Primitive peoples wove fabric in just the same way as we do today. By the time of the death of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun in the 14th century BC, immensely complex fabrics were being made, with delicate patterns in several colours. No items of ancient Greek fabrics survive, but the decoration on a vase of the 6th century BC shows both spinners and weavers. The loom, about 5ft (1.5m) high, is the same type as that used by Penelope as she waited for the return of her husband Odysseus in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey.
Weaving uses two sets of yarn, the warp and the weft. The warp threads run parallel along the length of the cloth, and the weft is threaded through them, over and under successive warp threads.
The yarn is woven on a loom, a framework of wood or metal which makes the repetitive process of threading the weft is threaded through them, over and under successive warp threads.
In a simple mechanical loom, the warp threads run off a roller as wide as the finished bolt of cloth will be. The threads pass through a set of wires running vertically, which can be moved up and down. Each wire has a small eye, or ring, in the middle through which the warp yarn runs. By simple mechanical arrangements it is possible to raise every alternate ring, making a space through which the weft can pass. In traditional looms, the weft is carried in a boat-shaped device called a shuttle, but many modern looms are shuttleless and use a rapier-like rod, or jets of air or water to carry the weft.
When the weft has passed through the warp, it is pushed down tightly against the previous thread with a comb-like frame. The rings carrying the warp threads are now depressed, the shuttle is turned round, and a second pass between a different set of threads is made. The fastest industrial looms of today can make well over 200 passes a minute.
The result of this process is plain weaving, in which each weft yarn passes over and under each warp yarn. It makes a tough, hard-wearing material.
Many other possibilities exist. Satin weave, for example, results when the warp is interwoven with only every fourth or fifth weft thread. Because long lengths of the warp lie on the surface of the fabric, it has a lustrous appearance, but may not wear well as it is easy for these exposed lengths to become snagged.
A variation on stain weave is damask, used for tablecloths, furnishing and silk fabrics. Subtle colour variations are achieved by alternating areas in which the warp lies on the surface with areas where the weft does. Minute differences in the reflection of light create the pattern.
Other weaves include twill, with characteristic diagonal lines – used in gabardine, serge and whipcord – and pile weaves, used for producing corduroy, plush, velour and velvet. The thick ‘pile’ of velvet is created by cutting some of the surface threads after weaving.
Picture Credit : Google
