Fig. 5.—Interchanging Figure and Face
Fig. 5A.—Harness and Chain Draft for Fig. 5
Fig. 4 shows a design of this character, with the harness and chain draft at Fig. 4A. In this particular web there are six harnesses used for the main body and ten for the figure, which is a point draw. While the figure is evenly distributed on the web, wherever it is not seen it is running between the upper and lower cloths, as already described, and acting as a gut.
In order to get a proper balance of the web it is necessary to put gut threads into the two outer cords where no figure appears, which must be equivalent in size to the figure threads employed in each of the 21 center cords. If this is not done the web will contract unduly at the edges and make it “belly.” The method here used of burying the figure between the upper and lower cloths when not needed in carrying out the design, affords opportunity for introducing additional warp threads of different colors, so as to be able to bring up either one color or another as desired in a design.
As most of the fancy head looms have not more than 18 harnesses, it will be seen that the scope of design in this class of loom is somewhat limited, therefore much ingenuity is required to get elaborate designs from such limited capacity. But careful study opens up a variety of methods by which a big range of designs is possible.
Interchanging Figure and Face
Fig. 5 shows another type of design known as the “interchanging” fancy in which the figure warp does not pile up above the surface as it does in the stitch figure, but remains flat with the face of the web. The harness and chain drafts are shown at Fig. 5A. In this character of design a given number of face threads are duplicated by a like number of figure threads, the same size of yarn being used for both. These face and figure threads are drawn in duplicate harnesses and operated just reverse to each other, so that when the figure is up at any particular part, the interchanging face threads are down, and vice versa. The figure weaves only three picks up on the chain draft, which is one face pick seen on the face cloth, and this produces a perfectly flat web.
Another form of elaboration is shown in this web, known as the “picot” edge. It is generally made of a well cabled thread of silk and is woven in the selvage, being bound in for several picks and then allowed to float outside, so that upon the contraction of the web it will pearl out in small loops, adding much to the elaboration of the web.