Yarn and cloth construction

like so many of us Betty Randall wants to do a little redecorating to brighten up her bedroom right now the problem is a worn out slipper chair that needs recovering she really needs professional advice so she has come to her friend Maran who actually designs and weaves exclusive fabrics for folks in the town who want something special Marian had promised to show Betty some materials to choose from to teach her about different Yarns and how they are woven into cloths but suddenly she had an idea maybe Betty would like to see a real Spinning Wheel In Action Maran says a bare foot gives a more sensitive touch to run a spinning wheel raw wool fibers which have been carded or combed to separate them and make them straight are twisted or spun into yarn longer fibers of wool can be twisted very tightly making a hard durable yarn you've probably heard of wored sometimes called worsted wool and Yarns spun from the shorter fibers and twisted less have many little ends sticking up the smooth Twist of wed magnified 20 times is a contrast to Woolen yarn the softer Woolen yarn is not very strong but the hard Twisted wored is and stands up well under hard wear in suits and top coats the smooth hard finish of Marian's gabardine suit is a result of wored Yarns while Betty's soft woolly War skirt is made from Woolen yarn for materials requiring great strength like sail cloth or awning canvas two or more strands are twisted together like a little rope here's a thread from a sample of cotton duck one strong strand Twisted from four separate PES sometimes multiple ply Yarns are made for purely decorative purposes this Boule is made by twisting together two or more different strands or Yarns but little Loops are formed because the PES would twist it together at different tensions it's pretty and unusual but the loose loopy yarn won't be very durable novelty yarn seldom give as good good wear as evenly spun yarn here is a yarn that Marian has been spinning this one is rather Loosely spun you can see the number and direction of the twists but here's another yarn Marian made what is the difference it's all in the twist this is an S twist yarn and this is a z twist yarn why do you think that is important weaving materials of alternate s and Z twist Yarns puts the two different Kinks of the twist in opposite directions and the material has a permanent crinkle unless you want a crinkle crepe effect be sure all the yarn in your knitting has the same twist Betty has learned how the yarn affects the appearance and strength of the material material but what about the weaving of the Yarns for one thing the way the filling Yarns are woven between the warp Yarns has a lot to do with strength as well as appearance just what is the warp and what is filling yarn the threads or Yarns which run between the warp beam and the cloth beam are called The Warp the finished cloth is rolled up on the cloth beam as it is made so of course of course the warp will run the entire length of the finished cloth these threads which run Under and Over The Warp threads are called The Filling Yarns you can see why can't you the filling always goes across the material from Salvage to salvage Maran showed Betty a type of weaving process known as plain weave the simplest of the three basic weave patterns The Filling thread runs over one warp and under the next Maran does this the slow way to demonstrate it clearly on the next drow or pick the over and under procedure is alternated going over the warp thread that the other strand went under Marian pulled the demonstration thread free and showed Betty the bobin of yarn in a shuttle as it is used in regular weaving a simple harness Arrangement is provided to lift the odd-numbered warp threads so the shuttle can be thrown through the shed there in one motion is one complete pick which can be quickly battened or pressed down firmly in place on the yarn below now the harness lifts out the even numbered warp threads into a shed and the weaving goes on big power-driven industrial looms work on this age-old principle plane weaving is simple easily manufactured inexpensive and useful for many kinds of cloth for many purposes all other weave patterns are simply minor variations of what you have learned here the second basic type of weaving tll weave is familiar to us in gabardines Surge blue jeans and all materials which show the characteristic diagonal rib in the weave here's the twi weave and wool gabardine and it's easy to make a simple device which shows clearly how the Twill weave is made the filling goes over one warp thread then under two warps over one under two and so on and the next row starts the process one warp thread Advanced over one under two and so on the result is a diagonal line formed by the advancing fil Yarns as they go over the single warp simple twill weave makes a very firm durable fabric now let's look at a model of the last basic weave Satin The Filling thread goes over from four to seven warp Yarns and under only one and unlike twill weave the next pick advances more than one warp this breaks up the diagonal line the Twill weave makes this long unwoven strand of yarn called a float is responsible for the luster characteristic of all satin waves now Betty understands why Saturn is smooth and looks so shiny the natural gloss of Bron or silk fibers gets a chance to reflect a lot of light but the long unsupported floats snag easily and are apt to fray or get fuzzy besides the three basic weaves there are many complicated weave patterns such as this jacard weave pattern in cloth is important but for strength there is an even more important factor this is cloth count 140 count means a total of 140 threads warp and filling to each square inch in this tiny sample less than an eigh of an inch wide Betty can see the excellent balance that is the almost equal number of warp and filling threads this muslin sheeting has 74 warp threads and 66 filling threads to the inch balance is even more important in low count cloths such as this theatrical gauze 28 warp to 24 filling a total count of 52 notice this sample 13 of an inch wide when the cloth count is too low this can happen Betty has learned a great deal about Yarns and the weaving of cloth while it's all fresh in her mind she wants to choose the material for her chair remember a chair gets a lot of use some people even put their feet on chairs that novelty weave won't do the little Loops would be pulled and snagged too easy his course Homespun looks wonderful but the count is low and it would pull out of shape besides it's too Woolly and Scratchy the jard is beautiful but too expensive how about this smooth firmly woven twill that's a well balanced high C weave this is it why it's the very one Marian had ready to recommend that the fun of knowing you learn what to look for in buying all kinds of cloth and you use this knowledge all your life