What do weavers wear

At the end of the 19th century the first synthetic fibres were made and the discovery of nylon and later, for example, polyester followed in the 20th century. The composition of textiles.

Textile consists of filaments or fibres. Filament is a synthetic fibre. Synthetic fibres are formed by spraying a syrupy liquid under high pressure through the spinnerets. With this method endless yarns are created which are ready for production.

Fibres are formed through short, twisted fibres. When these fibres are twisted into yarns they are ready for production. Through these two types of textile we can divide the raw materials into:. To make textile, you need yarns or filaments. Fabric is processed by knitting or weaving, thus creating a cloth. This fabric is made into textile products. Textiles nowadays. Similar to lac found in India. A variety of machines consisting of bladed or pinned rollers for opening, cleaning and mixing staple fibres before scouring or carding wool.

The silkworm extrudes through the silk glands in its head a viscose fluid building up round itself layer upon layer crossing the filaments in a figure of eight. Colour of cocoons, which is contained in the sericin is removed in the degumming, range from white to yellow, golden yellow and brown. The cocoon grading system in France has become the standard for Europe and India.

They are sorted into nine different grades:. A reddish-brown coarse hydrophobic seed fibre obtained from the fruit of the coconut palm, cocus nucifera. The longest and finest fibre is obtained from the unripe fruit and used for spinning into yarn to make mats and ropes obtained usually from India.

Coarser fibre or bristle fibre and short fibre used for filling mattresses and for upholstery are mainly from Sri Lanka. The waste fibre can be used for composting and mulching in the garden. See seed fibre and fruit fibre. Colour is applied to textiles by dyeing and printing. The basic, so called primary colours, are red, blue and yellow.

The word hue normally means red colour, blue colour and yellow colour. The word shade is a colour which has been made darker with black. A tint is a colour which has been lightened with white. The word tone, often mis-used, means lightness, darkness or brilliance of colour. Colour change in localized areas of a fabric where differential wear has taken place.

The term colourfast describes a fabric which has retained sufficient colour after dyeing so that no noticeable change in shade has taken place. See Appendix: fastness, wet-fast, light-fast. The first edition of the Colour Index was published in Since then it has been updated and consists of nine volumes. Originated in China and now found throughout the western hemisphere. Also known as cadillo, patta appell, akeiri, guaxima, uaixyma and bun ochra. Used for string and ropes. A further process of combing, with combs and brushes, is used to straight the fibres, to make them parallel, remove the short fibres and any remaining impurities.

Traditionally used in pre-spinning cotton processing. When twisted together, the resultant yarn crinkles up along its length giving a knobbly appearance. Occasionally cotton yarns are made by this method. A paper, cardboard, wooden, plastic or metal tube is used as the core of the package. A hard wearing fabric woven in a special weave on a fine cotton warp. The weft floats of soft cotton yarn are then cut to produce wales, ribs or cords running the length of the fabric.

There are a variety of different types of corduroy: needlecord 16 to 21 cords per inch, partridge cord or thickset cord 8 to 11 cords per inch, constitution cord 5 to 7 wales per inch and elephant cord, with very wide wales of only 3 to 4 wales per inch, algoa cord, which is a fancy cord, and knitted corduroys.

Known today in France as velours cotele, in Spain as pana. A simplified version of a multi-end reeling machine. Requires seperate cocoon cooking system and re-reeling is necessary. A long unicellular seed fibre grown on the outer skin of the cotton seed. Belongs to the mallow family as do hibiscus and okra. Vary from 10mm to 55mm in length, wild varieties, gossypium thurberi, are brown in colour and cultivated hybrid types, from which they derive, are white. Picking Bales of cotton are sent from the ginnery the gin and arrive at the spinning mill and are first put through the bale-breaker and then onto the opener.

The opener literally opens the compressed cotton fibre ready for the following rigorous processes. The cotton, having then been cleaned in the picker or scutcher and all the seeds and heavy impurities are extracted, enters the lap former which produces a continuous roll, 50mm thick x mm wide, of semi-cleaned cotton fibre, called a lap.

Carding The lap is passed through a set of revolving cards which disentangles and begins to align the fibres. As the carded cotton comes off the card carding machine a thin web, about 10mm thick, is produced and is rolled into loose rope of fibre called a sliver. Combing The finest quality cotton yarns are spun with combed cotton, therefore the importance of this process is to eliminate all short fibres and parallel all the remaining long fibres.

The short fibres, called noils, are usually blended with shorter cottons and spun into cheaper, carded yarns. The combing process produces a continuous rope 20mm diameter of clean straight cotton fibre called a sliver. Drawing Several slivers are combined and blended through the draw frame, eliminating any further irregularities, to form a single sliver.

By combining the slivers to make one sliver, in this process, it ensures that any variations in the ultimate yarn are eliminated. Roving The sliver is drawn out still further into a finer strand about the 8mm thick and a slight twist put into it to form the roving.

Spinning The roving is now drawn out still further and twisted to produce a single yarn. It is at this stage that the speed of the roving entering the rollers of the spinning machine is strictly controlled to produce a specific size count of yarn.

The singles yarn can then be doubled on a doubler to produce a two-fold yarn. As the pressure in side the pod increases during the growing period, the expanding cotton seed hairs build up. The pod bursts open revealing a fluffy ball of cotton known as the boll. Ginning is normally done in or near the field where the cotton is grown and before it is transported in bales to the mill. Soft cotton waste comes from the earlier processes where the fibres are looser with no twist and not compacted.

Hard cotton waste can be used for cleaning down machinery. Soft cotton waste is often reprocessed to produce a batt or web of cotton wool for medical or cosmetic purposes.

In Scotland the term is known as grist. In all other English speaking countries the term count is used. A number is used to indicate the size of the yarn and is calculated from one of the following indirect or direct systems:. Count English cotton number of yd hanks per lb pound Worsted number of yd hanks per lb pound Galashiels woollen number of yd hanks or cuts per 24oz Yorkshire skeins woollen number of yd hanks per lb pound West of England number of yd snaps per lb pound Linen wet spun number of leas per pound Metric number of kilometres per kg.

Count Tex number of grams per kilometre Decitex number of grams per 10,m Denier number of grams per m Jute, Linen dry spun , Aberdeen woollen number of pounds per 14,yd. Used for counting the ends and picks, courses and wales in a fabric. Also known as a linen prover or pick glass. Used often in combination with alum as a mordant in vegetable dyeing. Creels can be horizontal or upright depending on the type of package used. Can be made by using hard twist yarns, chemical treatments, weave constructions or embossing.

Woven with alternate S and Z highly twisted weft threads and untwisted warp threads. Alternate picks are of opposite twists resulting in a crimpy appearance on the fabric. Often used for curtains or loose covers. Produced naturally as in sheeps wool or mechanically introduced. The use of a crockmeter determines the fastness to rubbing of dyed or printed fabrics. See chemical dyes. See Appendix: weaves.

Used as a printing dye thickener mainly for acid and discharge printing. See also count. Sometimes fabric is not folded and usually placed in folds in open width. Traditionally the cotton yarn was handspun to s cotton count. Ten yards of this fabric would weigh only three or four ounces. Traditionally woven with an 8 and 8 satin weave. The reversible pattern is distinguished from the background by contrasting lustre. The word derives from a rich silk fabric introduced into Europe through Damascus.

A process used to improve the handle and appearance of fabrics usually containing wool. The fabric, interleaved with a cotton canvas wrapper forming an endless belt, is wound tightly round a perforated roller through which steam is passed under pressure. See discharging. Denier is the number of grams per metres of yarn. The word denier comes from denarius, a Roman coin dating from AD 14, having a diameter of 18mm and was the forerunner of the French denier coin.

See count. The warp is usually a hard twist indigo dyed cotton yarn with a softer undyed yarn in the weft. Woven in either a compact 2-and 1 or 3-and 1 twill weave. Used in recent years in the manufacture of jeans is also ideal for making work cloths and uniforms.

The number of dents per inch determines the sett of the warp. Also known as split. Paper ruled with vertical and horizontal lines to form equally spaced squares divided by heavy ruling in blocks of eight. Used to show weaves or designs in diagrammatic form. A cloth woven with a number of warps, usually of a specific range of yarns either in solid colours or in stripes and woven with the same range of weft colours or stripes in the weft in the same sequence as the warp.

See blanket. Rinse well in cold water and dry. The number of weight units per length unit. Poor to moderate fastness to wet treatments. Light fastness varies from poor to very good according to group, for example:. Coloured patterns on a dyed ground are possible by adding a dye to the bleaching paste which will not be affected by the bleach. See degumming. Available in powder or liquid form, they are also used in the manufacture of inks and crayons.

See glen checks. See houndstooth. In north east India the word also meant that a one piece garment cloth was made from two pieces of cloth sewn together and worn by low caste Bengali women. Often pigments, which withstand high temperatures during the production process, are used as colourants. Usually made on a 10 gauge circular knitting machine, or finer, it is often referred to as non-jacquard or jacquard double jersey.

See jersey. The process is often carried out on a machine called a doubler. Often inferior quality cocoons are combined with the silk from the double cocoons in the reeling process. Used in weaving shantung, nankeen and pongee cloths. This will determine the weave of the fabric when the shafts, holding the heddles or healds are mounted into the loom. See heddle and healds. This type of cloth is often used in making lightweight, washable uniforms.

From the Greek word drillich, which broadly means three warp threads. Used for thousands of years this simple device takes the form of a short stick, forming the spindle, and a weight or whorl, which can be a stone, dry mud or bone. Known as a takli in India. There are now many types of duck or fabrics referred to as duck.

A very tightly woven cotton fabric made with double warp threads and double weft threads in plain weave. The duck family includes: number duck, army duck, flat duck, ounce duck, sail duck, belting duck, hosepipe duck, boat or bootleg duck, linen duck, shoe duck, plimsoll duck used for sneakers, track shoes or tennis shoes, wagon cover duck, tent duck and naught duck. A heavy duck cloth made in for tents in India is called dosooty.

See dosooty. The fabric was originally exported in the 17th century to the Malaysian islands including those owned by the Dutch and eventually becoming an important export from India to Britain. The Dutch called it dangerijs. This cloth is similar to denim woven with yarn dyed blue in a 3 and 1 or 2 and 1 weave, but sometimes piece dyed.

Has also been known as bluettes. The process of dyeing, to give colour to a fabric is used in the context of any of the following: batik chemical dyeing, cross-dyeing, dope-dyeing, ikat natural dyeing, patola piece-dyeing, plangi space-dyeing, tie-dyeing, top-dyeing, vat-dyeing, yarn-dyeing.

Usually refering to natural rubber elastic or elastomeric filament. See elastomeric. Often elastomeric yarns can be covered with non-stretch fibres for greater control in weaving and knitting. The wrapping or covering is done by either core spinning or uptwisting. See elastic. The design is pressed into the fabric by passing it through hot engraved rollers. Embroidery is made either by hand, with a sewing machine or on an electronic, computer controlled machine.

Unlike lace embroidery always requires a base or ground fabric. See needlework fabrics. The term is used to describe an individual sliver, roving, thread or cord. Also the term is used to describe a length of finished fabric less than the standard unit length or piece in certain places a half-piece. See pick and pick. Originally made in silk this fine lustrous corded dress fabric is now made of man-made fibres or fine worsted yarns either in a single colour or with the ribs in contrasting colours.

Sometimes referred to as cloth. The cleaning treatment given to each type of fabric varies according to the fibre content, construction or finish of the cloth, including the types of dye used. Often made on conventional doubling machinery or on specialized machines. Fancy yarns include: spiral, loop, gimp, cloud, knop, eccentric, stripe, slub, snarl or chenille types. Sometimes referred to as colour-fastness.

Usually short staple loose wool fibre or noil compacted together by milling with soapy water. Some felts can be made with a combination of wool and cotton, rayon or sometimes kapok. Compared with wool felt, fur felt is softer, smoother and is often more water resistant.

Fur felt, used in hat production, can be made from the short fibres of rabbit, muskrat and the better grades of beaver. Felt is probably the earliest form of fabric. Nomads all over Asia were able to travel through extreme terrain and climates using felt for protection. See staple length.

Linaceae A stem fibre commonly grown in Europe and Russia. The fibre, produced after retting and put through the scutching process, is used in the production of linen and paper. The seed of the flax plant produces linseed oil.

See linen. It is also the name given to some low twist silk embroidery yarns. The shuttle is propelled from side to side by being hit with a picking stick or picker.

Typical examples are: the cotton boll and coir from the coconut fruit. Therefore the word is used to describe a cloth and a garment. Traditionally woven with fine worsted yarns although cotton and man-made fibres are now used.

A tightly woven cloth which is recognized by the fine steep twilled wale on the face and smooth back. Is water repellent and hard wearing. Can be used for uniforms. Used to loosen highly matted wool fibre, waste fibre and in tearing apart woollen rags during the primary stage in the preparation of regenerated fibre for the production of shoddy cloths. Traditionally woven in silk, cotton or linen with a leno or gauze weave construction, it was used for veiling and mosquito netting.

Although surgical bandage is often referred to as gauze it is in fact plain woven fabric similar to cheesecloth. The French word for gauze is gaze, from which the names many types of fabric derive, such as gaze de fil linen , gaze de voilette and gaze fond filoche. The French term for leno or gauze weave is gaze tour anglais. This quality is the result of highly twisted warp and weft threads. The process is called ginning and is carried out in a ginnery. Although it is said that the term guingan originates from north east India, meaning a striped or checked cloth made from cotton and tussah silk, it is also alleged that the word gingham derives from the town of Guingamp in Bretagne, France, where gingham was traditionally made.

Some say that it comes from the Javanese or Malay word ginggang but a similar sounding word, kindan is used in Tamil Nadu in south India, for a similar cloth. A type of gingham is woven in Peru called cerifos check. Another term for gingham is zephyrs.

These distinctive woollen tweeds, with bold but sometimes subtle checks were, and continue in some cases, to be woven in the Highlands of Scotland. Originally designed as the livery for the landowners and their estates they identify the people who live and work in the same area whether they are related or not.

The word glen is Scottish for valley. See district checks and tartan. See tweed. From the word grain meaning seed. The wool is usually scoured before being prepared for dyeing or spinning. From the French gros, meaning large and grain, meaning cord. The cloth is used for making blankets, bags, arrow quivers, storage pouches for food or beer filters. For example the coarse hair which protects the fine wool of the pashmina goat. See pashmina and cashmere. The best gum is obtained from A.

Used as a dye thickener for textile printing and in the manufacture of inks and adhesives. Is now obtained in powder form and used, sometimes in combination with starch, as a thickener in the preparation of textile printing paste.

From the Hindi word goni meaning sacking. Throughout its long history gunny has been known as chatee, gunnys, guiny, guinea-stuffs, guinees, goeneys and even goonies.

See burlap, hessian, jute, osnaburg and sacking. Sometimes referred to as Jap cloth. The hair of the llama, alpaca and camel are spun by hand into coarse yarns and woven into cloth for bags and floor covering. The fine hair of the angora rabbit is so soft that it is mixed with fine wool and spun into knitting yarns.

Most different animal hairs, even human hair, can be spun and woven or knitted into a textile. See haircloth and horse hair. Traditionally used for interlining in the tailoring of coats and jackets. See hair and horse hair. See skein. Traditionally made from a blend of strong Scottish wools, which are scoured, dyed and spun into yarn centrally in local spinning mills. The yarn is distributed to the outlying crofter to be woven in 2 and 2 twill weave on either traditional wooden handlooms or Hattersley domestic treadle looms.

Once woven and taken off the loom the tweed, which is approximately 78 metres long, is collected in its greasy state and taken back to the mill for finishing. The Orb Mark protects Harris Tweed from other weavers attempting to copy it on neighbouring islands or in other countries.

A cubit equal to the measurement from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow. Between 18 and 22 inches between 45 and 56 centimetres. Also hindi for a market. Healds have a loop at each end with which to attach it to the shaft frame. See heddle. Sometimes the heddle has an extra loop at each end which is attached to the shaft.

See heald. The hemp plant grows from 1 to 5 metres high in temperate climates. The fibre varies from creamy-white to grey-brown and is lustrous and as strong as flax. As with flax, hemp is either dew retted or water retted.

Used as a textile fibre for thousands of years is still widely used in the manufacture of string, cord, rope and can be spun into yarns resembling flax although the cloth from which it is made is much coarser.

The word hemp comes from the Anglo-Saxon word henep. See flax. Can be used for embroidery and in the making bags, wallpaper and theatrical scenery. Known in the United States of America as burlap. See burlap, gunny, jute, osnaburg and sacking. A 2 and 1 twill weave is now used to weave hop-pocketing and as the term describes, is used in the manufacture of very large bags in which to transport dried hops from the fields to the breweries.

One kilogramme bundles of horse hair are sold in three main colours, black 84omm long , mixed grey mm long and natural white mm long.

The natural white is shorter because of noticeable staining and is in short supply because of alternative uses, such as violin bows and specialised wigs. Traditionally woven with a cotton or linen warp although silk is now sometimes used, the horse hair is used only in the weft and can be dyed.

The traditional horse hair upholstery cloth is black hair woven on a black cotton warp with sateen weave, although fancy dobby designs in a variety of colours are also produced. See hair and haircloth. Indigo dye Indigo is a dark blue dye which comes from the leaves of a sub tropical bush.

The leaves are processed by fermentation and the sediment collected, dried and ground. The best quality indigo comes from lower Bengal. Used by itinerant traders, of which there were about in the Spitalfields area of London during the 18th century, to weave inkle. See inkle. Also refers to the thread or yarn from which the tape or braid is made.

Often a linen warp with a wool weft similar to an Old English cloth called Linsey Woolsey, only narrow. An inkling is something small and inkle was produced and sold in London in the 18th century by itinerant traders, each weaving his products on an inkle loom. See inkle loom. The colours of the kempy wool vary from dark brown to off-white and can be separated to spin solid colours or combined in the carding to produce a neutral mixture.

Used in the United States of America. Weaving itself is one of the oldest surviving practices in the world, with a history rooted in the Neolithic period c. It was at this time that the creation of woven fabrics exploded, with every household producing cloth for personal use. Weaving became an indispensable skill for Neolithic people and was consequently closely connected to the family unit, a tradition that would endure for millennia.

The art of weaving was slowly perfected and refined over thousands of years, eventually leading to highly specialised cloth produced by skilled practitioners. It is no surprise that the production of this cloth, demanding higher levels of skill, coincided with the gradual movement of weaving away from the household and into the workplace. By the Middle Ages, a well-developed supply chain consisting of dyers, spinners, weavers, fullers, drapers, and tailors had been implemented to support the booming textile and weaving industry that was fast becoming one of the most lucrative trades across Europe.

The city of Coventry was made particularly wealthy through the explosive weaving trade. At this time, weaving in Europe continued to take place at the loom that had dominated the weaving process for millennia, although a number of improvements, imported from China and other global empires, were gradually introduced to expedite the process. But often they made cloth at home to sell to get money for their family.

And many other women worked in weaving workshops like this one from ancient Egypt. These women were probably enslaved, and may not have had families of their own. They worked all day spinning and weaving so their owner could sell the cloth and get rich. Even in antiquity, most families bought their clothing in stores or markets, instead of making it themselves at home.

Even though most women spun and wove cloth at home, they found it was easier to specialize in one kind of cloth. Some women made heavy blankets. Others made thin tunics. Then they could sell what they made and use the money to buy all different kinds of cloth for their families.

You might think the main purpose of weaving was to make clothing, and people did use cloth to make clothing. But even though cloth was much more expensive then than it is now, people also used cloth for all kinds of other things.

They used cloth to make sails for boats, tents , carpets , sheets, towels, cheese-making , bags to carry things in, and many other things. You Can Weave! For adults. Not for kids, but an interested high schooler could read it. Fascinating ideas about the way people made cloth in ancient times, and why it was that way. Thank you for posting this.

I am 68 years old, and have been curious about how clothing was made in ancient times. Unfortunately, the president of Goodwill in the Florida panhandle passed on the donation, much to my disappointment. Since then I have pondered on the subject.

I will try to find Ms. I heard her speak once, and she was wonderful.