Donna Bassart, age 13, of Rock Island, I11., for her question:

HOW IS VELVET MADE?

Velvet is cloth with a deep, soft surface called nap or pile. It can be made of silk, rayon, nylon, cotton or a mixture of two or more of these materials.

To make the pile, manufacturers weave two pieces of material at the same time, using three warps, or lengthwise yarns, and two wefts, or crosswise yarns. In each piece, they weave one set of weft yarns with one set of warp yarns in a plain or twill weave.

Then they weave the extra warp yarn into the two pieces of material, first into one and then into the other.

Finally, the two pieces of velvet are cut apart.

A pile fabric that is woven by using extra weft yarn is called velveteen. When the pile is woven in ridges and cut, the cloth is called corduroy. If thicker than an eighth of an inch, the cloth is called plush.