Suiting Fabrics and Cloth: The Weaves and Designs: Pinhead
Pinhead, also known as pin-dot or nailhead is similar to the birdseye pattern, but smaller
It is a worsted wool suiting with a twill weave covered with small dots, that look like they have been hammered in with nails or pins. It has the appearance of tiny white or light coloured dots appearing in rows both vertically and horizontally. The fabric can hold a sharp crease, which makes it exceptionally well wearable, but also a good fabric to work with for the tailoring process. It is inclined to shine with wear.
The Technique
Pinhead is a worsted wool fabric, but also made in cotton and rayon. It is a twill woven with a pattern of vertical and horizontal white dots. Genuine pinhead weave foresees that the warp and the weft alternate two light and two dark yarns which cross each other to form a grid filled with little dots.
The Effect of a Pinhead Suit
Somewhere between solids and stripes in formality is pinhead, which examined closely has the appearance of tiny dots of a lighter color on a darker background. A pinhead suit, generally appears as a solid somewhere in between the two colors, similar to the effect of an Oxford cloth shirt. Pinhead is appropriate in any occasion where stripes would be, and can be substituted for solids on all but the most formal of occasions.