A visual defect in woven or knitted fabrics where unwanted horizontal bars or stripes appear across the width of the material. This is typically caused by uneven yarn tension, variations in yarn thickness, or inconsistent dye uptake between different batches of yarn. It ruins the uniform appearance of solid-colored fabrics and often results in the yardage being downgraded to seconds.
Heard on the job
The whole dye lot came out barry because the spinner mixed two different batches of roving.
Insider tip
Barry defects are often invisible in the greige goods and only reveal themselves after the fabric is piece-dyed.
Also heard as
- barre
- barré
- Rowiness