Weaving is the production of textile fabric by means of a loom. The basic process is the interlacing at right angles of longitudinal threads (the warp) and crosswise threads (the weft), the latter being carried across from one side of the loom to the other by the shuttle.
The basic principle of weaving has not changed since the late Stone Age, when humans first wove rushes and grasses into baskets and mats. These weavers probably placed the warp fibers on the ground and passed the weft fibers by hand between them.
Though weaving is mainly mechanised, now, hand looms are still used, for example in the manufacture of tweeds in the British Isles. They may be horizontal or vertical; industrial looms are generally vertical.
It is not known when or where spinning and weaving were first practiced but they were in use in Egypt and the Near East by the 9th millennium BC and there is evidence of silk weaving in China in the 2nd millennium.
Weaving probably began when reeds and canes were used to make baskets. Man then learned in about 7000 or 6000 BC how to obtain plant and animal fibres such as flax, cotton and wool and twist them into yarn. These wool and flax yarns were woven on a primitive loom into rectangles of cloth.
Weaving was probably part of the housewife's daily work in the homes of the European Lake Dwellers. These Stone Age people built their villages, presumably for safety, on wooden platforms over lakes and swamps. In the beds of the lakes modern searchers recovered spindle whorls and pieces of looms and of linen and woolen garments.
The woven lengths of cloth were not cut but were draped about the body. A tie fastened the cloth at the waist. This kind of draped garment was worn by the early Egyptians.
Fragments of patterned linen-weave have been found in Pharaonic tombs in Egypt, while ancient Egyptian pictures and Greek vase-paintings illustrate types of early looms which have been confirmed by archaeological finds.
The earliest weaving was plain, to meet the need for warmth and clothing, and tapestry weaving was known in Egypt from the 2nd millennium BC.
One of first examples of weaving is featured in The Odyssey where Homer describes the shroud Odysseus' wife Penelope is forced to unravel each night to fend off unwanted suitors. He also describes Helen as working with a golden distaff, a silver wool basket on wheels, and wool of violet-blue.
Among Ancient Greeks, spinning, weaving, and decorating cloth were so much the responsibility of females that those skills became metaphors for “women's wiles.”
The Romans followed the cloth making practices of the Greeks. They did, however, abandon the old warp-weighted loom in favor of the more efficient two-barred loom.
The Romans established textile factories in the provinces, particularly in Gaul, where they had found a people already skilful at weaving.
People living in the first Millenium AD on the hot coastal strip of Peru created some of the world's most beautiful textiles. These Andean people who wove these textiles spun fine, smooth yarn of cotton or the wool of alpacas and llamas. They used most weaves known today and some too complicated for modern looms. They were expert dyers, with almost 200 hues at their command.
With their many-colored yarns the Andean civilizations worked out gay, elaborate designs. They wove cloth ingeniously into the shapes of garments and other articles, for they did not cut and sew.
King Edward III of England held a parliament at Rochester in 1337 at which an Act was passed encouraging Flemish weavers to come and settle in England under royal protection, bringing their superior cloth-making skills with them.
Weaving developed little until the flying shuttle was invented by John Kay in 1733, followed later in the 19th century by English clergyman Edmund Cartwright's power loom.
Of great importance in the handloom era was the Jacquard loom, which was used to make patterns in clothing material. The loom was invented by French technologist Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) in 1801 and simplified the process of making textiles with complex patterns. Jacquard went on to perfect his invention by using punched cards to control cams that directed pattern weaving. By the 1830s many were in use.
Underwater basket weaving has been used as a pejorative term for excessively easy/useless/niche courses for at least since the early 1960s.
Source Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia
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| Pixiebay |
The basic principle of weaving has not changed since the late Stone Age, when humans first wove rushes and grasses into baskets and mats. These weavers probably placed the warp fibers on the ground and passed the weft fibers by hand between them.
Though weaving is mainly mechanised, now, hand looms are still used, for example in the manufacture of tweeds in the British Isles. They may be horizontal or vertical; industrial looms are generally vertical.
It is not known when or where spinning and weaving were first practiced but they were in use in Egypt and the Near East by the 9th millennium BC and there is evidence of silk weaving in China in the 2nd millennium.
Weaving probably began when reeds and canes were used to make baskets. Man then learned in about 7000 or 6000 BC how to obtain plant and animal fibres such as flax, cotton and wool and twist them into yarn. These wool and flax yarns were woven on a primitive loom into rectangles of cloth.
Weaving was probably part of the housewife's daily work in the homes of the European Lake Dwellers. These Stone Age people built their villages, presumably for safety, on wooden platforms over lakes and swamps. In the beds of the lakes modern searchers recovered spindle whorls and pieces of looms and of linen and woolen garments.
The woven lengths of cloth were not cut but were draped about the body. A tie fastened the cloth at the waist. This kind of draped garment was worn by the early Egyptians.
Fragments of patterned linen-weave have been found in Pharaonic tombs in Egypt, while ancient Egyptian pictures and Greek vase-paintings illustrate types of early looms which have been confirmed by archaeological finds.
 |
| Weaving in ancient Egypt |
The earliest weaving was plain, to meet the need for warmth and clothing, and tapestry weaving was known in Egypt from the 2nd millennium BC.
One of first examples of weaving is featured in The Odyssey where Homer describes the shroud Odysseus' wife Penelope is forced to unravel each night to fend off unwanted suitors. He also describes Helen as working with a golden distaff, a silver wool basket on wheels, and wool of violet-blue.
Among Ancient Greeks, spinning, weaving, and decorating cloth were so much the responsibility of females that those skills became metaphors for “women's wiles.”
The Romans followed the cloth making practices of the Greeks. They did, however, abandon the old warp-weighted loom in favor of the more efficient two-barred loom.
The Romans established textile factories in the provinces, particularly in Gaul, where they had found a people already skilful at weaving.
People living in the first Millenium AD on the hot coastal strip of Peru created some of the world's most beautiful textiles. These Andean people who wove these textiles spun fine, smooth yarn of cotton or the wool of alpacas and llamas. They used most weaves known today and some too complicated for modern looms. They were expert dyers, with almost 200 hues at their command.
With their many-colored yarns the Andean civilizations worked out gay, elaborate designs. They wove cloth ingeniously into the shapes of garments and other articles, for they did not cut and sew.
 |
| Example of weaving characteristic of Andean civilizations By Adam Jones |
King Edward III of England held a parliament at Rochester in 1337 at which an Act was passed encouraging Flemish weavers to come and settle in England under royal protection, bringing their superior cloth-making skills with them.
Weaving developed little until the flying shuttle was invented by John Kay in 1733, followed later in the 19th century by English clergyman Edmund Cartwright's power loom.
Of great importance in the handloom era was the Jacquard loom, which was used to make patterns in clothing material. The loom was invented by French technologist Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) in 1801 and simplified the process of making textiles with complex patterns. Jacquard went on to perfect his invention by using punched cards to control cams that directed pattern weaving. By the 1830s many were in use.
 |
| Close-up of the 8 × 26 hole punched cards on a Jaquard loom |
Underwater basket weaving has been used as a pejorative term for excessively easy/useless/niche courses for at least since the early 1960s.
Source Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia
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