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For Weaving , grain refers to the orientation of the weft and warp threads. The three named grains are straight grain, cross grain, and the bias grain. In sewing, a pattern piece can be cut from fabric in any orientation, and the chosen grain or orientation will affect the way the fabric hangs and stretches and thus the fit of a garment. Generally speaking a piece is said to be cut on a particular grain when the longest part of the pattern or the main seams of the finished piece are aligned with that grain. Non-woven materials such as felt, interfacing or leather do not have a grain.
Woven fabric is more elastic as well as more fluid in the bias direction, compared to the straight and cross grains. This property facilitates clothing and garment details that require extra elasticity, drapability or flexibility, such as bias-cut skirts and dresses, , piping trims and decorations, bound seams, etc.
The "bias-cut" is a technique used by designers for cutting clothing to utilize the greater stretch in the bias or diagonal direction of the fabric, thereby causing it to accentuate body lines and curves and drape softly. For example, a full-skirted dress cut on the bias will hang more gracefully or a narrow dress will cling to the figure. Bias-cut garments were an important feature of the designs of Madeleine Vionnet in 1920s and 1930s and bias-cut styles are revived periodically. Before her time, bias cut was rare in women's clothing and in men’s garments was highly unconventional to the point of being outré. As an example, in the early 1800’s, the specially designed clothing of the dandy and celebrity chef Alexis Soyer were remarked on by George Augustus Sala, on meeting Soyer in the Hungerford Market:
"...an extraordinary oddity was added to his appearance by the circumstance that every article of his attire, save, I suppose, his gloves and boots, was cut on what dressmakers call a "bias", or as he himself, when I came to know him well, used to designate as à la zoug-zoug."Sala 1894, II, 240-241, quoted by Michael Garval "Romantic Gastronomies: Alexis Soyer and the Rise of the Celebrity Chef"In the Middle Ages, before the development of knitting, hose were cut on the bias in order to make them fit better. The old spelling was byas, or (less common) byess.
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