Classification of Cotton Cloths,Weaving Specifications

Light,Medium and Heavy Cloths

Classification of Cotton Cloths

There are various classes and varieties of cotton fabrics,which are woven and marketed.The most important of them are the following.

1)Light Plain Cotton Cloth,

2)Medium Plain Cotton Cloth 

3)Medium heavy Plain Cotton Cloth and,

4)Heavy Plain Cotton Cloth.

These classes of cloths are most generally woven in tappet looms without the use of Dobbies and Jacquards.The characteristics of these cloths and the details of the looms in which they can successfully be woven are explained below.Moreover,fine plain cloth,viz,lawn,mull mull or malmal,tracing cloth etc. are woven inside tappet looms.The greater bulk of production in the Indian Textile Industry belongs to these classes and varieties of cotton fabrics.

Light plain Cotton Cloth

Characteristics:

The required qualities of light plain cotton cloths are good feel,equidistributed ends and picks,neat selvedges,absence of any stains or spots and good 'cover'.Muslin,printed cloths and similar varieties are termed light plain cloths.

a)Muslins are largely used in our country as summer wear and their weave particulars range from 40 to 90 ends of 32s to120s warp,and 44 to 84 picks of 36s to 100s weft per inch or 2.54cm.

b)The printing cotton cloths,which are generally heavier than muslins,have also a variety of weaving particulars,for examples,68ends of 36s warp and 62picks of 42s weft per inch or 2.54cm,and 72ends of 36s warp and 62 picks of 42s weft per inch or 2.54cm.

Defects in Light Plain Cloths

All light plain cloths are liable to similair cloth faults,viz,thick and thin places,reed marks,unevenness,etc.and are woven with the similair settings at the looms.To remedy the faults of light plain cloths,the following methods are generally adopted.:

1)The back rest is raised to correct reed marks by alternately tightening and slackening the warp threads.

2)The shed is timed and crossed early to remedy bareness or thick and thin places in cloths.These defects are also known as light and thick 'weft bars 'in cloths.

3)The faulty selvedge in light plain cloths is a serious fault and may be remedied by even shedding,selvedge ends drawing correctly through the healds and timing the selvedge ends as to standards.

Medium Plain Cotton Cloth

Characteristics

The Medium Plain Cotton Cloths heavier than Light Plain Cloths but lighter than comparatively heavy cloths.Some examples of the medium plain cotton  cloths are:llong cloths,casement cloths,madapolam and cheshire printings.They have got a variety of weave particulars but a few representative examples are the following.

a)A finer quality of long cloth is composed of 72 neds and 70 picks of 36s warp and 38s weft.A coarse quality of long cloth consists of 56s ends of 28s warp and 72 picks of 18s weft.

b)An example of casement cloth is composed of 32s warp and 16s weft,52 ends and 68 picks per inch or 2.54cm.

Medium Heavy Plain Cotton Cloths

Characteristics

The medium heavy plain cloths which are heavier than medium cloths but comparitively lighter than heavy cloths are termed  medium heavy cloths.Again, cloth whichis considered heavy in one type of loom might be considered an ordinary sort in a stronger loom.A represetative example of weaving particulars of a fairly or medium heavy cotton cloth  is  60 ends and picks per inch or 2.54 cm. and 18s warp and 32s weft.

Heavy Plain Cotton Cloth

Characteristics

There are a variety of  heavy cotton plain cloths namely canvas,duck cloths,sail cloths and blankets.

For example, a make of duck cloth is 3/14s warp and weft,and 40 ends per inch or 2.54 cm.We have to consider the diameter of warp and weft yarns  and the numberof ends and picks per inch or 2.54cm.in this cloth and the type of fabrics this loom has to weave.This loom must be strong,rigid and of sturdyconstruction and is there for heavy.

Fine Plain Cotton Cloth

There are many type of cotton fabrics which are termed fine plain cloths.

Characteristics

The warp and weft of fine plain cloths are good yarns,specially of Egyptian cotton and the counts vary from 60s to 100s.Fine Lawn,which is an example of this type,has 90s warp ends and 100s weft,128 ends and 112 picks per inch or 2.54cm.Tracing Cloth,generally used by draughtsmen,is a fine cloth,consisting of 60s warp and 50s weft,76 ends and picks per inch or 2.54cm.

One type of Mull Mull consists of 62s Egyptian warp,34s Egyptian weft,72s reed and 60 picks per inch or2.54cm.

Defects in Cloth:

Reed marks,bareness and bad selvedges are the common faults in fine plain cloths.

Tapestry Weaving

Tapestry Weaving

The classical Tapestry was usually a structurally simple fabric in which the highly figured and elaborate design was produced by the placement of colored threads within well-defined areas of cloth.The warp was normally comparatively fine and of a neutral hue to prevent interface with multi colored wefts in which the design was developed.The ends were operated in the plain weave order and into each shed small portions of weft would  be placed,each short length conforming in color with the painted design positioned directly behind the warp threads.Each equivalent of a pick in a normal cloth would,therefore,consists of discontinuous length of wefts and the design would be built up,row by horizontal row,with the differently colored length of weft occupying increasing or decreasing spaces in conformity with the changes in the dimensions of the figures. 

The warp sheet in the hand tapestry loom was frequently placed vertically and in broad tapestries several weavers would be stationed side by side,each responsible for a vertical strip of design of a given width and each armed with a set of small shuttles containing the requisite colors of weft.The cloths produced in this manner usually consisted of single repeat,large picture panels used mainly as wall hangings,and similar techniques were employed in tapestry weaving in most of the ancient civilizations.

Although the making of tapestries in the manner described above is still practiced in various countries as a studio activity,the modern machine produced tapestry fabric has little structural affinity with the classical picture panel.The tapestry construction has been used for hangings,sofa rugs,upholstery work,table covers and carpets.At present fabrics of this type are mainly employed for upholstery purposes for which the hard -wearing quality of the structure particularly suited.The figuring elements may consists of cotton,wool or man made staple yarns:the ground warp,if present,is almost invariably a two fold cotton yarn,whilst the stitching elements are frequently fine, two fold cotton yarn or filament nylon.The stitching yarns are important element in the construction as they ensure cohesion and wear resistance of the fabric by preventing the formation of long floats whilst they may add to the structural variety which can be enhanced  by deliberately altering the appearance of similar color areas by the changes in the order of the stitching.Despite performing a vital role the stitching yarns must be unobtrusive and they must not interface with the color values of the main figure areas.For these reasons they are very fine and may be either black or be entirely transparent as is the case with the fine filament nylon yarns.

Simple Weft Face Tapestries

These represent the least complex of the tapestry structures and consists of a grond warp ,the lifts of which determine the disposition of the figuring wefts,the stiching warp,and a number of figuring wefts.The wefts,of which there are usually between two and four,interchange between the face and the back of the cloth thus producing a design in the number of colors equal to the number of different wefts.

In conclusion,in a 2 weft tapestry it takes two picks to complete a horizontal row of the design,in a 3 weft structure-three picks,and in a 4 weft-four picks.Thus if other conditions remain equal,a 2 weft tapestry is produced at twice the rate of a 4 weft fabric with an obvious advantage in respect of the cost of production.The stitching warp operates in a regular order stitching the weft floats both on the face and on the back so that no long floats are formed in any part of the fabric.Occasionally,the ground warp is also used for figuring on the surface thus adding another ornamental feature without increasing the cost of production.

Poothamkali

Poothamkali

Poothamkali

Poothamkali

Poothamkali is a folk art performed in the Bhagavathi temples of Mlappuram district in Kerala.Pootham is a character who accompanied Durga in her combat with Darika Asura.The performers ,usually three in number,undergo a week of austerity before presentation.Colorful and intricately designed masks carved out of the pala and murukku tress are the highlights of the attire.The fifteen minute performance starts slowly and works up to a frenzy towards the end.The thudi provides rhythm to the dance which is usually rendered at night.

Carpet Structures

Carpet Structures

Double wefting face to face weaving represents the principal method of producing self color,all -over cut pile carpets which after separation by the knife become structurally identical with those produced by the wire insertion method.Any constructions described in connection with the latter method can be used although the too-short structure is mainly employed,as depicted in the figure.All the healds are tappet controlled;the chain or ground ends are operated alternately two up,two down in each cloth,the stuffer yarns one down one up whilst the pile threads oscillate between the two cloths and are anchored around alternate picks in each fabrics.

Similar qualities can be made to those described with regard to carpets produced by the wire insertion method.Frequently high twist yarns are employed for the pile which have the merit of yielding carpets which are not only hard wiring and resilient but also less prone to show furniture marks, etc

Production rate of the face to face system compares very favorably with the wire loom.weaving identical quality body width carpeting in a too-short structure the face to face loom will produce 105 horizontal rows of tufts per minute as oppose to 55 by the wire loom.Similar proportional advantage is retained in broad loom weaving.