All About The Art Of Weaving
Many of the objects we use each day were made via the process of weaving, which is an ancient textile art. The clothes on our backs, the blankets we sleep under and the rugs on our floors are just a few of the woven products we use regularly without really stopping to think about how they were made. The truth is that if weaving had never been invented we would still be relying on animal skins to keep us warm.
The Process
Weaving is the textile art which is used to make cloth, rugs, blankets and other materials. To make the material two separate sets of threads are interlaced over and under each other at right angles. The vertical thread is called the warp. The warp threads are held in place by a machine called a loom. Then the weft threads are woven through the warp threads to make the material.
The weave or thread that is used for weaving can be made out of a variety of flexible materials. Natural fibers that have used in weaving since the beginning of time include wool, cotton and silk. Today we also use synthetic materials such as nylon. Hundreds of years ago people also used materials such as leaf stalks and thin strips of wood for weaving. What´s more weaving is not just used to make fabric. It is also used to make hats, baskets, screens and metal fences.
There are different methods of weaving. The three main traditional types are plain weave, satin weave and twill. However now that we use computerized looms we can make some very complicated and intricate weaves. The cloth produced via the process of weaving can be one single color. It can also have an intricate or simple pattern. Technological advances in the industry mean that almost any pattern is now possible.
A Brief History
Archeologists have uncovered evidence found at various ancient sites which proves that people have been weaving since the Paleolithic era. Furthermore certain tribes and nations of people are more famous for weaving than others. For instance Persians and Navajo Indians have been famous for their skill at weaving for centuries. People from all over the world still yearn for Navajo blankets and Persian rugs today because they are renowned for their aesthetic beauty.
In Europe people have been weaving since the Dark Age. It was common for families to spin their own cloth at home using a rudimentary loom and this practice remained popular until the twentieth century. However as time moved on and Master weavers began to trade in fine cloth the Europeans slowly developed more sophisticated methods of weaving.
In the latter half of the eighteenth century the first mechanized looms were developed by two British brothers named Edmund and John Cartwright. Nevertheless power weaving did not fully replace the manual type until the early 19th century. Mechanized weaving developed significantly because of a French invention called the Jacquard loom, which enabled more intricate patterns of cloth to be woven.
By the early 1820s the Jacquard loom was used extensively in the United States. The materials used we commonly cotton and wool. By the mid nineteenth century intricately patterned bedspreads were popular in the United States. During the American Civil War synthetic dyeing products were developed.
Today some people still use an old fashioned loom to make their own cloth at home. However in industry sophisticated computerized Jacquard looms are used to make cloth automatically. You only need look around you to see the stylish fabric designs that a computerized Jacquard Loom can produce. Rugs, bedspreads, upholstery and clothing come in a marvelous array of different colors, materials and patterns. When it comes to weaving we have definitely advanced a great deal since the Paleolithic era.
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