Silk weaver

“ If we depended for this upon European mills, the color desired would be out of fashion before the thread arrived.
As to the weaving of silk, it is said that we are obliged to import the very best raw silk, owing to the high price of labor here—poor silk requiring great cost in labor. "It costs five times as much to tic a knot here as in France." In the best silk, the thread is not lumpy; but, in weaving the lumpy thread of poor silk, the weaver is constantly busy picking off the imperfections. ”

“ The silk weavers of Asia had, of old, found out the way so to gear their looms, and dress their silk, or their threads of gold, that with a warp and woof, both precisely of the same tone of colour they could give to the web an elegant design, each part of which being managed in the weaving, as either to hide or to catch the light and shine, looked to be separated from or stand well up above the seeming dusky ground below it: at times the design was dulled, and the ground made glossy. ”

“ This is quite a different thing from a silk portiere made from some beautiful old silk garment, which is too much worn for further use, where warp and woof colour are selected for fitness and harmony, and the weaver uses her rags, as the painter does his colours, with a purpose of artistic effect. If the work is done from that point of view, the last state of the once beautiful old garment may truly be said to be better than the first. If a light cloth is used for this kind of manufacture, it may be torn into strips so narrow as to simulate yarn—and make what appears to be yarn weaving. ”

“ Two old silk petticoats will make two pillow tops that are artistic as well as useful. One of the most beautiful examples of silk weaving was a cushion I saw made from two old silk petticoats; one was sage green and the other Delft blue. The strips were [302] about one inch wide. All the worn parts were cut out. No piece was considered too small to use.
Every pattern of rug has a name given it by the weaver. The most common pattern is the hit-and-miss. The name aptly describes it. There are never two hit-and-miss patterns that are exactly alike. ”

“ The materials are good, excepting the gold thread, which has turned black, though the large quantity of rich yellow silk used along with it somewhat hides its tarnish. In gearing his loom the weaver has made the mistake of showing the bishop as bestowing his benediction with his left, instead of his right hand. ”

“ Silk weavers mostly work in attics, where they can have the best light to distinguish shades of colors, and where the silk, which moisture would damage, can be kept perfectly dry. In Spitalfields, the silk manufacture is mostly carried on by the workmen at their homes, their families assisting. Each child has his own branch, and the wife hers. It is the same case in the making of lace, artificial flowers, embroidery, straw braiding, &c. The strength of silk is greater than that of cotton, flax, or wool. ”

“ The most hopeful ground, however, for the industry is Kashmir, where Sir Thomas Wardle reported that the silk was of as high a quality as from any part of the world. The most important seat of the silk-weaving industry is Bengal, but there are few parts of India where some silk fabrics are not woven. The silk weavers of India possess the very highest skill in their craft, and with competent and energetic management and increased capital the industry could be revived and extended. ”

“ Probably its origin, as far as flax and not silk is concerned, as being the underlying substance, is much earlier than has been supposed; and when Attalus’s name was bestowed upon a new method of interweaving gold with wool or linen, it happened so not because that Pargamanean king [Pg xxxv] had been the first to think of twisting gold about a far less costly material, and thus, in fact, making gold thread such as we now have, but through his having suggested to the weaver the long-known golden thread as a woof into the textiles from his loom. ”

“ But in the year 1148 Roger I., King of Sicily, having taken the cities of Corinth, Thebes, and Athens, thus got into his power a great number of silk-weavers, took them away with the implements and materials necessary for the exercise of their art, and forced them to reside at Palermo [86] . ”

“ The problems of weaving are not in my line. Here in Pont-de-Saint-Michel almost every one is employed in the Gaspard filature, or in the throwing mills; and if not, the people raise silkworms. Since the men have been called to the colors practically all the work of this big manufacturing plant is being done by women, boys, and children. The few men we have who are operating the heavier machines have either been sent home from the front because they were wounded or else they are not strong enough to fight. So you see, silk is the language of the whole village. ”

“ It is mostly used in selvedges, where it serves to give more firmness to the edge of an otherwise loosely woven cloth, and prevents the weaving ahead of the edge in a tight weave. Gros de Tours is sometimes used, especially when cotton or wool filling is employed, with a view to lay two picks nicely side by side, whereas a thread entered two ply with the taffeta weave will always receive some twist, which may disturb the perfect evenness of the fabric.
Fig. 18 is a Gros de Tours with two picks on four harness straight through. ”

“ Only a prince would be raising silkworms arrayed in a costume of real velvet; and even then, were he to do it, he would be an extravagant fellow."
"Is velvet made in America?" Madame Bretton asked.
"America makes almost no velvet cloth, but much velvet ribbon, some of which is very fine. The American mills also turn out a great deal of cheaper, cotton-backed velvet ribbon. The best quality of their silk velvet variety is made on looms the exact width of the goods, and has a selvage and back of satin."
"Can people make——" began Pierre. ”

“ Carded woollen yarn was the same per skein. Weaving plain flannel or tow or linen brought fivepence per yard; common worsted and linen, one penny a yard; and other linens in like proportion. [11]
Silk growing and weaving had been the result of the silkworm cocoons sent over by James the First, who offered bounties of money and tobacco for spun and woven silk according to weight. Three women were famous before the Revolution as silk growers and weavers,—Mrs. Pinckney, Grace Fisher, and Susanna Wright ”

“ That we are, on the other hand, not yet at the height of perfection we are also compelled to acknowledge, but if we consider the short space of time that the American industry has required for its development, as compared to the decades, almost centuries, to which some of the great European silk centers can look back, the fact is neither surprising nor discouraging. ”

“ The odd numbers of warp-threads cross the even numbers after every pick; hence of two warp-threads one will always go over the first pick and under the second, and the other end under the first and over the second pick. Taffeta cloth, therefore, has the same appearance on both sides, and in cotton and wool weaving this weave is technically—and properly indeed—called the Plain Weave. It has the smallest repeat, 2 warp-threads and 2 picks, and the exchanging of warp and filling is the most frequent possible. The cloth thus produced is firmer and stronger than that obtained with any other weave. ”

“ There is, for example, the soft panne velvet made by pressing the goods after it has been woven until it presents a satiny finish, then there is what is known as mirror velvet, a product woven from more than one shade of silk, and which in a strong light has a changeable quality."
"It is wonderful, isn't it?" murmured Madame Bretton, who was leaning forward and listening as intently as were her boy and girl.
"Yes; all that man thinks out with his brain and perfects with his hands is wonderful," agreed the priest. ”

“ Like other silken textiles, satin seems to have been, in some few instances, interwoven with flat gold thread, so as to make it a tissue: for example, Lincoln had of the gift of one of its bishops, eighteen copes of red tinsel sattin with orphreys of gold. [131]
Though not often, yet sometimes do we read of a silken stuff called, cadas, carda, carduus, and used for inferior purposes. The outside silk on the cocoon is of a poor quality compared with the inner filaments, from which it is kept quite apart in reeling, and set aside for other uses ”

“ Most goods gain from 3 to 7 per cent. in weaving. That is, if we make a warp of 300 meters for a satin and we obtain 315 yards of cloth, this gain should not be calculated, as usually there is no account taken of samples used in the selling department. But the loss in length should be figured and taken account of on goods with a heavy rib, such as moiré, faille, etc.
DISP. 7—A 3 1/3-inch repeat can be obtained with a 600-hook jacquard machine, seven repeats in a width of 23 inches.
DISP. 8—Taffeta weave, but the two cotton picks must go in one hole. ”

“ After colour in draperies come texture and quality, and these need hardly be discussed in the case of silken fabrics, because silk fibre has inherent qualities of tenacity of tint and flexibility of substance. Pure silk, that is silk unstiffened with gums, no matter how thickly and heavily it is woven, is soft and yielding and will fall into folds without sharp angles. This quality of softness is in its very substance. Even a single unwoven thread of silk will drop gracefully into loops, where a cotton or linen or even a woollen thread will show stiffness. ”

“ An imitation of an old silk fabric made for many centuries in Bengal, India, whence the name. The weave is similar to that of ordinary rep or poplin, being a simple round-corded effect. The cord is produced by using a heavy soft-spun woolen weft which is so closely covered by the silk warp threads that it is not exposed when examined from the wrong side. The same weave is also found in all-silk goods, under the designation of all-silk bengaline. When cheapened by the use of a cotton weft in place of wool the fabric is known as cotton bengaline, although the cotton is in the filling only. ”

“ This weave produces an even, close, smooth surface, capable of reflecting the light to the best advantage, and having a lustrous appearance which makes it resemble satin cloth. Satin cloth is made of silk using a satin weave.
Satin weaves are used very largely in producing different styles of cotton and silk fabrics, and are also frequently found in woolen goods. They are more extensively used in the manufacture of damask and table-covers than for any other class of goods. ”

“ As trade grew up, she brought these fine silken textiles to our markets, and articles of dress were made of silk for men’s as well as women’s wear among the wealthy. At what period the raw material came to be imported here, not so much for embroidery as to be wrought in the loom, we do not exactly know; but from several sides we learn that our countrywomen of all degrees busied themselves in weaving. ”

“ Beautiful cushions and other useful articles can be made by weaving.
It is a great mistake to think that all cast off clothing can be woven into handsome rugs or portières. True it is possible to weave them, but it is almost a hopeless task to get artistic effects from old coats or a lot of dark articles.
The modern rug weavers get a few yards of cheap muslin in two or three shades and make a rug that can be sold for two or three dollars. Silk is not like old woollen materials, it can be utilized to the last thread because it is soft and works to good advantage. ”

“ The color on one side is generally different from the other, and so may the interlacing be of a different nature on face and back. In the latter case great care must be exercised not to allow the weave on one side to disturb the one on the other, and as a rule the points of interlacing of the first warp or filling system are placed as much as possible in the middle of the floats of the second. This will prevent either color or weave to be seen on the opposite side, as the floats of one side will naturally lay themselves over the binders of the other. ”

“ Remember wool is an expensive fiber. Do not expect to get all wool for little money.
3. Remember the weave affects wearing quality. A close twill weave is often more durable than a basket weave.
Do you remember your lessons about silk; how it is grown and made by the little worm, and how it is manufactured or spun into thread or woven into silk cloth? In buying silk one must remember about its manufacture.
1. Silk is seldom pure. It is apt to be weighted. If the silk feels heavy in the hand, it does not always mean that it is a good piece of material and will wear ”

“ Pierre opened his eyes.
"Organzine, for example, is used for the warp of woven silk materials and is generally spun from the best quality raw silk, the threads being firm and strong. Tram, on the other hand, is silk of a second grade and is composed of a greater number [149] of fibres. Many of the mills manufacturing woven silks prefer not to own throwing mills. Often their plants are in large cities where land is expensive and they must economize space; or the manufacturers estimate that they can get thread thrown for them cheaper than they can do it themselves. ”

“ From the above it will be seen that the hair to be woven is placed in the brushes which lie upon the table; the roots allowed to project a little, and convenient to the workman’s hand. The three “strings” as they are sometimes called, are in reality silk, one skein of weaving-silk being wound round each groove of the weaving-peg. The silk can be had either fine, medium, or coarse, according to the taste or requirement of the user. ”

“ From this mixed web we pass to another more precious, the Cloth of Tars; which we presume to have been the forerunner of the now celebrated cashmere, and together with silk made of the downy wool of goats reared in several parts of Asia, but especially in Tibet.
Velvet is a silken textile, the history of which has still to be written. Of the country whence it first came, or the people who were the earliest to hit upon the happy way of weaving it, we know nothing. ”