A. E. Blanco

“ Italian cloth is usually a weft-faced fabric. Like all fabrics woven with a weft-faced satin weave, the weft or filling threads are practically all on the surface of the cloth, producing an even, close, smooth surface capable of reflecting light to the best advantage. Italian cloth is generally cross-dyed, that is to say, woven from a black warp and grey weft, afterwards dyed in the piece. It may be woven either as an all-cotton, a cotton and worsted, a cotton and wool, or a cotton and mohair fabric. ”

“ Shot.—A weaving term having the same value as "pick." When a fabric is described as having so many "shots" to the inch it means that there are so many weft threads to the inch. When used to describe a colour effect in fabrics, it applies to fabrics which are woven with different coloured warp and weft, and which, according to the way they are held when looked at, appear to change in colour. ”

“ Weaving.—Every woven piece of cloth is made up of two distinct systems of threads, known as the warp and the filling (this latter is also known as weft) , which are interlaced with each other to form a fabric. The warp threads run lengthways of the piece of cloth, and the filling, or weft, threads run across from side to side. The manner in which the warp and filling interlace with each other constitutes the weave. ”

“ Rib.—The name given to any kind of cord effect or to a weave in which either, owing to the interlacing or to the yarns used, warp or weft is the stronger and remains comparatively straight while the weaker does all the bending. Thus, in warp ribs the weft is the stronger and causes the warp to bend and form a warp surface rib running from selvedge to selvedge, while in weft ribs the warp is the stronger and develops a weft surface rib running lengthways of the piece. ”

“ Union Cloth.—As the name implies, Union Cloths are woven with warp and weft of different fibres. They are also called "mixed cloths," and the union of the two different kinds of fibres may be arrived at by intermingling the wool and cotton fibres to form the warp or weft of a fabric or, as in most cases, each kind of fibre may be confined to separate threads, forming part or the whole of the warp or weft. Union Cloths are generally "cross-dyed," although they may also be "dyed in the grey." ”

“ Whereas in certain countries it is not legal to sell as "pure wool Flannel" a material containing cotton, there is nothing to prevent a manufacturer from selling as Flannelette a material in whose composition a certain amount of wool may enter. Unlike Cotton Flannel, which from its very name shows that the material is of cotton, and by inference cotton only, the term Flannelette may not always designate an all-cotton material, although by general acceptance in the trade Flannelette should be an all-cotton fabric. ”

“ A Pure Silk Velvet is generally understood to be a pile fabric having an all-silk pile, irrespective of the nature of the foundation fabric. Velvets are so generally part cotton that a Silk Velvet should be considered as having a cotton back unless it is definitely stated that it is "silk backed." "Silk," or "pure silk," refers to the pile and the pile only, in the general acceptance of the trade, and not to the fabric as a whole; it does not mean a fabric composed entirely of silk.
Raised Back Cloths.—Fabrics requiring a "raised back" are usually warp faced and weft backed. ”

“ By passing the fabric, whilst it is tightly stretched, over a revolving cylinder which has its surface covered with small steel hooks or teasels, the surface of the fabric is scratched and the short fibres of the yarn used in the weaving are opened up and raised, resulting in a nap covering the whole of the surface. Raised Cotton Cloths allow of the use of coarse inferior yarns and are better looking than had they not been raised. The raising hides defects of weave and produces a warmer, better-looking cloth than could be produced by any other process at the price. ”

“ Common Satin is what is technically known as an eight-leaf twill, the order in which the filling thread rises being once in eight times. The filling in the better qualities of Satin is of silk, whilst in the lower grades of this fabric cotton is generally used for the filling. Rich Satins may be woven on almost any number from five to twenty leaf twills. Satin at the time of leaving the loom has a somewhat flossy and rough surface—this is removed by passing the fabric over heated metal cylinders, which destroy the minute fibrous ends and increase the brilliance of the silk. ”

“ Woollen yarn may be said to be a thread in which all the component fibres are entangled into each other and are in all different directions: this results in a yarn which is rough in appearance, non-lustrous, and more irregular than worsted yarn. It is only in this type of yarn that low-grade materials, such as mungo, shoddy, or extract, can be utilised. The fibres which constitute a woollen yarn are not as readily separated from the body of the yarn or cloth as in the case of worsted. ”

“ White Jean.—A White Jean is an all-cotton fabric woven as a three-end twill, similar in weave to a Grey Jean, but which has been subjected to a process of bleaching to turn it into what is known as a "market white" fabric. The process of bleaching proper is always preceded by a series of operations that have for their object the improving of the surface of the cloth by removing loose fibres, motes, and ends of yarn, and by cleaning and singeing the surface so as to free it from all "nap." ”

“ Cotton, linen, ramie, rhea, china grass, etc., ignite and burn readily with a bright smokeless and odourless flame, leaving but a small amount of ash, this being the characteristic of vegetable fibres. Animal fibres, on the other hand, are slower to ignite, the appearance of the flame is lifeless, and the fibres burn more slowly than vegetable fibres. Wool, when burnt, emits a disagreeable odour, and the residue or ash takes the form of a bead or knob. Silk burns in the same way as wool when it is free of "weighting." ”

“ Yarn-dyed.—Yarn-dyed goods are made of yarns that are dyed before being woven or yarns spun from wool that has previously been dyed. Yarn-dyed may be distinguished from piece-dyed fabrics by unravelling the threads of each kind. Yarn-dyed fabrics show that the dye-stuff has penetrated through the yarn, while in the case of piece-dyed fabrics the dye-stuff has not the same chance of penetrating the yarn as completely. ”

“ There are various grades of Coverts and they all have as a distinctive feature neutral tones of colour. The real Covert cloth is always made from double and twist warp yarns and single fillings. The weave is such that the filling yarn does not show on the face of the cloth, therefore almost any shade similar in general tone to the warp may be used as filling. Cheap grades are made as a piece-dyed union mixture containing up to 30 per cent. cotton. They are also known as Venetian Coverts when they have a pronounced whipcord effect. The weave is a sateen weave of the warp-face variety. ”

“ Mohair Sicilian.—Similar in construction of weave and components to a Mohair Brilliantine and differing from this only by the relative coarseness of threads. Sicilian is three times as coarse as Brilliantine, presenting a surface in which the warp and weft intersections are clearly shown, whereas the Brilliantine, being so much finer woven, does not show these so clearly, presenting as it does a smoother surface. The weft threads in Sicilian are comparatively much coarser than the warp, whereas in Brilliantine this difference is not so apparent. ”

“ These goods are made usually in two coloured warp patterns, dark blue and white and red and white. One feature which is worthy of mention in regard to Ticking and other similar lines is that they are to-day being stock-dyed in increasing quantities. This method consists of dyeing the cotton or bleaching it, as the case may be, in the raw state and then carding, drawing, and spinning just as if a grey fabric were to be made. Stock-dyeing results in the dye affecting the fibres which form the very centre of a yarn, and for this reason is a better process than dyeing the finished yarn. ”

“ Union Yarns, being composed of materials that are not affected by dyes in the same way, can be recognised when found in a so-called wool fabric from the fact that the wool in the yarn will have taken up the dye, whereas the cotton will not have done so to the same extent, but will have retained more or less its original colour. ”

“ Selvedges are that part of the fabric by which it is held out in a stretched position in many of the stages of finishing. In the textile trade generally it is often stated that "a good selvedge shows a good cloth." Velvets and Velveteens that are mounted on iron frames, to which they are attached by means of series of hooks penetrating the selvedges, have these selvedges reinforced by stronger warp threads. ”

“ Cashmere was originally made from hand-spun yarn. In the knitted goods trade the word Cashmere, when applied to hosiery or underwear, means goods made of fine worsted yarns spun from Saxony or other soft wools.
Cashmere has been described as being a lightly woven woollen fabric of twilled construction and soft finish, having the twill on the "right" side, i.e., on the face of the fabric. It is sometimes woven with a cotton warp and fine Botany wool weft. An all-cotton variety, woven in the same way as the true Cashmere, is also met with: it is known as Cotton Cashmere. ”

“ The printing of Calicoes is done by the aid of a machine whose main feature is a revolving cylinder on which the design has been stamped or cut out. Such machines are capable of printing several colours in one design. Calico is woven with a plain one-over and one-under weave. As a textile term it is applied to cheaper grades of plain cotton cloth, and the name is rightly applied when such cloths are printed. In the Manchester district and in Great Britain generally the term Calico is used only to designate a plain grey or white shirting or sheeting free from any ornamentation. ”

“ All authorities do not agree as to what constitutes a Union, the following definition having been met with: "Fabrics are union when composed of two materials otherwise than by blending." In the Morley (Yorkshire) trade a "Union" is a cotton warp cloth of boiled and teazled finish superficially resembling Broadcloth.
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Union Yarns.—These yarns, as the name indicates, are the product of combining two or more different materials into a yarn, generally wool and cotton or wool, and any of the many vegetable fibres capable of being spun. ”

“ Lustre Dress Fabrics.—This class of union fabric, when woven with a fast black dyed cotton warp and a worsted mohair weft, is representative of union fabrics in general, and the treatment of this material when in its grey state applies to the majority of union fabrics. The warp is generally a 2/80's, i.e., a strong yarn, and the weft, say, a 1/14's. The warp being dyed prior to weaving, there only remains the weft to be dyed after the unfinished cloth leaves the loom. ”

“ Carbonising.—All-wool cloths and even raw wool very often contain a certain amount of vegetable matter, such as burrs, the chemical composition of which is similar to that of cotton, and as it is at times very desirable to extract this vegetable matter, the cloth or fibre is for this purpose subjected to a process known as carbonising. ”

“ Bunting.—A plain, loose, even-thread weave of Mohair wool or worsted, used mostly for making flags. Bunting, which is a material having to be dyed, is made of wool and not cotton or other vegetable fibre for the reason that wool has a greater affinity for dye-stuffs than cotton and retains them better. There is, however, a cotton fabric woven from low-count yarns, generally known as either Butter Muslin or Cheese Cloth, which is sometimes called Bunting. ”

“ This kind of information is of material value where the sample concerns a class, style, or quality of fabric not hitherto met with. With a comparatively small amount of trouble it would be possible to get together very valuable collections of samples. And if the individual would but give a little time and thought to the question of textile samples, and but a tithe of the time devoted to any hobby he may have, he will be amply repaid by the added knowledge he will acquire. ”