Textile manufacturing by pre-industrial methods
Encyclopedia
Textile manufacturing
is one of the oldest human activities. The oldest known textile
s date back to about 5000 B.C. In order to make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fibre
from which a yarn
can be made, primarily by spinning
. The yarn is processed by knitting
or weaving
to create cloth. The machine
used for weaving is the loom
. Cloth is finished
by what are described as wet processes to become fabric. The fabric may be dyed
, printed or decorated by embroidering
with coloured yarns.
The three main types of fibres are natural vegetable fibre
s (such as cotton
, linen
, jute
and hemp
), man-made fibers (made by industrial processes) and protein based fibers (such as wool
, silk
).
Almost all commercial textiles are produced by industrial methods
. Textiles are still produced by pre-industrial processes in village communities in Asia, Africa and South America, as a artisan
craft and a hobby
in Europe and North America.
is a protein based fibre, being the coat of a sheep. The wool is removed by shearing.
Sheep Shearing
Shearing
can be done with use of hand-shears or powered shears. Professional sheep shearer
s can shear a sheep in under a minute, without nicking the sheep.
The fleece
is removed in one piece. Second cuts can be made but produce only short fibres, which are more difficult to spin.
Primitive breeds, like the Scottish Soay sheep
have to be plucked, not sheared, as the kemps are still longer than the soft fleece, (a process called rooing).
Skirting
Skirting is disposing of all wool that is unsuitable for spinning. Recovering can be attempted. It can also be done at the same time as carding.
Cleaning
The wool is cleaned. At this point the fleece is full of lanolin
and often contains extraneous vegetable matter, such as sticks, twigs, burrs and straw. These may all be removed, though lanolin may be left in the wool till after the spinning, a technique known as spinning 'in the grease'. Indeed if the fabric is to be water repellent, lanolin is not removed at any stage.
Washing the wool at this stage can be a tedious process. Some people wash it a small handful at a time very carefully, and then set it out to dry on a table in the sun. Others will wash the whole fleece. Lanolin is removed by soaking the fleece in very hot water. If the fleece gets agitated, it will become felt
, and then spinning is impossible. Felting, when done on purpose (with needles, chemicals, or simply rubbing the fibers against each other), can be used to create garments.
Carding or combing
It is possible to spin directly from a clean fleece, but it is much easier to spin a carded fleece. Carding
by hand yields a rolag
, a loose woollen roll of fibers. Using a drum carder yields a bat, which is a mat of fibers in a flat, rectangular shape. Carding mills return the fleece in a roving
, which is a stretched bat; it is very long and often the thickness of a wrist.A pencil roving is a roving thinned to the width of a pencil. It can used for knitting without any spinning, or for apprentices.
One good-sized fleece may take weeks to card with a drum-carder, or an eternity by hand. If the fleece is sent to a carding mill, it must be washed before it is carded. Most mills offer washing the wool as a service, with extra fees if the wool is exceptionally dirty. Fibres can be purchased pre-carded. Combing is another method to align the fibres parallel to the yarn, and thus is good for spinning a worsted
yarn, whereas the rolag from handcards produces a woolen
yarn.
Spinning
Hand spinning
can be done by using a spindle
or the spinning wheel
. Spinning turns the carded wool fibres into yarn
which can then be directly woven
, knitted (flat or circular
), crochet
ed, or by other means turned into fabric
or a garment.
The spinning wheel
collects the yarn
on a bobbin
.
A woollen yarn is lightly spun so it is airey, and is a good insulator and suitable for knitting, while a worsted
yarn is spun tight to exclude air, and has greater strength and is suited to weaving..
Once the bobbin is full, the spinner either puts on a new bobbin, or forms a skein
, or balls the yarn. A skein is a coil of yarn twisted into a loose knot. Yarn is skeined using a niddy-noddy or other type of skein -winder. Yarn is rarely balled directly after spinning, it will be stored in skein form, and transferred to a ball only if needed. Knitting from a skein, is difficult as the yarn forms knots, in this case it is best to ball. Yarn to be plied is left on the bobbin.
A skein
is either formed on a niddy noddy
or some other type of skein winder
. Traditionally niddy-noddys looked like an uppercase "i", with the bottom half rotated 90 degrees. Now spinning wheel manufactures also make niddy-noddys that attach onto the spinning wheel for faster skein winding.
Plying
Plying
yarn is when one takes a strand of spun yarn
(one strand is often called a single) and spins it together with other strands in order to make a thicker yarn.
Regular plying consists of taking two or more singles and twisting them together, the against their twist. This can be done on a spinning wheel or on a spindle. If the yarn was spun clockwise (which is called a "Z" twist ), to ply, the wheel must spin counter-clockwise (an "S" twist). This is the most common way. When plying
from bobbins a device called a lazy kate
is often used to hold them.
Most spinners (who use spinning wheel
s) ply from bobbin
s. This is easier than plying from balls because there is less chance for the yarn to become tangled and knotted if it is simply unwound from the bobbins. So that the bobbins can unwind freely, they are put in a device called a lazy kate
, or sometimes simply kate. The simplest lazy kate consists of wooden bars with a metal rod running between them. Most hold between three and four bobbins. The bobbin sits on the metal rod. Other lazy kates are built with devices that create an adjustable amount of tension, so that if the yarn is jerked, a whole bunch of yarn is not wound off, then wound up again in the opposite direction. Some spinning wheels come with a built in lazy kate.
Navajo
plying consists of making large loops, similar to crocheting.A loop about 8 inches long is made on the leader the end on the leader. (A leader is the string left on the bobbin to spin off.) The three strands together are spun in the opposite direction. When a third of the loop remains, a new loop is created and the spinning continues. The process is repeated until the yarn is all plied. The advantage of this method is that only one single is needed and if the single is already dyed this technique allows it to be plied without ruining the color scheme. This technique also allows the spinner to try to match up thick and thin spots in the yarn, thus making for a smoother end product.
Washing
If the lanolin
is unwanted, and has not already been washed out, this is done now. The skein is tied in six points and steeped overnight in detergent, it is rinsed and air-dried, and re-skeined.
unless the lanolin is to be left in the cloth as a water repellent. When washing a skein it works well to let the wool soak in soapy water overnight, and rinse the soap out in the morning. Dishwashing detergents are commonly used, and a special laundry detergent designed for washing wool is not required. The dishwashing detergent works and does not harm the wool. After washing, let the wool dry (air drying works best). Once it is dry, or just a bit damp, one can stretch it out a bit on a niddy-noddy. Putting the wool back on the niddy-noddy makes for a nicer looking finished skein. Before taking a skein and washing it, the skein must be tied up loosely in about six places. If the skein is not tied up, it will be very hard to unravel when done washing.
and Hemp
. Flax is the fiber used to create linen
. Cotton
is handled differently since it uses the fruit of the plant and not the stalk.
Harvesting
Flax is pulled out of the ground about a month after the initial blooming when the lower part of the plant begins to turn yellow, and when the most forward of the seeds are found in a soft state. It is pulled in handfuls and several handfuls are tied together with slip knot
into a 'beet'. The string is tightened as the stalks dry. The seed heads are removed and the seeds collected, by threshing and winnowing.
Retting
Retting
is the process of rotting away the inner stalk, leaving the outer fibres intact. A standing pool of warm water is needed, into which the beets are submerged. An acid
is produced when retting, and it would corrode a metal container.
At 80 °F (26.7 °C), the retting process takes 4 or 5 days, it takes longer takes longer when colder. When the retting is complete the bundles feel soft and slimy, The process can be overdone, and the fibres rot too.
Dressing the flax
Dressing is removing the fibres from the straw
and cleaning it enough to be spun
. The flax is broken, scutched and hackled in this step.
Spinning
Flax can either be spun from a distaff
, or from the spinner's lap. Spinners keep their fingers wet when spinning, to prevent forming fuzzy thread. Usually singles are spun with an "S" twist. After flax is spun it is washed in a pot of boiling water for a couple of hours to set the twist and reduce fuzziness.
Many handspinners, will buy a roving
of flax. This roving is spun in the same manner as above. The rovings may come with very long fibers (4 to 8 inches), or much shorter fibers (2 to 3 inches).
fibers were at one time widely used throughout Central America
for many things. Currently they are mainly used to make twine
.Yucca
leaves
are harvested and then cut to a standard size. The leaves are crushed in between two large rollers producing the fibres which are bundled up and dried in the sun over trellises. The dried fibres are combined into rolags. At this point it is ready to spin. The waste, a pulpy liquid that stinks, can be used as a fertilizer.
has been turned into yarn
the process of making cloth is much the same for any type of fiber, be it animal
or plant
.
Handknitting can either be done "flat" or "in the round". Flat knitting is done on a set of single point knitting needle
s, and the knitter goes back and forth, adding rows. In Circular knitting
, or "knitting in the round", the knitter knits around a circle, creating a tube. This can be done with a set of four double pointed needles or a single circular needle.
A knitted object will unravel easily if the top has not been secured. Knitted objects also stretch easily in all directions, whereas woven
fabric only stretches on the bias
.
Crochet
ing differs largely from knitting in that there is only one loop, not the multitude as knitting has. Also, instead of knitting needle
s, a crochet hook
is used.
fabric is lightweight openwork fabric, patterned, with open holes in the work. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often lace is built up from a single thread and the open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace
may be crocheted, or knitted
.
In general the supporting structure of the loom is called the frame. It provides the means of fixing the length-wise threads, called the warp
, and keeping them under tension. The warp threads are wound on a roller called the warp beam, and attached to the cloth beam which will hold the finished material. Because of the tension the warp threads are under, they need to be strong.
The thread that is woven through the warp is called the weft
. The weft is threaded through the warp using a shuttle
. The original hand-loom was limited in width by the weaver's reach, because of the need to throw the shuttle from hand to hand. The invention of the flying shuttle
with its fly cord and picking sticks enabled the weaver to pass the shuttle from a box at either side of the loom with one hand, and across a greater width. The invention of the drop box allowed a weaver to use multiple shuttles to carry different wefts.
Alternating sets of threads are lifted by connecting them with string or wires called heddle
s to another bar, called the shaft (or heddle bar or heald). Heddles, shafts and the couper (lever to lift the assembly) are called the harness — the harness provides for mechanical operation using foot- or hand-operated treadles.
After passing a weft thread through the warp, a reed
comb is used to beat (compact) the woven weft.
To prepare to weave, the warp must be made. By hand this is done with the help of a warping board. The length the warp is made is about a quarter to half yard
more than the amount of cloth needed. Warping boards come in a variety of shapes, from the two nearest door handles to a board with pegs on it, or a device called a warping mill that looks similar to a swift
. Warping the loom, mean threading each end through an eye in a heddle, and then sleying it through the reed
. The warp is set (verb) at X ends per inch. It then has a sett (noun) of X ends per inch. The weft is measured in picks per inch.
– threads which are added to the surface of a finished textile.
Textile manufacturing
Textile manufacturing is a major industry. It is based in the conversion of three types of fibre into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. These are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. Cotton remains the most important natural fibre, so is treated in depth...
is one of the oldest human activities. The oldest known textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s date back to about 5000 B.C. In order to make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fibre
Fiber
Fiber is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread.They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together....
from which a yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
can be made, primarily by spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
. The yarn is processed by knitting
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
or weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
to create cloth. The machine
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
used for weaving is the loom
Loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
. Cloth is finished
Finishing (textiles)
In textile manufacturing, finishing refers to any process performed on yarn or fabric after weaving or knitting to improve the look, performance, or "hand" of the finished textile or clothing...
by what are described as wet processes to become fabric. The fabric may be dyed
Dyeing
Dyeing is the process of adding color to textile products like fibers, yarns, and fabrics. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular chemical material. After dyeing, dye molecules have uncut Chemical bond with fiber molecules. The temperature and time controlling...
, printed or decorated by embroidering
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
with coloured yarns.
The three main types of fibres are natural vegetable fibre
Fiber crop
Fiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope. The fibers may be chemically modified, like in viscose or cellophane...
s (such as cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
, jute
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....
and hemp
Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa is an annual herbaceous plant in the Cannabaceae family. Humans have cultivated this herb throughout recorded history as a source of industrial fibre, seed oil, food, recreation, spiritual enlightenment and medicine...
), man-made fibers (made by industrial processes) and protein based fibers (such as wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
).
Almost all commercial textiles are produced by industrial methods
Textile manufacturing
Textile manufacturing is a major industry. It is based in the conversion of three types of fibre into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. These are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. Cotton remains the most important natural fibre, so is treated in depth...
. Textiles are still produced by pre-industrial processes in village communities in Asia, Africa and South America, as a artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
craft and a hobby
Hobby
A hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...
in Europe and North America.
Wool
WoolWool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
is a protein based fibre, being the coat of a sheep. The wool is removed by shearing.
Sheep Shearing
Sheep shearing
Sheep shearing, shearing or clipping is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a shearer. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year...
can be done with use of hand-shears or powered shears. Professional sheep shearer
Sheep shearer
A sheep shearer is a worker who uses -blade or machine shears to remove wool from domestic sheep during crutching or shearing.-History:...
s can shear a sheep in under a minute, without nicking the sheep.
The fleece
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
is removed in one piece. Second cuts can be made but produce only short fibres, which are more difficult to spin.
Primitive breeds, like the Scottish Soay sheep
Soay sheep
The Soay sheep is a primitive breed of domestic sheep descended from a population of feral sheep on the island of Soay in the St. Kilda Archipelago, about from the Western Isles of Scotland...
have to be plucked, not sheared, as the kemps are still longer than the soft fleece, (a process called rooing).
Skirting
Skirting is disposing of all wool that is unsuitable for spinning. Recovering can be attempted. It can also be done at the same time as carding.
Cleaning
The wool is cleaned. At this point the fleece is full of lanolin
Lanolin
Lanolin , also called Adeps Lanae, wool wax or wool grease, is a yellow waxy substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals. Most lanolin used by humans comes from domestic sheep...
and often contains extraneous vegetable matter, such as sticks, twigs, burrs and straw. These may all be removed, though lanolin may be left in the wool till after the spinning, a technique known as spinning 'in the grease'. Indeed if the fabric is to be water repellent, lanolin is not removed at any stage.
Washing the wool at this stage can be a tedious process. Some people wash it a small handful at a time very carefully, and then set it out to dry on a table in the sun. Others will wash the whole fleece. Lanolin is removed by soaking the fleece in very hot water. If the fleece gets agitated, it will become felt
Felt
Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size....
, and then spinning is impossible. Felting, when done on purpose (with needles, chemicals, or simply rubbing the fibers against each other), can be used to create garments.
Carding or combing
It is possible to spin directly from a clean fleece, but it is much easier to spin a carded fleece. Carding
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
by hand yields a rolag
Rolag
A rolag is a roll of fibre generally used to spin woollen yarn. A rolag is created by first carding the fibre, using handcards, and then by gently rolling the fibre off the cards...
, a loose woollen roll of fibers. Using a drum carder yields a bat, which is a mat of fibers in a flat, rectangular shape. Carding mills return the fleece in a roving
Roving
A roving is a long and narrow bundle of fibre. It is usually used to spin woollen yarn. A roving can be created by carding the fibre, and it is then drawn into long strips. Because it is carded, the fibres are not parallel, though drawing it into strips may line the fibres up a bit...
, which is a stretched bat; it is very long and often the thickness of a wrist.A pencil roving is a roving thinned to the width of a pencil. It can used for knitting without any spinning, or for apprentices.
One good-sized fleece may take weeks to card with a drum-carder, or an eternity by hand. If the fleece is sent to a carding mill, it must be washed before it is carded. Most mills offer washing the wool as a service, with extra fees if the wool is exceptionally dirty. Fibres can be purchased pre-carded. Combing is another method to align the fibres parallel to the yarn, and thus is good for spinning a worsted
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...
yarn, whereas the rolag from handcards produces a woolen
Woolen
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn...
yarn.
Spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
can be done by using a spindle
Spindle (textiles)
A spindle is a wooden spike used for spinning wool, flax, hemp, cotton, and other fibres into thread. It is commonly weighted at either the bottom middle or top, most commonly by a circular or spherical object called a whorl, and may also have a hook, groove or notch, though spindles without...
or the spinning wheel
Spinning wheel
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century, and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff...
. Spinning turns the carded wool fibres into yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
which can then be directly woven
Weave
Weave may refer to:*Hair weave*Mozilla Weave*Weaving...
, knitted (flat or circular
Circular knitting
Circular knitting or knitting in the round is a form of knitting that creates a seamless tube. When knitting circularly, the knitting is cast on and the circle of stitches is joined. Knitting is worked in rounds in a spiral. Originally, circular knitting was done using a set of four or five...
), crochet
Crochet
Crochet is a process of creating fabric from yarn, thread, or other material strands using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word "crochet", meaning hook. Hooks can be made of materials such as metals, woods or plastic and are commercially manufactured as well as produced by...
ed, or by other means turned into fabric
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
or a garment.
The spinning wheel
Spinning wheel
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century, and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff...
collects the yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
on a bobbin
Bobbin
A bobbin is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which wire, yarn, thread or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in sewing machines, cameras, and within electronic equipment....
.
A woollen yarn is lightly spun so it is airey, and is a good insulator and suitable for knitting, while a worsted
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...
yarn is spun tight to exclude air, and has greater strength and is suited to weaving..
Skein
Skein may refer to:* A flock of geese or ducks in V formation flight* A wound ball of yarn with a center pull strand, see hank* TV Series, used part of Variety's slanguage.* Skein dubh, a Scottish knife* Skein module, a mathematical concept...
, or balls the yarn. A skein is a coil of yarn twisted into a loose knot. Yarn is skeined using a niddy-noddy or other type of skein -winder. Yarn is rarely balled directly after spinning, it will be stored in skein form, and transferred to a ball only if needed. Knitting from a skein, is difficult as the yarn forms knots, in this case it is best to ball. Yarn to be plied is left on the bobbin.
Skein
Skein may refer to:* A flock of geese or ducks in V formation flight* A wound ball of yarn with a center pull strand, see hank* TV Series, used part of Variety's slanguage.* Skein dubh, a Scottish knife* Skein module, a mathematical concept...
is either formed on a niddy noddy
Niddy noddy
A niddy-noddy is a tool used to make skeins from yarn. It consists of a central bar, with crossbars at each end, offset from each other by 90°. The central bar is generally carved to make it easier to hold. Either one of the crossbars will have a flat edge to allow the skein to slide off, or will...
or some other type of skein winder
Winder
Winder may refer to:* winder , a device for transferring energy into a mechanical storage such as mainsprings or the weights of a longcase clock. Its supply may be the hand—most familiarly so—or an electric motor....
. Traditionally niddy-noddys looked like an uppercase "i", with the bottom half rotated 90 degrees. Now spinning wheel manufactures also make niddy-noddys that attach onto the spinning wheel for faster skein winding.
Plying
Plying
Plying
In the textile arts, plying is a process used to create a strong, balanced yarn. It is done by taking two or more strands of yarn that each have a twist to them and putting them together. The strands are twisted together, in the direction opposite that in which they were spun...
yarn is when one takes a strand of spun yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
(one strand is often called a single) and spins it together with other strands in order to make a thicker yarn.
Regular plying consists of taking two or more singles and twisting them together, the against their twist. This can be done on a spinning wheel or on a spindle. If the yarn was spun clockwise (which is called a "Z" twist ), to ply, the wheel must spin counter-clockwise (an "S" twist). This is the most common way. When plying
Plying
In the textile arts, plying is a process used to create a strong, balanced yarn. It is done by taking two or more strands of yarn that each have a twist to them and putting them together. The strands are twisted together, in the direction opposite that in which they were spun...
from bobbins a device called a lazy kate
Lazy Kate
In spinning, a lazy kate is a device used to hold one or more spools or bobbins in place while the yarn on them is manipulated. Typically, a lazy kate consists of multiple rods and come with bobbins that fit onto them. Tensioned lazy kates have a band that loops over the bobbins to prevent the...
is often used to hold them.
Most spinners (who use spinning wheel
Spinning wheel
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century, and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff...
s) ply from bobbin
Bobbin
A bobbin is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which wire, yarn, thread or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in sewing machines, cameras, and within electronic equipment....
s. This is easier than plying from balls because there is less chance for the yarn to become tangled and knotted if it is simply unwound from the bobbins. So that the bobbins can unwind freely, they are put in a device called a lazy kate
Lazy Kate
In spinning, a lazy kate is a device used to hold one or more spools or bobbins in place while the yarn on them is manipulated. Typically, a lazy kate consists of multiple rods and come with bobbins that fit onto them. Tensioned lazy kates have a band that loops over the bobbins to prevent the...
, or sometimes simply kate. The simplest lazy kate consists of wooden bars with a metal rod running between them. Most hold between three and four bobbins. The bobbin sits on the metal rod. Other lazy kates are built with devices that create an adjustable amount of tension, so that if the yarn is jerked, a whole bunch of yarn is not wound off, then wound up again in the opposite direction. Some spinning wheels come with a built in lazy kate.
Navajo
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
plying consists of making large loops, similar to crocheting.A loop about 8 inches long is made on the leader the end on the leader. (A leader is the string left on the bobbin to spin off.) The three strands together are spun in the opposite direction. When a third of the loop remains, a new loop is created and the spinning continues. The process is repeated until the yarn is all plied. The advantage of this method is that only one single is needed and if the single is already dyed this technique allows it to be plied without ruining the color scheme. This technique also allows the spinner to try to match up thick and thin spots in the yarn, thus making for a smoother end product.
Washing
If the lanolin
Lanolin
Lanolin , also called Adeps Lanae, wool wax or wool grease, is a yellow waxy substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals. Most lanolin used by humans comes from domestic sheep...
is unwanted, and has not already been washed out, this is done now. The skein is tied in six points and steeped overnight in detergent, it is rinsed and air-dried, and re-skeined.
unless the lanolin is to be left in the cloth as a water repellent. When washing a skein it works well to let the wool soak in soapy water overnight, and rinse the soap out in the morning. Dishwashing detergents are commonly used, and a special laundry detergent designed for washing wool is not required. The dishwashing detergent works and does not harm the wool. After washing, let the wool dry (air drying works best). Once it is dry, or just a bit damp, one can stretch it out a bit on a niddy-noddy. Putting the wool back on the niddy-noddy makes for a nicer looking finished skein. Before taking a skein and washing it, the skein must be tied up loosely in about six places. If the skein is not tied up, it will be very hard to unravel when done washing.
Flax
The preparations for spinning is similar across most plant fibers, including FlaxFlax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...
and Hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
. Flax is the fiber used to create linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
. Cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
is handled differently since it uses the fruit of the plant and not the stalk.
Harvesting
Flax is pulled out of the ground about a month after the initial blooming when the lower part of the plant begins to turn yellow, and when the most forward of the seeds are found in a soft state. It is pulled in handfuls and several handfuls are tied together with slip knot
Slip knot
A slip knot is one of two different classes of knot. The most common are knots which attach a line to an object and tighten when tension is applied to the free end of the line...
into a 'beet'. The string is tightened as the stalks dry. The seed heads are removed and the seeds collected, by threshing and winnowing.
Retting
Retting
Retting
Retting is a process employing the action of micro-organisms and moisture on plants to dissolve or rot away much of the cellular tissues and pectins surrounding bast-fibre bundles, and so facilitating separation of the fibre from the stem...
is the process of rotting away the inner stalk, leaving the outer fibres intact. A standing pool of warm water is needed, into which the beets are submerged. An acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
is produced when retting, and it would corrode a metal container.
At 80 °F (26.7 °C), the retting process takes 4 or 5 days, it takes longer takes longer when colder. When the retting is complete the bundles feel soft and slimy, The process can be overdone, and the fibres rot too.
Dressing the flax
Dressing is removing the fibres from the straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
and cleaning it enough to be spun
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
. The flax is broken, scutched and hackled in this step.
- Breaking The process of breaking breaks up the straw into short segments. The beets are untied and fed between the beater of the breaking machine , the set of wooden blades that mesh together when the upper jaw is lowered.
- Scutching In order to remove some of the strawStrawStraw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
from the fiber a wooden scutching knife is scaped down the fibers while they hang vertically. - Heckling Fibre is pulled through various sized heckling combHeckling combHeckling combs are used to remove the fibrous core and impurities from flax. A heckling comb, or heckle is a bed of iron, steel or brass "nails"- sharp, long, tapered, tempered, polished pins driven into wooden blocks at regular spacing. In the heckling process the flax is drawn through the nails,...
s. A Heckling comb is a bed of sharp, long-tapered, tempered, polished steel pins driven into wooden blocks at regular spacing. A good progression is from 4 pins per square inch, to 12, to 25 to 48 to 80. The first three will remove the straw, and the last two will split and polish the fibers. Some of the finer stuff that comes off in the last heckles can be cardedCardingCarding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
like wool and spun. It will produce a coarser yarn than the fibres pulled through the heckles because it will still contain some straw.
Spinning
Distaff
As a noun, a distaff is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax, and sometimes wool, but can be used for any type of fiber. Fiber is wrapped around the distaff, and tied in...
, or from the spinner's lap. Spinners keep their fingers wet when spinning, to prevent forming fuzzy thread. Usually singles are spun with an "S" twist. After flax is spun it is washed in a pot of boiling water for a couple of hours to set the twist and reduce fuzziness.
Many handspinners, will buy a roving
Roving
A roving is a long and narrow bundle of fibre. It is usually used to spin woollen yarn. A roving can be created by carding the fibre, and it is then drawn into long strips. Because it is carded, the fibres are not parallel, though drawing it into strips may line the fibres up a bit...
of flax. This roving is spun in the same manner as above. The rovings may come with very long fibers (4 to 8 inches), or much shorter fibers (2 to 3 inches).
Yucca
YuccaYucca
Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North...
fibers were at one time widely used throughout Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
for many things. Currently they are mainly used to make twine
Twine
Twine is a light string or strong thread composed of two or more smaller strands or yarns twisted together. More generally, the term can be applied to any thin cord....
.Yucca
Yucca
Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North...
leaves
Leaves
-History:Vocalist Arnar Gudjonsson was formerly the guitarist with Mower, and he was joined by Hallur Hallsson , Arnar Ólafsson , Bjarni Grímsson , and Andri Ásgrímsson . Late in 2001 they played with Emiliana Torrini and drew early praise from the New York Times...
are harvested and then cut to a standard size. The leaves are crushed in between two large rollers producing the fibres which are bundled up and dried in the sun over trellises. The dried fibres are combined into rolags. At this point it is ready to spin. The waste, a pulpy liquid that stinks, can be used as a fertilizer.
Fabric formation
Once the fiberFiber
Fiber is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread.They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together....
has been turned into yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
the process of making cloth is much the same for any type of fiber, be it animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
or plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
.
Knitting
Knitting needle
A knitting needle or knitting pin is a tool in hand-knitting to produce knitted fabrics. They generally have a long shaft and taper at their end, but they are not nearly as sharp as sewing needles. Their purpose is two-fold...
s, and the knitter goes back and forth, adding rows. In Circular knitting
Circular knitting
Circular knitting or knitting in the round is a form of knitting that creates a seamless tube. When knitting circularly, the knitting is cast on and the circle of stitches is joined. Knitting is worked in rounds in a spiral. Originally, circular knitting was done using a set of four or five...
, or "knitting in the round", the knitter knits around a circle, creating a tube. This can be done with a set of four double pointed needles or a single circular needle.
A knitted object will unravel easily if the top has not been secured. Knitted objects also stretch easily in all directions, whereas woven
Woven
A woven is a cloth formed by weaving. It only stretches in the bias directions , unless the threads are elastic. Woven cloth usually frays at the edges, unless measures are taken to counter this, such as the use of pinking shears or hemming.Woven fabrics are worked on a loom and made of many...
fabric only stretches on the bias
Bias (disambiguation)
Bias is an inclination towards something, or a predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference, or predilection.Bias may also refer to:-Social sciences:...
.
Crocheting
Crochet
Crochet is a process of creating fabric from yarn, thread, or other material strands using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word "crochet", meaning hook. Hooks can be made of materials such as metals, woods or plastic and are commercially manufactured as well as produced by...
ing differs largely from knitting in that there is only one loop, not the multitude as knitting has. Also, instead of knitting needle
Knitting needle
A knitting needle or knitting pin is a tool in hand-knitting to produce knitted fabrics. They generally have a long shaft and taper at their end, but they are not nearly as sharp as sewing needles. Their purpose is two-fold...
s, a crochet hook
Crochet hook
A crochet hook is a type of needle with a hook at one end used to draw thread through knotted loops. Only one crochet hook is needed to make crochet stitches. The crochet hook's earliest use appears to have been in the late 18th century or early 19th century.Typical materials for crochet hooks...
is used.
Lace making
A laceLace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
fabric is lightweight openwork fabric, patterned, with open holes in the work. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often lace is built up from a single thread and the open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace
Lace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
may be crocheted, or knitted
Lace knitting
Lace knitting is a style of knitting characterized by stable "holes" in the fabric arranged with consideration of aesthetic value. Lace is sometimes considered the pinnacle of knitting, because of its complexity and because woven fabrics cannot easily be made to have holes...
.
Loom
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Warp (weaving)
In weaving cloth, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom. The yarn that is inserted over-and-under the warp threads is called the weft, woof, or filler. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end or end. Warp means "that which is thrown...
, and keeping them under tension. The warp threads are wound on a roller called the warp beam, and attached to the cloth beam which will hold the finished material. Because of the tension the warp threads are under, they need to be strong.
The thread that is woven through the warp is called the weft
Weft
In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn"....
. The weft is threaded through the warp using a shuttle
Shuttle (weaving)
A shuttle is a tool designed to neatly and compactly store weft yarn while weaving. Shuttles are thrown or passed back and forth through the shed, between the yarn threads of the warp in order to weave in the weft....
. The original hand-loom was limited in width by the weaver's reach, because of the need to throw the shuttle from hand to hand. The invention of the flying shuttle
Flying shuttle
The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in weaving that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution. It was patented by John Kay in 1733. Only one weaver was needed to control its lever-driven motion. Before the shuttle, a single weaver could not weave a fabric wider than arms length. Beyond...
with its fly cord and picking sticks enabled the weaver to pass the shuttle from a box at either side of the loom with one hand, and across a greater width. The invention of the drop box allowed a weaver to use multiple shuttles to carry different wefts.
Alternating sets of threads are lifted by connecting them with string or wires called heddle
Heddle
A heddle is an integral part of a loom. Each thread in the warp passes through a heddle, which is used to separate the warp threads for the passage of the weft. The typical heddle is made of cord or wire, and is suspended on a shaft of a loom. Each heddle has an eye in the center where the warp is...
s to another bar, called the shaft (or heddle bar or heald). Heddles, shafts and the couper (lever to lift the assembly) are called the harness — the harness provides for mechanical operation using foot- or hand-operated treadles.
After passing a weft thread through the warp, a reed
Reed (weaving)
A reed is part of a loom, and resembles a comb. It is used to push the weft yarn securely into place as it is woven, separates the threads and keeps them in their positions, keeping them untangled, and guides the shuttle as it moves across the loom. It consists of a frame with lots of vertical...
comb is used to beat (compact) the woven weft.
To prepare to weave, the warp must be made. By hand this is done with the help of a warping board. The length the warp is made is about a quarter to half yard
Yard
A yard is a unit of length in several different systems including English units, Imperial units and United States customary units. It is equal to 3 feet or 36 inches...
more than the amount of cloth needed. Warping boards come in a variety of shapes, from the two nearest door handles to a board with pegs on it, or a device called a warping mill that looks similar to a swift
Swift (textiles)
For other uses, see Swift A swift is a tool used to hold a skein of yarn while it is being wound off. It has an adjustable diameter so that it can hold skeins of many sizes, and rotates around a central rod. They are generally made out of wood or metal, however other materials may also be used...
. Warping the loom, mean threading each end through an eye in a heddle, and then sleying it through the reed
Reed (weaving)
A reed is part of a loom, and resembles a comb. It is used to push the weft yarn securely into place as it is woven, separates the threads and keeps them in their positions, keeping them untangled, and guides the shuttle as it moves across the loom. It consists of a frame with lots of vertical...
. The warp is set (verb) at X ends per inch. It then has a sett (noun) of X ends per inch. The weft is measured in picks per inch.
Embroidery
EmbroideryEmbroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
– threads which are added to the surface of a finished textile.
See also
- BleachfieldBleachfieldA bleachfield or croft was an open area of land used for spreading cloth and fabrics on the ground to be bleached by the action of the sun and water...
- Textile industryTextile industryThe textile industry is primarily concerned with the production of yarn, and cloth and the subsequent design or manufacture of clothing and their distribution. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry....
- Textile manufacturing terminologyTextile manufacturing terminology-A:AbsorbencyAcetateAcrylicAida clothAlnageAlpacaAngoraAppliquéAramidArgyle-B:Backstrap loomBaizeBallistic nylonBatikBedford-CordBiasBinding...
- Timeline of clothing and textiles technologyTimeline of clothing and textiles technologyTimeline of clothing and textiles technology.*Prehistory – spindle used to create yarn from fibres.* – loom.*c. 28000 BC – Sewing needles in use at Kostenki in Russia....