Fabric Thread Count

All else being equal, a higher thread count means a smoother, more expensive fabric. Thread count is often referred to with a number like 80s, 100s, 120s, 140s 160s, etc up to 200s. These numbers refer to the yarn size, and not threads per inch. 120s means there are 120 hanks (1 hank = 840 yards) of yarn in one pound.

A "140s" fabric has a higher thread count than 120s and 160s fabric has a higher thread count than 140s and so on. If you ask a tailor what the threadcount of a fabric is, he will most likely say "140s" because that number is easy to understand even if it's not a literal measure of threadcount.

You might see a fabric's construction described as something like "100/2x". The way to read this is that it has 100s two-ply threads running in both the warp and weft directions.