15) having both a printed pattern and a sculpted surface of various pile heights (10, 20). The fabric of the present invention (15) has improved aesthetic qualities as compared with sculptured products of the prior art. This improved sculptured fabric (15) is the result of a chemical sculpting method, in which the heigh t of the pile surface is selectively reduced in a pattern configuration (20), and that is followed by an overall "dilute" dyeing process. This "dilute" dyeing process is similar to that used to "tea stain" textile products, wherein an overall hue is imparted to a textile by the use of a relatively dilute (low concentration) dyestuff (dye 2). The resulting sculptured produc t (15) has an appearance that emphasizes the sculptured areas, making the sculptured areas appear to have greater depth, especially when viewed at a distance.