Jacquard Weaving and Designing

by T. F. Bell

The warp or pile threads are cut similarly to velvet by drawing the wires out of the loops and having each wire furnished at its end with a cutting edge. [Fig. 190] shows the draft and treading of a Wilton carpet arranged for a hand loom. The back is the harness, and Nos. 1, 2, and 3 the shafts. No 2 shaft is only required when an extra or silent warp is used for the purpose of giving weight and thickening the fabric. This warp, if used, lies straight between the weft, and must be on a separate beam from the ground warp.

Tapestry Carpets.—These carpets, though they do not require a jacquard to weave them, are so closely allied to Brussels, and patterns so similar can be produced on them, that it is thought desirable to give a short description of them. Though figured weaving, they are not so in the strict sense of the term, as the pattern is printed on the warp instead of being formed by various coloured warps; they are simply an imitation of figured weaving in colours. Any pattern that can be put on a Brussels carpet can also be put on a tapestry, and with further variation if desired. The effect is not so sharp and rich on the tapestry, as the colours, being printed on the warp, run into each other more or less, and produce a slight blurring round the edges of the pattern; whereas the pattern on the Brussels is so sharp and clear round the edges as to make it harsh if two very contrasting colours come together, so that in some cases the tapestry patterns are softer and more pleasing.

Fig. 191

[Fig. 191] shows the texture of a tapestry carpet. A and B are the ground warp threads which bind the weft, the same as in Brussels; these threads go on one warp roll. 1, 2, and 3 are the lying or filling warp threads of linen, hemp, or jute, used for giving weight and thickness to the cloth; these threads go on a second roll. P is the pile, which, it will be observed, is of various colours and looped all along the cloth, or passes over every wire that is inserted, and the pattern is formed entirely by the colours that these threads are printed. The pile goes on a third warp roll. All the pile can go on the one roll, as every thread is looped alike by each wire inserted. A pair of shafts for the ground warp—one for the lying warp and one for the pile—is all that is required for weaving the cloth. The pile consists of two or three ends of two-fold worsted yarn, according to the quality of the carpet. As the fabric is made up to a great extent with the three lying ends of stiffened hemp or flax to each row of pile loops, the carpet is of a harder and less pliable nature, with less spring in it than a Brussels (which has the five pile worsted threads in it), and it is also less durable. The number of pile loops in the width of the cloth is the same as for a low-class Brussels carpet, say 216 to 225, and the width of the cloth is the same—about 27 in. Five threads go to each split of the reed—viz. one pile, two ground warp, and the three lying or filling ends.

In these carpets, as well as in Brussels, it will be seen from the sections that one weft thread is above a lower one, with a straight tightly-stretched warp between them. A method of weaving has been adopted on the Continent in which both sheds are formed and both wefts picked at the same time. One shed is raised above the centre warp, and one is sunk below it, and both shuttles are driven through simultaneously; then a pile shed is raised and a wire inserted; and this repeated, reversing the ground sheds, makes the order of weaving for tapestry carpets. Another method is to have double mails, one mail above the other on the same harness cord or heald; the wool warp goes to the upper mail, and the lying warp to the lower one. When the mails are raised a double shed is formed, and a pile wire and a pick can be inserted at the same time. The ground or binding warp is in two additional leaves of healds. To apply the former method to Wilton carpets, two picks are put in below to balance with the two above, instead of one pick below, as shown in [Fig. 189].

For tapestry carpets the pattern is prepared in the same way as for Brussels. The repeat of the pattern may be of any length, but 27, 36, or 54 in. are usual lengths. The pattern, though prepared as if for the jacquard, is only a guide for the printer when printing the colours on the warp.

The pattern is printed on the warp in an elongated form, the amount of elongation coinciding exactly with the reduction the pile loops make in the length of the warp when it is woven.