How quilts, comforters and throws are made
This page covers four related products. A comforter is a thick, filled cover, usually with polyester fibre held in place by box or channel stitching. A quilt is thinner: a top, a batting layer and a backing stitched through by machine or by hand. A bedspread or coverlet is a decorative top layer, quilted or plain. A throw here means a woven cotton or cotton-blend throw, often with fringes or tassels; woollen blankets are a separate trade.
Fill is usually laid by hand or from a roll of bonded wadding onto the shell, then the layers are stitched on long-arm or multi-needle quilting machines, edged and bound. Hand-stitched quilts, including kantha work made from layers of reused cotton sari cloth, take longer and vary more from piece to piece. Throws are woven on dobby or jacquard looms, cut, and finished with knotted fringes, tassels or a hem.
Panipat is a Town of Export Excellence for bed linen and, separately, for woollen blankets. Filled and quilted goods are also made in many other towns, so the checklist matters more than the address. See inspection in Panipat.
What we check on quilts and throws
| Check | How it is checked | What fails |
|---|---|---|
| Fill weight | Finished piece weighed; shell weight from a spare shell or the spec subtracted | Fill lighter than the spec or the label |
| Fill spread | Piece held up to the light and felt by hand across every box or channel | Thin corners, empty boxes, lumps, fill bunched at one end |
| Quilting lines | Stitch length and line spacing against the sample; both faces checked | Skipped or broken lines, puckering, lines wandering off the pattern |
| Fibre migration | Surface brushed with the hand, especially at stitch holes | Polyester fibre poking through the shell |
| Edges and binding | Binding width, mitred or rounded corners, ends of the binding seam | Binding not catching all layers, raw edges |
| Hand stitching (kantha) | Stitch density and pattern against the approved sample; knots on the back | Long loose stitches that snag, sparse areas outside the agreed tolerance |
| Fringes and tassels on throws | Pulled by hand; fringe length measured along the edge | Tassels coming off, uneven fringe length, unknotted fringe unravelling |
| Size | Laid flat; length and width at several points | Undersize after quilting take-up; out of square |
| Needles and metal | Hand-held metal detector over finished pieces, where the buyer requires it | Broken quilting needles or pins inside the layers |
Quilting pulls the fabric in. A quilt cut to the finished size comes out short, so finished size is measured after quilting, not on the cut shell.
Common quilt, comforter, bedspread and throw defects and how they are classed
| Defect | Typical cause | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Needle fragment inside a quilt | Broken machine or hand needle not recovered | Critical |
| Fill weight below the label | Lighter wadding substituted, or fill spread by eye | Major |
| Cold spots or empty boxes | Fill shifted before quilting | Major |
| Broken quilting lines | Thread breaks not restitched | Major |
| Missing or wrong law label (US filled bedding) | Generic label used, state rules not in the spec | Major |
| Fibre poking through | Open shell weave, low-grade fibre | Major or minor by extent |
| Uneven fringe, small stitch irregularity in hand work | Hand finishing | Minor |
Labels and market rules
- US state law labels. Several US states regulate filled bedding. California, for example, requires an official law label on articles of bedding: Type No. 6 for comforters, bed pillows and similar items, and Type No. 1 for quilted bedspreads (California Code of Regulations, title 4, section 1126). Ohio has its own registration and label law for bedding (Ohio Revised Code chapter 3713). The inspector checks that the label is present, attached and matches your approved wording; the registration itself is the importer's job.
- US fibre labels. The Textile Act label covers the shell and, separately, the fill, plus origin and the dealer's name or RN.
- EU. Regulation 1007/2011 applies to the outer fabric and fill. If you sell a down-filled comforter, the down and feather content should be stated and tested; most Indian-made comforters use polyester fibre. See EU textile labelling and EU REACH.
- UK. The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 exclude bedding such as duvets and quilts, but cover pillows and cushions. See UK furniture fire safety.
Packing, transit and loading risks
Comforters are bulky, so many are vacuum-compressed or rolled to save freight. Compression is fine for good polyester fibre, but a low-grade fill may not recover its loft for days, and some never do. Ask for a compressed sample to be opened after a set time and compared with an uncompressed one.
Zip bags made of PVC are common on retail quilts. In the EU, plasticised PVC must meet the REACH phthalate limits, which a lab checks. The inspector checks bag size, the insert card, the law label visible where the buyer wants it, and that cartons are not so tight that the quilt is crushed against a sharp corner.
What to put in your purchase order
- Shell fabric, fill type and fill weight per size, with a tolerance.
- Quilting pattern, stitch length and line spacing; hand or machine work.
- Finished sizes after quilting, with tolerances.
- Edge finish, binding width and corner shape.
- For throws: fringe or tassel type, fringe length and how it is knotted.
- US state law-label wording and registration numbers, if you sell filled bedding there.
- Needle control and metal detection; compression method and loft recovery test.
Sheets and duvet covers are on bed sheets and duvet covers. Hand-made lace bedspreads are on crochet lace and embroidered textiles.
Sources
- California Code of Regulations, title 4, section 1126: official law label requirements
- Ohio Revised Code chapter 3713: bedding and stuffed toys
- DGFT: Appendix 1B, Towns of Export Excellence
- FTC: Threading your way through the labeling requirements under the Textile and Wool Acts
- Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 on textile fibre names and labelling