Textiles

Textiles are generally considered to be woven fabrics. They may be woven from any natural or synthetic fibers, filaments, or yarns that are suitable for being spun and woven into cloth.

History of textiles

The earliest known textiles were recovered from a neolithic village in southern Turkey. Rope, netting, matting, and cloth have been found in the Judean desert (dating from 7160 to 6150 b.c.).

Flax was the most common plant fiber used in antiquity. Hemp , rush, palm, and papyrus were also employed as textile fibers in ancient times. Early evidence of the use of flax has been found in north Syria (c. 6000 b.c.), Iraq (c. 5000 b.c.), and Egypt (c. 6000 b.c.). Evidence that fibers from sheep , goats , and dogs were used in textiles as early as the eighth century b.c. has been found in northwest Iran; early use of these fibers has also been traced to Palestine and southern Turkey. Cotton , native to India, was used in Assyria around 700 b.c. The use of silk, originally exclusive to China, appears to have spread to Germany by around 500 b.c.

The ancient Egyptians and later the Israelites preferred garments of white linen and wool. But Kushites, Nubians, and Libyans apparently preferred dyed fabrics. The principal dyes and mordants such as alum were probably known since earliest times. Royal purple was produced by the Phoenicians, who had become major traders in dyes and wools by around 1700 b.c., from murex. Evidence exists of trade in textiles as early as 6000 b.c., in which wool and cloth were important trade goods.

Textile techniques

Spinning

Spinning is the process of making yarn or thread by the twisting of vegetable fibers, animal hairs, or man-made fibers, i.e., filament-like elements only a few inches in length. In the spinning mill, the raw material is first disentangled and cleaned. Various grades or types of fibers may then be blended together to produce yarn having the desired properties. The fibers are next spread out parallel to one another in a thin web, from which a yarn-like material is formed.

Weaving

In its simplest form, i.e., basketry, weaving probably pre-dated spinning, as in early cultures individuals presumably interlaced long fibrous stems with their fingers before they learned to convert short fibers into continuous yarn. Woven structures consist of two sets of threads, the warp and the weft, which are interlaced to form cloth. Warp threads are held parallel to each other under tension; the weft is worked over and under them, row by row. Looms have been used since the time of ancient Egyptians to keep the warp threads evenly spaced and under tension.

The following techniques are used to prepare the warp and the weft prior to weaving: 1) In doubling, two or more yarns are wound on a bobbin without undergoing any twisting (as distinct from spinning, in which fibers are twisted together to give them the requisite strength). In twisting doubling, two or more yarns are twisted around each other; 2) Sizing is done to make the warp threads smooth, to reduce the friction of the threads. The threads are coated or saturated with an adhesive paste (size); 3) Twisting joins the ends of a new warp with those of the one already in the loom. It is done by twisting the ends together, either by hand or with the aid of a special device.

Simple weaves are of three types: tabby, twill, and satin. Tabby weave, or plain weave, is produced by passing the weft across the warp twice. Twill weaves are characterized by a diagonal movement caused by starting the weave sequence one place to the right or left on each successive passage of the weft. Satin weave is distinguished by the spacing of the binding points, the normal sequence being over one warp, and under four or more. Compound weaves are based on the three basic weaves with the addition of extra warp, weft, or both. Velvet is a compound weave that starts as a basic weave.

Finger weaving techniques include twining and braiding. Twining uses two sets of yarns. In weft twining, the warp is stretched between two bars and the weft worked across in pairs. One thread passes over a warp and the other under, with the two yarns making a half turn around each other between each warp.

Finishing

Most fabrics produced by weaving or knitting have to undergo further processing before they are ready for sale. In finishing, the fabric is subjected to mechanical and chemical treatment in which its quality and appearance are improved and its commercial value enhanced. Each type of fabric has its own particular finishing operations. Textiles produced from vegetable fibers require different treatment than textiles produced from animal fibers or synthetic fibers.

Woven cloth is usually boiled with dilute caustic soda to remove natural oils and other impurities. It is then rinsed, scoured in an acid bath, further processed, and bleached with sodium chlorite. Singeing may be done to remove any fibers on cotton or rayon materials, especially if they have to be printed.

In the course of spinning, weaving, and finishing, the fabric is subjected to much pull and stretch. When the material gets wet, the material reverts to its original shape. Sanforizing mechanically shortens the fibers, so that they will not shrink in the wash.

Raising (or napping) is a process in which small steel hooks tear some of the fibers or ends of fibers out of the weft yarn, so the fibers acquire a wooly surface (called the "nap"). This improves heat retention and absorptive properties (as in flannel fabrics), making them softer to the touch. Raising is chiefly used for cotton, rayon, or woolen fabrics. It can be applied to one or both sides.

Types of textiles

Tapestries

Although the term tapestry usually conjures up images of large pictorial wall-hangings of the sort used in medieval and post-medieval Europe , tapestries are in fact distinctive woven structures consisting specifically of a weft-faced plain weave with discontinuous wefts. This means that the weft crosses the warp only where its particular color is need for the fabric design. The technique has been used in many cultures to produce fabrics ranging from heavy, durable floor coverings to delicate Chinese silk. Compared to other weaving techniques, tapestry allows the weaver much more freedom of expression.

Woven rugs

Rugs can be made by a number of techniques, including tapestry, brocade (in which a plain weave foundation is supplemented with supplementary wefts), and pile weaving. Pile rugs are most commonly associated with rug weaving, however. These rugs are made of row after row of tiny knots tied on the warps of a foundation weave which together form a thick pile.

Embroidery

Embroidery is a method of decorating an already existing structure, usually a woven foundation fabric, with a needle. Embroideries have also been done on other media such as parchment or bark . For the past 100 years, it has been possible to produce embroidery by machine as well as by hand. Embroidery yarns are woven into a fabric after it has come off the loom, unlike brocade, which in which yarns are placed in the fabric during the weaving process.

Lace

Lace is essentially an openwork fabric constructed by the looping, plaiting, or twisting of threads using either a needle or a set of bobbins. It is not woven. Needle lace is made with one thread at a time. Bobbin lace is constructed with many different threads, each wound on its own bobbin. These are manipulated in a manner similar to that used in braiding. Machine-made lace was first produced around 1840.

Printed and dyed textiles

Aside from exploiting the effects achieved by using natural fibers , the only ways to introduce color into textiles are by printing or dyeing.

In textile printing, the dyes are dissolved in water . Thickening agents (e.g., starch) are added to the solutions to increase viscosity . The oldest method is block printing, usually from wooden blocks in which a design is carved. Stencil printing is done with the aid of paper or thin metal stencils. In silk screen printing, the design is formed on a silk screen, which then serves as a stencil. Most cloth is printed by roller printing. The printing area is engraved on a copper roller to form a recessed pattern (intaglio), which is coated with a color paste. The roller transfers the paste to the cloth.

Pattern dyeing uses two principal procedures: resist dyeing and mordant dyeing. In resist dyeing, a resist substance such as hot wax, rice paste, or clay is applied to those areas chosen to resist the dye and remain white. The cloth is then dyed and the resist is later removed. The technique is widely known in China, Japan, and West Africa , but is most often identified with Javanese batik. Tie dyeing is a resist technique in which parts of the cloth are tied with bast or waxed cord before dyeing. The dyeing is done quickly so the wrappings are not penetrated, and a negative pattern emerges. Many dyestuffs are not directly absorbed by fibers, so mordants or fixing agents are used that combine with the dye and fibers to make the color insoluble.

There are two main types of textile dyeing machines: in one type the dye solution is circulated through the fabric, which remains at rest; in the other, the fabric is passed through a stationary bath of the dye solution.

Knits

Knitting is a looped fabric made from a continuous supply of yarn. The yarn need not be continuous throughout the piece, however. Different colors or qualities or yarn may be introduced into a single knitted piece.

Knitting is used for the production of underwear and outer garments, curtain fabrics, etc. The materials used are yarn and threads of cotton, wool, and man-made fibers; as well as blended yarns and paper yarns. The products are either flat fabrics (later made into garments) or ready-fashioned garments. In weft fabric, the threads extend crosswise across the fabric; in warp fabric, the threads extend lengthwise. Warp fabric has less elasticity than weft fabric and is not used as much for socks and stockings.

Netting, knotting, and crochet

Netted fabrics have been known since antiquity when they were probably used for fishing nets. In knotting, knots are first made with a small shuttle at intervals in lengths of string, linen, silk, or wool. The knotted thread is then applied to a suitable ground fabric, forming patterns or covering it completely. Twentieth century macrame is a form of knotting. Crochet is a looped fabric made with a continuous thread that forms horizontal rows, with loops locked laterally as well as vertically.

Felt and bark cloth

Felt is a fabric formed by applying pressure to hot, wet fibers (usually wool). The fibers become interlocked, and the process cannot be reversed. In Polynesia, bark cloth was traditionally obtained from bark stripped from trees of the mulberry family. The bark was first soaked for several days to make it soft and flexible, then the rough outer bark was scraped from the inner bark. The inner bark was next beaten with mallets to form sheets of cloth, which were treated in a variety of ways before use.

Significance of textiles

Textiles serve the everyday needs of people, but they may also serve to distinguish individuals and groups of individuals in terms of social class, gender, occupation, and status with the group. Traditional societies associated special meaning with textile designs. These meanings tended to have specific meanings for particular ethnic groups alone. It was assumed that everyone in the group knew them. However, once the meanings have become lost, it is almost impossible to reconstruct them. The patterns in Javanese batiks, for example, originally had meaning to the wearer, but these meanings are now largely lost. Textiles also have real as well as symbolic value. Under Byzantine emperors, silk was a powerful political tool: foreign governments out of favor were denied trading privileges; those in favor were rewarded with silks.

Textiles have played major roles in the social, economic, and religious lives of communities. In many parts of Europe and Asia , young girls spent many months preparing clothing and furnishing textiles for their wedding trousseaus as a demonstration of their skills and wealth. Traditionally, women have played a far larger role than men in producing textiles. In many parts of Africa, however, men produce both woven and dyed textiles, and in many urban or courtly textile traditions, men were the main producers (e.g., Asian rug weaving, European tapestry).

Textiles are thus a major component of material culture. They may be viewed as the products of technology, as cultural symbols, as works of art, or as items of trade. The textile arts are a fundamental human activity, expressing symbolically much of what is valuable in any culture.

See also Dyes and pigments.

Resources

books

Harris, Jennifer. Textiles—5000 Years. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1993.

Simmons, Paula. Spinning and Weaving Wool. Seattle: Pacific Search Press, 1987.

periodicals

Akin, D.E. "Enzyme-Retting Of Flax And Characterization Of Processed Fibers." Journal Of Biotechnology 89, no. 2-3 (2001): 193-203.

"Nontraditionally Retted Flax For Dry Cotton Blend Spinning." " Textiler Research Journal 71, no. 5 (2001): 375-380.

Randall Frost

KEY TERMS

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Bobbin

—A small cylinder or similar article round which thread or yarn is wound, in order to be wound off again and as required, for use in weaving, sewing, etc.; a spool.

Fiber

—A complex morphological unit with an extremely high ratio of length to diameter (typically several hundred to one) and a relatively high tenacity.

Loom

—A machine in which yarn or thread is woven into fabrics by the crossing of vertical and horizontal threads (called respectively the warp and the weft).

Mordant

—A substance enabling a dye to become fixed in the fabric on which it is used, usually applied beforehand.

Shuttle

—A bobbin with two pointed ends used in weaving for carrying the thread of the weft across between the threads of the warp.

Warp

—The threads stretched lengthwise in a loom.

Weft

—The threads woven at right angles across a warp in making a fabric.