Weave

“ In weaving Satin the same style of weave is adopted as in weaving Cotton Sateens, the object aimed at being an even, close, smooth surface and one capable of reflecting light to the best advantage. In a warp-weave Satin the warp only appears on the surface, the filling or weft threads being effectually and completely hidden. ”

“ I will talk about the weavers this morning. And the first thing I have to say is that this is no uncommon trade among birds. Take the nest of any of the common small birds that use hair for a lining, and you will be apt to find some part of it woven."
"But, Uncle Philip, you do not mean that [Pg 203] birds weave as smoothly and regularly as people do!"
"Not quite, boys; but still it is very fair weaving, and done as our weaving is, by working a hair or thread in and out between other hairs and threads, or roots, or bits of stick and grass. ”

“ Out in the villages, where these people live, it would seem almost as absurd for the weaver to become a carpenter as for the weaver who uses only cotton thread to become a silk-weaver, or for those who weave coarse white cloths to produce the finer coloured cloths worn by the women. ”

“ This fabric may, like Velveteen, be either of a weft or warp pile weave, which is more fully described under "Velveteen." Being plain, it is free from any ornamentation produced by printing, embossing, or combination of weave, and of uniform colour throughout the width and length of the material. ”

“ There are two classes of weavers, the sedentary and the nomadic. The former weave in their houses during the Winter, and in their courtyards during the Summer. The nomads spend the Winter in mud villages, and in the Summer go to the mountains with their flocks and [Pg 27] live in tents made of goat's hair. The manner of life of the sedentary weaver works havoc with her constitution even in her youth ”

“ The ground weave is a five-end satin, and care must always be taken, in designing, that the ends and picks in the pattern are a multiple of the ends and picks in the ground weave, or there will occur a broken pattern at the joining of each “repeat.” ”

“ Vertical stripes serve well as another easy method of variation and are produced by using two woof threads of different tones and weaving first with one and then with the other. This weave is very attractive as the body of the rug with a plain border at either end.
As soon as the children have mastered the plain weave and have a fairly clear idea of the possibilities in design [Pg 43] through varying the colors in the woof only, they may be initiated into the mysteries of the "gingham weave" and allowed to experiment with the variations in warp as well as in woof. ”

“ The stems of the seed-grasses are the spokes, the long grass the weaver. Turn the blossom-ends down, the stem-ends up, and close to where it is tied, begin to weave the long grass in and out, under one spoke, over the next, under the third, over the fourth, going around and around spirally until the end of the weaver is reached, then tie it to one of the spokes. Keep forcing the spokes farther and farther apart as you weave until the holder is shaped like a cone. As you see in the illustration, the weaver never passes over one of the spokes twice in succession. ”

“ In the foundation weaves each thread effects only one crossing in one repeat of the weave, and the points of interlacing occur in a given rotation. A repeat in the foundation weaves comprises the same number of warp-threads as of [pg 16] picks or filling threads, and if this number is 8, for instance, the weave is called an 8-shaft or an 8-harness weave. ”

“ In many of the heavier ones the effect of a poplin or repp weave is produced by having about three times as many warp threads to the inch than there are weft. This results in the warp forming the surface of the cloth and, of course, minimises the amount of labour.
A Shan woman can weave about five yards of this plain cloth in a day and, unless there is to be a design, the yarn is not dyed but the complete cloth is soaked in an infusion of the indigo.plant, dried, washed and steeped again until the result is sufficiently dark in colour. ”

“ Therefore, in the portion where the single warp unit interlaces with single wefts, a simple one-by-one, or plain weave results; where the single warp unit interlaces with twin wefts, a one-by-two, or semibasket weave occurs. In the portion of the breadth where warps are paired, interlacings of two-by-one, or semibasket weave, and two-by-two, or basket weave, occur. ”

“ The weaving is done from the bottom up, some working in one direction, while others weave first at the bottom, then turn the loom upside down, and, after weaving about the same distance there, finish in the middle. The last part of the weaving is like darning, and is often done with a needle. ”

“ Little children weave together strips of paper, straws, and splints,—"over one, under one,"—and the weaving of plain cotton cloth is in principle nothing more than this. The first thing to do in weaving is to stretch out the warp evenly. This warp is simply many hundreds of tiny threads as long as the cloth is to be, sometimes forty or fifty yards. ”

“ 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. ”

“ These looms are distinguished by the name of the material which they are designed to weave, as the ribbon-loom, blanket-loom, burlaps- and sacking-loom, plush-loom, double-cloth loom, rug-loom, fancy cotton-loom, silk-loom, worsted-loom, etc.
Weaving is distinct from knitting, netting, looping, and braiding, which are operations depending on the interlacing of a single thread, or single set of threads, while weaving is done with two distinct and separate sets of threads. ”

“ Many modifications of the standard weave in caning are in vogue, but are more or less fads. A “rotary” weave is rather prevalent on certain types of furniture, as is what may be termed the “spider-web” weave. These are mentioned merely to suggest that caning is subject to variation. However, the standard weave, of seven steps, will not be supplanted to any appreciable degree, for it adapts itself to almost all types of furniture both decoratively and structurally. ”

“ The term "end" in weaving is used to designate the warp thread, while each weft or filling thread is called a "pick." The fineness of a cloth is expressed by saying that it has so many "ends" and "picks" to the inch. The character of the weave offers the best basis for classification of woven goods, and nearly all varieties of cloth may be classified under the following weaves:—
Web.—Web is the name given to a piece of cloth at the moment it is taken from the loom and previous to its having been treated to produce the special feature of the class of cloth the web belongs to. ”

“ In 1833, a steam-loom weaver, from fifteen to twenty years of age, assisted by a girl about twelve years of age, attending to four looms, can weave eighteen similar pieces in a week; some can weave twenty pieces. ”

“ It is, of course, desirable, at least in handsome blankets of intricate pattern, to have both ends uniform even if the figure be a little faulty in the center. To accomplish this some of the best weavers depend on a careful estimate of the length of each figure before they begin, and weave continuously in one direction; but the majority weave a little portion of the upper end before they finish the middle. ”

“ The satin weave is a broken twill—that is, instead of lifting consecutively at each pick, an end, or in some cases two ends, are passed over, as shown in Fig. 39 (sateen) . The ends are lifted in this order: 1, 3, 5, 2, 4. ”

“ Weave all the way around, turning the corners sharply, until the weaver meets the first end; lap it over this, cut it off and tuck the last end under H. Start the next weaver at C, weave it around and tuck under E. Weave five weavers around the sides of the basket, beginning each time [40] in a new place that the joints may not all come together, then bend the upright shavings over the edge of the top weaver, tucking the ends of each under the third weaver, one inside, the next outside, as they may come inside or outside the basket (Fig. 45) . ”

“ Selvages at left. Width of narrowest border stripe, one-fourth inch; others in proportion.
Plate 7
a, reconstruction of border stripes of fabric in plate 6,e; b, reconstruction of stripe found on several specimens; c, section of fabric (×2) showing variations in plain weave and amount of twist given to weaving elements (16-1240) ; d, section of fabric (×2) showing two-and-two basket weave varied in appearance by arrangement of colored yarns (4-3962) . ”

“ Fig. 169
As the weaver sits at the back of his frame or loom when working, he has to come round occasionally to examine the face of his work. Sometimes he keeps a looking-glass in front to show him how he is getting on. He has also a rough pattern on the back of the cloth similar to that on the front, as the nature of the weave must give him the same on both sides were it not for the loose ends at each change [259] of bobbin, which have to be tacked up at the back. Tapestry weaving is a very tedious process of working, but in skilful hands very beautiful, and artistic results can be produced. ”

“ Linen and silk are better non-conductors than wool. And the weave of a cloth has a great deal to do with the amount of heat it lets through. Smooth, hard weaves absorb much less heat than fuzzy weaves. ”

“ They make constant use of the diagonal or twilled technic, a weave which requires that the warps be divided into four sheds, the [17] upper supplied with a shed stick, the three lower with healds. The sheds are shifted in a variety of orders for the construction of different patterns. ”

“ Fix the weaving frame, and three silks, as on previous occasions. Put the thickest portion into the brushes, and weave a very fine top row of “once-in” weft, about three and a-half inches in length. This is not to be cut down, but go on weaving the remaining portion of the tress of hair; the only difference being that it is to be coarser. The weaving should be graduated, as it were, so as to avoid an abrupt thickness of the weft, for it would, doubtless, spoil the appearance of the work. Plait up in three, and twist the weft round the weaving peg. ”

“ In combining these weaves it is advantageous to have them contrast distinctly, for instance, a short weave such as taffeta or Gros de Tours, with a longer and looser one such as satin, sergé or cannele, also changes from warp to filling effects. Care must be taken to arrange the joining of the two weaves so that the last thread of one weave will cross the first thread of the other. This will prevent the threads from either stripe to slide over into the other, and so make a clean cut line.
Pekin. A stripe of
Fig. ”

“ It is customary in weaving materials with end as well as side selvages to give more or less attention to the closing of the space between the weaving proper and the heading strip. When the warps in the form of a skein had been spread out evenly and bound in place to the end bars, the ancient weavers on two-bar looms first wove a shallow heading strip to secure the warps in their positions and to establish the ultimate width of the fabric, a practice followed by some modern weavers today. ”

“ THE three principal movements in weaving are shedding, picking, and beating up the weft. By shedding is meant opening the warp threads to allow the shuttle containing the weft to pass over certain ends and under others. In the common [Pg 49] hand loom the shed is made by the weaver operating treadles with his feet. Fig. 35 shows the method of connecting the shafts or staves with the treadles for weaving a plain cloth. ”

“ It is woven from strong wool and can be described as a fine, durable fabric of a somewhat hard handle, but smooth in appearance and ornamented by the introduction of a figure, pattern, or design produced either by means of an extra thread or by combination of warp and weft threads.
Woollen Lastings, Plain.—A plain twill or kindred weave fabric firmly woven from hard-twisted yarns. It is woven from strong wool and can be described as a fine, durable fabric of a somewhat hard handle, smooth in appearance, and free from any ornamentation produced either by weaving or printing. ”

“ Nos. 15, 16, 17, illustrate one, two, and three threads of weft passing between two rows of knots.
50The nice distinctions in the technique of weaving are rarely understood even by those who are familiar with Oriental rugs. The general pattern, which next to colour is the characteristic that most quickly arrests the attention, is often the sole guide by which novices guess the class. The more experienced will observe if the knot be Ghiordes or Sehna, and examine the finish at the sides and ends; but few give the peculiarities of the weave the consideration they deserve. ”

“ Weavers were a universally popular element of the community. The travelling weaver was, like all other itinerant tradesmen of the day, a welcome newsmonger; and the weaver who took in weaving was often a stationary gossip, and gathered inquiring groups in his loom-room; even children loved to go to his door to beg for bits of colored yarn—thrums—which they used in their play, and also tightly braided to wear as shoestrings, hair-laces, etc.
The hand-loom used in the colonies, and occasionally still run in country towns to-day, is an historic machine, one of great antiquity and dignity. ”

“ Weft, wool, occasionally cotton; of coarse diameter. For a short space a thread of weft crosses twice, that is across and back once, between every two rows of knots, then three times, and so alternates every several rows. Pile, wool of medium length, soft, and silky. Border, three to five stripes, and frequently an outer edging of uniform colour. Sides, a double overcasting. Both ends, narrow web and loose warp fringe. Texture, stout and firm. Weave at back is of coarse grain. Usual length, eight to twenty feet. Usual width, three fifths to three quarters length. ”