_DOUBLE CLOTH_
DOUBLE CLOTH AND QUILTING HARNESSES
A very great variety of cloths come under the heading of double cloth;
in fact, almost every description of coloured cloth figured in the
loom, excepting coloured damasks and the commoner descriptions of dress
goods, as well as many uncoloured fabrics, are generally woven more or
less on this principle. Quiltings are mostly made on the double-cloth
principle, and have nothing to specially distinguish them, except
that some makes of cloth appear to be more suitable for goods of this
description, though frequently other fabrics of a much more costly
nature are woven in the same way; as, for instance, matelasses may be
made in the richest silk and worsted for jackets, as well as in coarse
cotton for quilts. One of the largest sections of double cloth is
carpetings, but these will be described in a separate section.
For figuring double cloths the same principles of the structure of the
cloth, &c., hold good as when weaving them plain, or in fancy texture.
Any suitable pattern can be put upon any description of double cloth
with a full harness mounting mounted in the ordinary manner; but the
pattern must be spread over the design paper to suit the description
of cloth to be made, which often necessitates its being in a very
distorted form, unless it can be arranged in different colours so that
the card-cutter can cut several cards from each line of the design
paper. For instance, if three colours are required to form one complete
weft line, then three lines of the design paper would be taken up with
these, unless the colours could be arranged that the three cards could
be cut from the one line, as frequently can be done; and the same for
the warp when there is a face and back warp, or several colours to be
brought up for one warp line. When there are two warp threads, one for
the face and one for the back, two hooks of the jacquard are required
to weave them, and two lines on the design paper are also required,
unless two colours are painted on one line to guide the card-cutter in
cutting the cards.
It is a great saving of work to the designer when the pattern has
not to be spread over the paper so as to give each line separately,
as doing so generally puts the pattern so much out of shape that it
requires first to be designed square, or of the proper dimensions, on
suitable design paper, and afterwards transferred to the working design
for the card-cutter. When goods are being largely made this can often
be avoided by special mechanism or mounting, to act instead of the
cards, it being then worth the trouble of having a specially prepared
mounting, and it is in these cases where double-cloth mountings are
used. Perhaps the simplest class of the double-cloth range, though
not really a double cloth, is figuring with extra weft. The figuring
weft may be thrown in as a spotting intermittently, or may be every
alternate shot, a ground shot following each figure shot.
Suppose the cloth to be a plain ground and a twill figure, and that 500
cards would be required to weave the figure if it were plain damask; it
is then evident that 1,000 cards would be required if every alternate
shot is ground, and the others for figure, and that the 500 plain cards
for the ground would be two cards repeated 250 times. Now, instead of
this, if we use a double-cylinder jacquard, and put the figuring cards
on one side and four plain cards on the other side, we can save 496
cards, as the four cards on the cylinder will work the plain at every
alternate shot. Or suppose a single-cylinder machine to be used, then
shafts might be put through loops in the harness; or the cumber board
might be made in sections, with knots on the harness twines above it,
so that in either case the harness could be raised in rows to form
plain cloth.
The plain shed could be formed with a tappet and levers, as in journal
weaving, and the griffe would only be raised for every figuring shot.
Plain cloth might also be wrought with a twilling motion on the
machine, such as is used on twilling jacquards. A pair of pressure
heddles in front of the harness is a common method of accomplishing
this in the hand loom. The harness is drawn for one shot, then let
down, and one of the pressure heddles sunk and the other raised for the
second shot. For the third shot the harness is again drawn, and for the
fourth shot the plain shed is crossed with the heddles. A twill or any
figure may be used, as well as a plain ground.
The next step in double cloth is perhaps double-weft-faced cloth--that
is, when the surface of the cloth on both sides is formed by weft, the
warp lying in the centre, and merely acting as binders to bind the two
wefts together. The warp may occasionally be brought to the surface to
give additional effect, or to add a third colour; or the body of the
weft may be kept on one side, the warp forming the ground on the other
side, with a weft figure on it, producing a one-sided cloth.
This class of work is best wrought in a pick-and-pick loom; but a check
loom--that is, one with extra boxes at one side only--can frequently be
used, and gives much less trouble. For a check loom two fine shots may
be used as one, having each pair of cards alike, except at the selvage,
and throwing two shots into each shed. Of course this takes twice the
number of picks and cards (unless two picks be given to each card), but
in some cases, as for borders, this may be an advantage in comparison
with working pick-and-pick. Often two succeeding cards of the pattern
for the same colour are made to follow each other, as may be found in
tapestries, &c., and the weft knocks up into its place without showing
any defect; but in a heavy cloth, with a thick or stiff warp, the weft
could not be knocked close together on this principle. With a fine
binding, warp of cotton and a thicker weft of woollen or worsted, there
is no difficulty in this working.
For double-weft-faced patterns the simplest method of designing is to
paint the pattern as if for plain damask, and then cut two cards for
each line of the design paper, one card being cut exactly the reverse
of the other; that is, the cutter cuts the painted squares for one card
and the ground squares for the next card. In lacing these two cards
are kept together, a ground and a flowering card coming alternately.
There is, however, an objection to this method of binding the texture
of the cloth, though in many cases it works very well. The objection is
that the warp has to be brought from the face of one side through to
the face of the other side for the succeeding shot to form the binding,
instead of being brought from the centre only to the face as it should
be.
[Illustration: Fig. 152]
Fig. 152 shows a portion of a stripe pattern designed to produce 8-end
twilled stripes. If a black and a white weft are used pick-and-pick,
the white pick coming first, A would be a solid black stripe and B a
solid white stripe, or the appearance would be as on the design paper,
but much reduced in size. On the under side of the cloth the colours
would be reversed.
[Illustration: Fig. 153]
The first card would be cut as the painting, cutting black, and the
second card would be exactly the reverse of this, cutting the white or
ground squares on the same line of the design paper. The texture formed
on the cloth by these cards is shown in Fig. 153, each line of the
design paper representing one card.
[Illustration: Fig. 154]
The correct method of binding is shown in Fig. 154, where it will be
observed that the binding of two succeeding weft shots does not fall
on the same warp thread, and that the binding dot will be covered by
the floats of the preceding and succeeding weft shots when the weft is
knocked up close. There are other squares on which the binding dots
might be placed as well as those in Fig. 154, one check to the left of
where they are being frequently used. A stripe pattern, as Fig. 152,
can be put upon design paper with each line representing two cards,
and be twilled to give the texture in Fig. 154, as is shown in Fig. 155.
When cutting this the cutter cuts the shaded squares and black dots
for the first card, and for the second card he cuts white and crossed
squares on the stripe B, and the solid black squares on the stripe A,
which it will be seen is exactly the same as cutting the black for the
first two lines of Fig. 154.
[Illustration: Fig. 155]
When painting the design the shaded squares may be red, the black
ones black, the black dots yellow or white, and the crosses green;
or any other convenient colours may be adopted. It will be observed
that in Figs. 152 and 155, where the raised and sunk twills come
together at the junction of the two stripes, there are no binding
dots on the two threads lying beside each other. It is not necessary
to have any binding for these threads, as the two wefts crossing bind
them sufficiently. Any desired figure may be woven on cloth on this
principle, which is a very convenient one, as the colours can be so
readily changed, and three or more colours may be used as well as two;
but in this case there is generally a right and a wrong side to the
cloth, the body of the wefts being at the back and each colour brought
through to the face to form the figure. Instead of the body of the
weft, or that portion not required for the figure, being at the back
of the cloth, it may be in the centre of the warp, and an equally good
face made on both sides of the cloth; but this requires more wefting,
makes a thicker and harder cloth, and is more expensive and more
troublesome to weave. Warp figuring may be done in exactly the same way
as described for weft figuring, and the pattern turned sideways shows
how it would be for warp; the only difference in the work all through
is to treat the warp as explained for weft. Of course, in the designing
and card-cutting, cutting two cards, one the reverse of the other, from
a design painted as if for a damask, would not fall in, but the designs
that are wrought fully out on the design paper would be all right. A
contraction of the work similar to cutting two cards from one line of
the design paper would have to be sought for in the mounting in the
first place, and in the card-cutting, to suit it.
[Illustration: Fig. 156]
Suppose the design to be as in Figs. 152 and 155, and to be painted
for a 200-jacquard, then to allow for double the quantity of warp a
400-jacquard would be required, the machinery being increased instead
of the number of cards. Now, to mount a loom for this class of work
the simplest plan is to divide the machine and cumber board into two
divisions, one half being used for one warp, which may be called the
face warp, and the other half for the other warp, which we may call
the back warp. A mounting of this description is shown in Fig. 156, in
which the machine is divided into two portions, 1 and 2, with 200 hooks
in each; the cumber board is also divided into two sections, marked A
and B. Here only four rows of needles are given, but any number can
be used. The cords from the hooks 1 to 200 are taken through the back
cumber board A, and those from the hooks 201 to 400 through the front
cumber board B.
When entering the yarn, one thread is taken from the back warp and
drawn into the first mail of the back harness, and the next thread is
taken from the face warp and drawn through the first mail of the front
mounting. Now, in reference to the card-cutting: instead of cutting two
cards one the reverse of the other, one half of the card must be cut
the reverse of the other half, the card-cutter cutting the coloured
squares of the design (200 checks) on the first half of the card, and
going back again and cutting the blank squares on the second half of
the card; or, when there is any variation in the twill, the pattern for
the face may be painted on 200 checks, and that for the back on 200
checks, and when cut on the card the threads of the warp will be raised
in proper order by the mounting.
Fig. 157 shows this principle of mounting with a straight or Norwich
tie, for which it is not so suitable as for the London tie (Fig. 156)
on account of the crossing over of the harness, though it is not very
objectionable if a narrow cumber board be used. Instead of having two
separate cumber boards with four or eight rows in each, one broad board
with eight or sixteen rows is better for the Norwich tie; then let the
first row of the back harness pass down through the back row of the
cumber board, and the first row of the front harness pass through the
second row of the cumber board, and so on, the back harness filling the
odd rows and the front the even rows; and when drawing in the yarn,
taking an end from the back and face warps alternately and drawing
them regularly over the harness causes them to fall correctly on their
respective mountings. Instead of dividing the card in this way and
reducing the machine to half its figuring capacity, a double-cylinder
machine might be used, the hooks from one set of needles being used for
one mounting, and those from the other set of needles for the other
mounting; then cutting the face pattern on one set of cards and hanging
them on one cylinder, and using a second set of cards containing the
back pattern for the other cylinder, should attain the same results,
and give double the extent of pattern on the same size of machine, both
griffes being raised and sunk together, and both cylinders being also
brought in and out together.
[Illustration: Fig. 157]
[Illustration: Fig. 158]
A modification of cutting the back and face pattern on its own half
of the card is to be found in the double-cloth quilting mounting
common about Paisley. These quilts are generally of a plain texture,
and the figuring is formed by passing one cloth up and down through
the other. The machine generally used is an improvement on the old
French draw loom, and is shown in Fig. 158 as it is made, principally
of wood, for hand looms. In this sketch the needles and cords in lieu
of hooks are not shown, but one row of them is shown in Fig. 159 with
only four hooks to each section instead of eight. H and K are the two
lifting levers for raising the griffes or trap-boards A and A^1 (Fig.
159). Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and 1_a_, 2_a_, 3_a_, and 4_a_ are the cords
in lieu of hooks to which the harness is connected. A and A^1 are
two perforated boards with the slotted holes through which the cords
pass, turned in the reverse direction in one from what they are in the
other. Each needle is connected to two of these cords--one through each
hole-board--and the knots on the cords above the holes stand over the
slots or saw-cuts of the holes in the board A and over the round or
open portion of the holes in the board A^1, clearly shown at F (Fig.
159), so that if the lever H (Fig. 158) were pressed down and the board
A raised without any card acting upon the needles, all the harness tied
to this portion of the machine would be lifted, and if the board A^1
were raised by the lever K, none of the harness tied to this portion of
the machine would be lifted. Now, if a blank card were placed on the
cylinder, the reverse of this would be the case, and anything between
these two extremes can be got by cutting the cards.
[Illustration: Fig. 159]
The cylinder is connected with the back griffe only, and remains in
for two shots. The griffe A is first raised, and a shot thrown in;
it is then lowered, and the griffe A^1 raised, which presses out the
cylinder and changes the card; a second shot is thrown in, and so on. E
and F (Fig. 158) are two slide rods or spindles to steady the griffes
or trap-boards when rising: G and G^1 are bottom hole-boards to steady
the cords; L is a clap-board for pressing back the needles instead of
springs (it is fastened on springs I I, which hold it out a little from
the needles, and these springs are fastened from the top by cords to
the cylinder frame, which slides out with the cylinder, and draws in
the clap-board, pressing forward all the needles). Now to mount this
machine for double cloth. Suppose each frame to have 400 cords, and
that there are 400 needles, the same as an ordinary 400-machine. Let
the texture of the cloth be plain, and to work this 80 needles may be
set off, leaving 320 for figuring. These 80 needles will be connected
to 80 upright cords in the trap-board A, and the same in A^1. The
harness for the face cloth is tied to the remaining 320 cords in the
trap-board a, and that for the back cloth to the 320 cords in the
trap-board A^1, and this portion of the harness works the figuring
only without the texture. The texture is wrought by the 80 cords in
each board connected to the first 80 needles. To each of these upright
cords a number of harness twines are tied, one of which is fastened to
each twine of the harness from the 320 cords, just above the cumber
board; but in doing so the twines from the 80 hooks on the cords in
the trap-board A must be connected with the twines of the harness from
the trap-board A^1, and the reverse for the other set. In this way
all the back harness could be raised with either griffe, and the same
with the front harness. Either griffe could raise one warp with the
plain harness, and the other with the figuring harness. When cutting
the cards plain texture is cut on each card for the first 80 needles,
and the figuring portion without any texture is cut on the remainder
of the card. The 80 cords open the texture or plain shed, and the 320
cords keep the two warps in their proper places, raising what should be
above the weft, and leaving down what should be below it for each shot
according to the pattern. In these mountings the cards hang over the
side of the loom.
The same method of working can be applied to a jacquard with upright
hooks, by having the heads of the hooks for each machine or set turned
in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 160. One set of hooks stand
with their heads over the knives in the usual way, as at A, and the
others require to be pushed back by the card to bring them over the
knives, as shown at B, so that pushing any needle back pushes the
front hook connected with it off the knife and the back one over the
knife. The mounting may be made up as before, or a twill or any smaller
texture may be used instead of plain; or a different texture may be
made on face and back cloths.
[Illustration: Fig. 160]
[Illustration: Fig. 161]
[Illustration: Fig. 162]
This description of cloth is much used for other makes of goods as
well as quilts. Kidderminster or Scotch carpets are woven on the same
principle, and curtains, cotton vestings, &c., are frequently woven
with the same texture. It can always be woven with a full harness
mounting by preparing the design to suit it. Fig. 161 is a pattern for
a diagonal figure in plain texture for this class of work. The black
squares represent the face warp raised to the face of the cloth, and
the shaded squares represent the back warp raised to the face also.
The blank squares represent weft on the face of the cloth. This would
give a magnified view of the face of the cloth if it were woven with a
black face warp, a grey back warp, and a white or light-coloured weft.
If each warp had a weft of its own colour the effect would be as shown
in Fig. 162, which would be the way the pattern would be painted on
the design paper if intended for weaving on looms specially mounted,
or with special machines as described; but if a full harness is to be
used, then the pattern must be spread over the design paper so as to
give a line of the paper for each thread of warp and pick of weft.
Fig. 163 is the same pattern arranged in this way. The black and grey
squares represent the face and back warp raised for the pattern. The
crosses show where the back warp is raised for the texture of the back
cloth at the back of the face cloth, and the dots represent the face
warp raised for the texture where the face cloth goes behind the back
cloth, or where the back cloth comes to the face. Of course, on a cloth
of this kind the warps are alike, face and back.
[Illustration: Fig. 163]
[Illustration: Fig. 164]
It will be understood that, when the threads of the back cloth are
being raised to form a shed, all the face threads of the corresponding
portions must also be raised to clear them out of the way of the
shuttle, and the raising marks for these are the short dashes on the
painting. Fig. 164 is the same pattern arranged for two threads face to
one of back, which admits of a heavy backing with a fine face, and is
suitable for quilts, &c. The markings are similar to those in Fig. 163,
but the number of threads is not such as to admit of the plain texture
repeating on the back cloth. It is therefore broken round the edges of
the figure where it would least show.
Instead of having the extra harness for working the plain texture as
explained in connection with the quilt harness, Fig. 159, it might be
done with four leaves of long-eyed heddles in front of the harness,
or by having shafts through loops in the harness to act as heddles,
or by having the cumber board divided into strips for each row of the
harness, and knots on the harness twines above them, so that raising
any strip will raise a row of the harness, or the machine may act as a
twilling machine to work the texture.
A Marseilles quilt is a double cloth with a fine face and a coarse
back, both stitched together round the edges of the pattern, and a
wadding shot thrown in between them, which causes the pattern to be
embossed or to rise up full and rich. The face is usually a plain
texture, and the back the same; but the face has double the number
of threads in it that the back has, and the yarn for the face is
proportionately finer than that for the back. Two picks of fine and two
of coarse weft are thrown in alternately--one pick of the fine goes
into the face cloth only, and the other, also a face pick, stitches
the face to the back. One of the coarse picks is thrown in between the
two fabrics, and is called the wadding, and the other pick goes into
the back cloth. In these fabrics a very fine effect can be produced by
covering the ground with a small bird-eye pattern, stitching the back
and front closely together, then having a bold floral pattern for the
figuring, which, being only bound round the edges of the pattern and
along veins, &c., is comparatively loose and produces a rich embossed
effect. These fabrics may be woven with a twilled as well as a plain
ground.
Matelasses are a similar description of fabric, but usually more
ornamented, the face fabric being any fancy texture. When used for
ladies’ jackets or mantles they are made of fine worsted or silk for
the face, with perhaps a woollen back and a woollen or cotton wadding.
The binding of the face and back cloths together takes place round the
edges of the figure, and in any other portion, such as veins of leaves,
&c., that may be thought desirable. The binding may be effected either
by leaving down a portion of the face warp when the back pick is being
thrown in, or by raising a portion of the back warp when the face pick
is being thrown in, this depending upon the pattern and the counts
of yarn used. The finer threads should be used for stitching, so as
not to injure the face by bringing any coarse threads through to it.
If the face of the cloth is a warp pattern it will be best to stitch
by raising a back thread over a face pick, but if the face is a weft
pattern then sinking the face warp for the back picks will probably
be more satisfactory. If the cloth is made, as is frequently done,
with a mohair or lustre worsted warp face with a cotton weft, and a
cotton warp back with a woollen weft, and a woollen wadding, then the
binding would be effected by raising some of the back warp thread over
the face picks. One pick (woollen) for wadding would be thrown into a
shed formed by raising all the face warp; the next pick would be for
the back, thrown into a shed formed by raising all the face warp and
that portion of the back warp required to form the texture of the back
cloth; the third pick would be for the face, thrown into a shed formed
by raising the portion of face warp required for the pattern, as well
as those ends of the back warp that are to form the stitchings.
_Quiltings._--A great variety of the cheaper description of quiltings,
toilet covers, &c., consist of a face cloth with an additional thick
weft. This thick weft is woven into the ground, which may be a twill,
mat, &c., but flushed loosely at the back of the figure, which is a
plain texture. Sometimes there is a small quantity of thin warp for
binding the thick weft loosely at the back of the figure, making a
double cloth in this portion, but all working together for the ground,
making it a solid cloth.
Of more recent origin are the satin quilts made by Messrs. Barlow and
Jones, of Bolton, and some other firms. They consist of two plain
cloths, intimately bound together; one cloth has a fine warp and a
very coarse weft, and the other has a fine weft and a coarser warp.
When binding, the fine warp is made to catch on the fine weft, and
the thick warp and weft cover the bindings. Suppose the fine warp to
be white and the thicker warp to be blue, and let the warping be two
threads blue and one white. Let the white warp be wefted with a thick
twist weft--say four times as thick as the warp--and this coarse weft
will form the figure. Let the blue warp be wefted with a blue weft
perhaps double the count of its warp, and in binding this weft catches
on the fine white warp. The thick white weft, which is fully double
the thickness of the thick warp, effectually covers the tie, and when
the yarns are properly proportioned the pattern stands out, producing
a clear stamped or embossed effect. These cloths may be made with a
twilled ground, and either all white or white and coloured. They are
a good firm fabric and wear well, but are liable to have a coarser
appearance after being washed. (See also Terry-Pile Quilts.)
_Woollens and Worsteds._--Weaving woollen and worsted cloths in the
jacquard loom is merely an extension of the patterns produced with
shaft mountings, or sometimes the same patterns are woven on small
jacquards by those who prefer the jacquard to working a larger number
of healds when the cloth is not so heavy as to require the latter to
be used, healds as a rule making a firmer and heavier cloth than a
jacquard will. Light worsted goods for dress fabrics, &c., are figured
like damask, or as double weft or double warp-faced cloths, or may be
as double cloths.
_Curtains and Tapestries._--These, though sometimes of damask, are
usually made on some principle of double cloth, as indeed all cloths
must be when a rich brilliant effect of colours is required. One of
the simplest methods of making these fabrics, and which produces a
very good effect, is to employ a fine binding warp of twist cotton
and produce the pattern on it with two, three, or more coloured wefts
of worsted, mohair, or silk--say a spun silk ground weft and a mohair
or fine worsted figure. A small portion of a diamond pattern, greatly
reduced for want of space, is given in Fig. 165. It is intended for
three colours of weft--one for the ground and two for the figure. The
ground weft might be black or gold, and the figure wefts olive green
and dull red, or claret, the warp to be black or a deep navy blue.
For this pattern three cards must be cut from each line of the design
paper--one for the ground weft and one for each colour of the figure.
The design is painted in various colours, which are here represented
by different markings on the squares. Let the black squares represent
the olive and the dotted squares the red of the figure. The white
squares represent the ground weft, and the shaded squares on it are
for binding the face weft down, while the crosses are for binding up
the weft at the back. The cutting of the cards is as follows:--For the
ground shuttle cut all the shaded, black, and dotted squares--that is,
the shaded squares on the ground and all the figure. For the first
figure shuttle (olive) cut all the ground except the crosses (that is,
the white and shaded squares) and the dotted squares of the figure. For
the second figure shuttle (red) cut all the ground except the crosses,
as before, and the black squares of the figure.
[Illustration: Fig. 165]
In this example the figure is so small as not to require binding dots
over it, but for a large figure the ground weft threads would require
to be bound up at the back of the figure in the same way that the
figure threads are bound up at the back of the ground in the design
given. The figure wefts might also require to be bound at both face and
back. On the design these binding marks would be dotted over the figure
in the same way as they are dotted over the ground on the design given,
using any suitable texture that may be desired.
To make the cutting clear, five lines of the pattern (Fig. 165) are
put upon design paper in Fig. 165A, as they would be cut on the cards,
beginning with the ground weft, olive and red following, in all making
15 lines or 15 cards. This cutting would make the upper side of the
cloth in the loom the right side or face; but it may, in some cases, be
desirable to weave the cloth with the face down to avoid heavy lifts in
the harness. This pattern would suit for a warp of about 50 threads of
warp per inch, and say 60 to 80 shots per inch of each colour.
[Illustration: Fig. 165A]
For the convenience of the designer and card-cutter, a much better plan
of working this class of fabric is to have an additional binding warp,
which may be in heddles or in a front row of the harness. This warp
can work plain twill or satin as required, and, being light and openly
set, can bind the back weft up and the face weft down, or the face may
be bound by the warp in the harness and the back bound by the binding
weft; but in this case there should be a fine thread of weft thrown in
every fourth pick, which should pass over the warp in the harness, or a
portion of it, and under that in the heddles, so as to bind both warps
together. In this case the twilling dots on the design are omitted,
which simplifies the cutting and designing of the pattern. If the face
is to be twilled with the harness warp, the dots for binding must, of
course, be put on the design, or the figure only may be twilled on the
design, and let the ground be bound by the binders. Shafts mounted in
this way may be wrought from tappets if the loom is mounted with them,
or may be wrought by strong hooks at each side of the jacquard and sunk
with springs. The principle of working fabrics of this description has
been given in detail, as from it many other varieties can be wrought
out, and any number of shuttles used to suit the colours wanted.
Figuring with two warps and one weft is a common method of working, and
gives three colours on the face of the cloth. An extra warp of fine
yarn may be used for binding the wefts, admitting of the coloured weft
being more used for figuring. Extra warps cannot be used to so great
an extent as extra wefts, as they crowd up the reed and prevent proper
shedding, particularly when soft or hairy yarns are used; but when
properly suited to the reed they make a firmer and more regular cloth
than a weft cloth, and on account of less picking the weaver gets over
the work much faster. Two warps, each having its own weft, are a good
method of figuring, but unless for goods with a large number of threads
and picks per inch, so that fine yarn can be used, it makes a heavy
cloth. Two warps and two wefts, all of different colours, with a fine
binding warp in addition, to admit of the colours of the wefts being
kept comparatively pure, gives a still richer effect. In this case
the binding warp may be of fine black cotton, the two figure warps of
thicker cotton, and two threads drawn into each mail; the colours may
be, say, dark blue and dark citrine, or clear sage. The wefts are soft
wool or worsted, say light gold and deep dull red. In this method of
weaving, pure red and pure gold can be got from the wefts, as the black
binders show but little. Pure blue and pure citrine can be got in small
quantities by floating the warps, and an admixture of the warps and
wefts can be got in any place desired.
A very handsome curtain fabric can be made as follows:--There are 120
to 140 threads of warp per inch; every second or every fourth thread of
the warp is used for binding the ground, which may be a plain texture
or a three-shaft twill. The binders may be an extra warp, wrought with
heddles, forming plain all over the cloth, or may be in the harness
and be portion of the ordinary warp working plain for the ground, but
rising to assist in forming the figure, which may be bound as desired,
say 8-or 10-end satin. The warp is of fine silk yarn loosely twisted,
and may be one or more ply, of a rich olive-green or deep scarlet
colour. There are two wefts, one a rich silk, say a golden colour, of
twist yarn; the other is a backing weft of the same colour as the
warp, and of cotton yarn, about the same thickness as the silk weft.
There are from 50 to 60 threads of weft per inch of each colour. The
gold weft forms the ground of the pattern, and the warp the figure,
which is bound with an 8-end satin binding. The cotton weft goes to
the back when the silk weft is on the face, forming the ground of the
pattern, the warp lying between them; but when the warp is on the face
for figuring, the gold weft goes to the back and the cotton weft lies
under the warp face, binding it and giving an embossed effect to the
figure. The gold weft is bound up by sinking a portion of the warp. The
ground may be formed with the warp, and the figure with the weft, if
desired, producing a sunk figure on a raised ground; but this is just
a reversal of the process, or making the ground in this case as the
figure in the previous case. This makes a light, close, and very rich
fabric.
_Figured Poplins_ are among the richest description of curtain fabrics;
they may be made of all silk, or silk and fine wool, the latter forming
the weft. The ground is a clean, sharp cord running across the cloth,
and the figure is formed by flushing the warp over the cords, binding
it with a long twill or satin binding. The weft may also be used for
figuring; but in this case it should be a silk weft put in for the
purpose of figuring.
Two portions of patterns of good makes of figured poplins or repps are
given in Figs. 166 and 167. Fig. 166 is warped two threads of rich
crimson silk and one thread of rich golden yellow silk, 180 threads per
inch. The weft is pick-and-pick, 50 picks per inch, one thread a round,
firm cord of firmly twisted worsted of the same colour as the warp, and
the other yellow silk, the same as the warp. This thread passes over
the crimson warp and under the yellow, the crimson cord reversing this,
thus producing a very fine yellow line between each pair of cords.
The method of forming the figure can easily be seen from the pattern.
Instead of a thick cord being put in for the weft to form the rib,
several fine shots could be thrown in as one, as in repp figuring, and
these threads could be brought out for figuring as well as the warp;
but they would in this case require to be of silk, which would make the
cloth very expensive.
[Illustration: Fig. 166]
[Illustration: Fig. 167]
Fig. 167 makes a very rich and handsome fabric. It is warped all a rich
purplish-brown silk, 180 threads per inch. There are four weft picks
in the pattern. The first is a clear olive-green silk about double the
thickness of the warp silk, the second shot is a round, firmly twisted
worsted cord of the same colour as the warp, the third is the same as
the first, and the fourth is silk of the same colour as the warp. There
are 100 picks per inch, but the two green silks go along with the cord
to form the complete cord or ridge. These silk picks can be brought
out to the surface for figuring, as shown by the shaded squares in the
pattern, which are not cut on the cards. The black squares are the warp
figuring, the dots the warp raised for the ground, and the crosses the
warp of the binding threads raised. These binding threads rise over the
brown silk pick, and are similar to the yellow warp in the previous
pattern.
For richer fabrics than these we must go to pile work, which is,
perhaps, the most exquisite production of the loom. Curtains or
hangings can be made extremely rich by figuring a rich corded silk
ground with a pile of different lengths and colours. The long pile can
be cut to form a plush or velvet pile, and the shorter pile may be left
uncut to form a looped or terry pile. By a judicious arrangement of
colours and length of pile, fabrics of extreme beauty can be made (see
Pile Work). For curtains of a heavy description chenille is much used,
and makes a very rich, warm-looking fabric; but it is too heavy and of
too coarse a nature for small rooms unless they are very well lighted.
It is very suitable for screens, or curtains dividing two portions of a
room (see Chenille).