Textiles and Clothing. Kate Heintz Watson
FRAME"/> DRAWING FRAME
Drawing the Roving Finer.
The Spools of Roving Above Are Being Drawn Out, Given the Twist by the Fliers, and Wound on Bobbins Below.
Always used for wool. Part of the machine moves away from the frame, thus drawing out the thread, which is then twisted.
Gives the Largest Production.
The yarn for warp is now usually given a coating or "sizing" of starch and gums so that the thread may not become unwound and break during weaving.
The process of spinning is much the same for flax and for wool, although somewhat differently constructed machines must be used. Flax is usually spun wet.
WEAVING
Modern Loom
The modern power driven loom is a wonderful piece of machinery. The principle of its operation is essentially the same as the hand loom, but it is almost perfectly automatic in its action, a man or woman being able to tend from ten to fifteen looms weaving plain cotton goods.
Warping
The yarn coming from the spinning frame is sometimes dyed before weaving. The warp is formed by winding as many threads as the width of the fabric is to contain on a slowly revolving drum, called a "beam," in the same relative position in which they are to appear in the finished cloth. From its position on the beam at the back of the loom, each thread is brought through its particular loop or eye with the heddle, then passes through its own slot in the reed, and down to the roller or "cloth beam" that is to take up the woven cloth. This is called "drawing in the warp." If there is a piece of cloth coming from the loom, the work is very simple, for the ends of the new warp are tied to the ends remaining from the warp that has been woven out.
The shuttle with its bobbin, containing the yarn of the filling, is much the same as is used in the hand looms, except for form and size, which varies according to the requirements and size of the warp being used. At first only one shuttle was used, but in 1760 Robert Kay invented a mechanism by which several shuttles containing different grades or colors of yarn might be used. Each throw of the shuttle across the width of the goods is called a "pick."
The Harness
In making a cloth with plain weave, that is, with every thread interlacing with every other, as in darning, only two harnesses are required, but the modern loom may have up to about twenty-four harnesses so that an infinite variety of weaves may be obtained. Various cams and levers move the harness frame and so raise or lower the threads required for the design.
Jacquard Loom
The Jacquard loom is arranged on a different principle. In this loom, all kinds of fancy weaves may be obtained as in table linen, tapestries and carpets. Each warp thread is supplied with a separate hook and by means of perforated card the desired threads are raised or depressed at each throw of the shuttle. The cards are worked out by the designer. A set of a thousand or more cards may be required to produce the desired design. Jacquard looms are sometimes to be seen at fairs and expositions weaving handkerchiefs with some picture design.
Weaving Ingrain Carpet at Hull House.
WEAVES
The great variety of weaves found in the textiles of to-day are modifications of a few fundamental weaves invented in the earliest times.
The chief fundamental weaves are:
(1) Plain weave.
(2) Twills.
(3) Sateen.
To which may be added the derivatives—
(4) Rib weave.
(5) Basket weave.
These do not include the many fancy weaves, too numerous to classify, and the open work weaves, made in the Leno loom, in which some of the threads are crossed. Knit goods are made by the interlooping of a single thread, by hand or on circular knitting machines and lace by an analogous process, using several systems of threads. Felt is made up of matted fibers of fur and wool and has no thread structure.
Plain Weave
The plain weave is the most common, nearly all light weight goods being thus woven. In plain weaving, each thread of both warp and filling passes alternately over and under the threads at right angles. This makes a comparatively open cloth, requiring the smallest amount of yarn for the surface covered. This weave is used in nearly all cotton goods, as in muslins, sheetings, calicoes, ginghams, and thin woolen goods. Even in the plain weave variety is obtained by having some of the threads larger than others, either in warp or filling or both, thus producing stripes and checked effects.
a—Plain weave; b—Prunella twill; c—Cassimere twill; d—Swansdown twill.
Twills
After the plain weave the twill is the most common, being much used for dress goods, suitings, etc., as well as some of the thicker cottons. In this weave the intersections of the threads produce characteristic lines diagonally across the fabric, most often at an angle of 45°. The twill may be hardly visible or very pronounced. The simplest twills are the so-called "doeskin" and "prunella." In the doeskin the filling threads pass over one and under two of the warp threads and in the prunella twill over two and under one. The most common twill is the cassimere twill in which both the warp and filling run over two and under two of the threads at right angles.
Uneven Twills
A twill made by running both warp and filling under one and over three threads is called a swansdown twill and the reverse is known as the crow weave. In these the diagonal twilled effect is much more marked. Various twills are often combined with each other and with plain weave, making a great variety of texture. Numerous uneven twills are made, two over and three under, etc., etc.
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