Financial Guarantees and Condensed Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 28, 2014	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 28, 2014
Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations
Net sales	$ 457,694	$ 439,898	$ 918,932	$ 862,482
Cost of goods sold	(352,170)	(353,312)	(707,990)	(701,431)
Gross profit	105,524	86,586	210,942	161,051
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(66,175)	(64,169)	(131,164)	(119,703)
Special Charges Net	(6,613)	(24,264)	(12,635)	(32,975)
Other operating, net	(189)	(3,855)	1,234	(4,924)
Operating income (loss)	32,547	(5,702)	68,377	3,449
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(27,011)	(20,917)	(54,644)	(38,823)
Debt Modification and Extinguishment Expense	(13,004)	(10,738)	(13,004)	(10,738)
Intercompany royalty and technical service fees	0	0
Foreign currency and other, net	3,217	10,003	(40,706)	14,962
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes	(4,251)	(27,354)	(39,977)	(31,150)
Income tax (provision) benefit	(3,317)	5,413	(7,865)	(287)
Net income (loss)	(7,568)	(21,941)	(47,842)	(31,437)
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interest and redeemable noncontrolling interest	1,176	(2,277)	860	(2,293)
Net income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	(8,744)	(19,664)	(48,702)	(29,144)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	5,483	(17,661)	$ (63,153)	$ (25,454)
Issuer
Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations
Net sales	0	0
Cost of goods sold	0	(93)
Gross profit	0	(93)
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(15,278)	(12,101)
Special Charges Net	(2,142)	(14,972)
Other operating, net	(44)	0
Operating income (loss)	(17,464)	(27,166)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(20,867)	(13,487)
Debt Modification and Extinguishment Expense	(13,004)	(10,738)
Intercompany royalty and technical service fees	1,947	(9,893)
Foreign currency and other, net	526	12,117
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	38,282	26,163
Income (loss) before income taxes	(10,580)	(23,004)
Income tax (provision) benefit	1,836	3,340
Net income (loss)	(8,744)	(19,664)
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interest and redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	(8,744)	(19,664)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	5,483	(17,661)
Guarantors
Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations
Net sales	140,017	147,350
Cost of goods sold	(105,334)	(114,025)
Gross profit	34,683	33,325
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(13,484)	(14,909)
Special Charges Net	(129)	(1,681)
Other operating, net	(72)	509
Operating income (loss)	20,998	17,244
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	3,906	(482)
Debt Modification and Extinguishment Expense	0	0
Intercompany royalty and technical service fees	1,430	1,140
Foreign currency and other, net	1,733	(678)
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	13,600	(1,712)
Income (loss) before income taxes	41,667	15,512
Income tax (provision) benefit	(3,378)	(671)
Net income (loss)	38,289	14,841
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interest and redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	38,289	14,841
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	52,559	17,046
Non-Guarantors
Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations
Net sales	325,305	308,021
Cost of goods sold	(254,464)	(254,667)
Gross profit	70,841	53,354
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(37,413)	(37,159)
Special Charges Net	(4,342)	(7,611)
Other operating, net	(73)	(4,364)
Operating income (loss)	29,013	4,220
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(10,050)	(6,948)
Debt Modification and Extinguishment Expense	0	0
Intercompany royalty and technical service fees	(3,377)	8,753
Foreign currency and other, net	958	(1,436)
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes	16,544	4,589
Income tax (provision) benefit	(1,775)	2,744
Net income (loss)	14,769	7,333
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interest and redeemable noncontrolling interest	1,176	(2,277)
Net income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	13,593	9,610
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	24,103	12,561
Eliminations
Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations
Net sales	(7,628)	(15,473)
Cost of goods sold	7,628	15,473
Gross profit	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	0	0
Special Charges Net	0	0
Other operating, net	0	0
Operating income (loss)	0	0
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	0	0
Debt Modification and Extinguishment Expense	0
Intercompany royalty and technical service fees	0	0
Foreign currency and other, net	0	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	(51,882)	(24,451)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(51,882)	(24,451)
Income tax (provision) benefit	0	0
Net income (loss)	(51,882)	(24,451)
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interest and redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	(51,882)	(24,451)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Polymer Group, Inc.	$ (76,662)	$ (29,607)