Colour in woven design

101. Utility of Check Styles.—Checks form one of the commonest types of patterns developed in woven goods. They obtain in all species of colouring, such as subdued and tempered shades, and bright and lustrous tints. They are characterized by diversification of arrangement, outline, and dimensions. As a rule, the check styles appearing in cotton, silk, and worsted yarns are clearer in pattern than those produced in woollen fabrics, which are frequently more or less indistinct and intermingled in composition. Possibly no form of design or method of grouping shades is more extensively worked than that of checking. It affords scope for novelty of pattern construction. Figured goods occasionally possess a checked surface of mellow colouring, on which the floral or geometrical design is distributed. Not infrequently this check groundwork enhances the fabric and pattern in which it occurs, giving diversity of surface to the former, and developing with suitable precision the integral parts of the latter. But in addition to this principle of textile design being utilized in figured fabrics according to the system indicated, it is adopted in the construction of a wide series of styles. Shawls, mantlings, shirtings, flannels, suitings, coatings, dress fabrics, and other classes of textiles are coloured with this description of pattern. For dress materials and shawls, tartan and plaid checks are produced in a great variety of shades and systems of blending; in tweeds, ulsterings, and Irish homespuns, somewhat loud and broad checkings are applied, generally soft in colouring. When suitings and coatings are considered, the checks are usually small in size and neat in colour.

Checks vary in size and form from minute squares to patterns consisting of solid squares of colour several inches in a repeat; and from compact rectangular spaces of colour to intermingled line patterns, but which still form a decided square or check design.

102. Principles of Checking.—There are many systems of checking, yet there are some principles of construction common to every class of check pattern. For example, whatever plan of colourings obtains in the warp, in order to make a perfect check the same set of colourings must be employed in the weft. This is the ordinary method of checking; it is the crossing of the warp shades with corresponding weft shades which constitutes the square or check divisions. All checks are formed of rectangular spaces of colours. Such designs may be defined as compositions of squares of various sizes, of distinct shades fitting into each other to form a complete pattern. When producing these styles, the first work to be accomplished is the arrangement of the warp threads, which will determine the plan of the check. Supposing this to be, for instance, the pattern given in Fig. 14 on page 111, then, in order to convert it into a check, the same order of wefting as warping would require to be adopted, which would yield a large check of black—formed by the eight ends of this shade in the warp and weft—filled in with a series of outline checks of white surrounding solid squares of black; or consider the tartan plaid given on Plate X. It is a plaid comprising in each repeat several sets of checks or square divisions. First, there are the line checks of yellow, lavender, dark green, and white; second, the squares of blue; third, the squares of scarlet; and fourth, the main checks of green. These various squares are so combined as to make a perfect pattern, or one in which each rectangular space neatly fits into the squares of colour with which it interchanges. In producing such a fabric, the system of colouring the warp is primarily determined as indicated, the wefting being a counterpart of it; though not necessarily so, because the idea is rather to maintain the clear squares of colour than precisely the same number of shots or picks as threads per inch.

It will be obvious that on this principle any form of check may be acquired; for by colouring, say, the shaded stripes given on Plate XVI. in the weft as in the warp, shaded checks would result. There is, however, one technicality to be considered, which adds to the intricacy of this kind of pattern construction, namely, the weave of the fabric. So long as the weaves employed, float the warp and weft equally and regularly on the respective sides of the fabric, the same balance of colouring is acquired in both the direction of the warp and weft; but should the weave bring more warp than weft, or more weft than warp, on to the face, then whichever factor predominates, it will be impossible to obtain a check style in which both the warp and the weft colouring will be equally pronounced. If, for instance, Fig. 13 were changed into a check, in order to obtain the same precision of white colouring across as lengthways of the piece, some alteration in the structure of the weave would be necessary. This will be evident on consulting Fig. 13A, the plan of the weave of this striped fabric. It will be observed that this weave floats ⅘ths of the warp to ⅕th of the weft on the face; hence, if it should be used as here given, and the same order of colouring practised in the weft as in the warp, the white lines in the weft would be less distinct on the face than on the back of the cloth, for they only cover one thread out of five. To get a similar prominence of white in the weft as is seen in the warp of the fabric, the weave would have to be extended to twenty threads and picks, and the 19th and 20th picks modified in such a manner as to bring ⅘ths of the weft ⅕th of the warp on the face of the texture. When, as in common twills and other simple weaves, there are equal quantities of warp and weft yarns appearing on both sides of the fabric, no difficulties of this kind arise in converting a stripe into a check pattern.

There are various kinds of “broken” checks in which the combination of warp shades is made to appear like a check by weaving it with some order of weft colouring which, while forming a series of transverse lines of colour, will develop the fancy yarns in the warp which constitute the main element of such patterns. These, as well as other recognized types of checking, which are particularly effective in the woven fabric, and illustrative of the general principles of this class of textile colouring, will now be described.

103. Several Styles of Checks.—Check patterns may be classified under three heads, as follows:⁠—

A considerable range of patterns is obtained in two shades; if the principles of checking with two shades are fully mastered, the more advanced species of check designs in which a large variety of colours obtains, will be readily understood. Indeed, it may be said that checks of three or more colours are elaborations of two-shade patterns. When a diversity of colours is employed, it does not follow that large quantities of each shade are used, but as a rule two shades compose the general cast of the pattern, while the additional hues are so many brightening factors. The art of checking consists in the skilful application of two or more shades, so that several useful schemes of grouping the threads in such patterns may be considered separately.

Intermingled and irregular checks are composed of square spaces of colour lacking clearness of character, and are useful for tweeds and certain classes of worsted goods.

Checks composed of Two Colours.

104. Forms of Checking in Two Shades.—These are illustrated in Figs. 15 to 23 inclusive. The illustrations furnished are typical of the different systems of combining two shades in making check patterns. The forms of checking are, strictly speaking, unlimited. Beginning with the smallest check, consisting of two ends of a dark and two ends of a light shade alternately, the forms increase in intricacy and dimensions until patterns of several inches in size, and comprising several types of checking, are acquired.

105. Common Check.—The commonest form of check is given in Fig. 15. It results from arranging the warp and weft threads as follows:⁠—

Of course the number of threads of each colour, as well as the shades, may be varied. This style of check is worked in shepherd plaids and in other patterns, and in all kinds of materials. The weaves generally employed are plain, cassimere twill, and mat, each make giving suitable clearness to the colours.

106. Modification of Common Check.—Fig. 16 shows how, by a simple variation in the order of colouring the common check, it may be changed in character. This modification destroys the stiffness of the pattern. The plan of colouring in this example is as follows:⁠—

An outline check of black is thus arranged to divide the squares of white into four sections, and an outline check of white to similarly divide the squares of black. It is a neat and useful form of pattern. Though only consisting of two shades, it comprises five effects, namely, solid squares of black, white, and squares of black and white equally mixed; and also of outline checks of black and white. Other colours besides those in which it is sketched are used in great variety, and it is a style applied with satisfactory results to rugs, shawls, dresses, cottons, woollens, and worsteds, being altered in size in the several fabrics according to the degree of loudness required.

107. Check consisting of Two Sizes of Squares.—Another valuable form of check, and one that is extensively utilized, is that in Fig. 17. It is a combination of two sets of squares of different sizes; it is given in the most elementary form, the plan of colouring being twelve threads of black and six threads of white, but it is rarely employed without being subjected to various modifications. Some of these modifications may be alluded to. In the first example, the large checks of black, and also of white, are bisected. This is done without increasing the shade, as follows (Fig. 18):⁠—

In this way, the stiffness of the pattern is removed and a check obtained on the same base, but containing fuller variation of construction. Secondly, the square of black might be warped and woven thread and thread, while the square of white should remain solid, making a pattern suitable for flannel shirtings. One further modification to which this style is subjective, consists in bisecting the square of black or of white, but preferably the former, because it contains the largest number of threads.

108. Pattern composed of Solid Squares and of an Overcheck.—An over-check is a small line of colour forming a skeleton square, filled in with solid squares of several shades. This base—illustrated in Fig. 19—is employed in dress fabrics, shawls, and ulsterings, and, in small effects, in suitings and mantlings. The yarns are arranged—4 threads of black, 2 threads of white, 4 threads of black, 10 threads of white, 10 threads of black, and 10 threads of white. The characteristic feature here is that only every alternate square of black is bisected, causing the small line of white which divides it to form an over-check equal in size to four of the black or white squares. This outline or skeleton check contains one solid square of black, four squares of white, and four squares of black and white twilled. It is a plan of checking well adapted for plaids produced in two shades, and in such colours as blue and white, black and red, tan and medium blue (Nos. 2 and 7, Plate IV.), and lavender (No. 10, Plate IV.), and lilac (No. 16, Plate VI.). Fig. 19 is but a modification of the common check supplied in Fig. 15; for if the over-check were removed it would be reduced to precisely the same pattern. To obtain a change in this style, one of the squares of white is bisected with fine lines of black, leaving one black and one white check perfectly solid, but dividing one of the white checks into four equal sections. The order of colouring in such an instance would be thus (Fig. 20):⁠—

This modified arrangement of Fig. 19 is one that is adopted in making this description of check in larger numbers of threads than here given, say twenty threads instead of the tens, and the other numbers similarly doubled. Patterns of these dimensions are mostly produced in bright or delicate colours for fabrics in fine worsted and cotton yarns.

109. Counter-change Check.—A counter-change check is a pattern in which the several sets of squares are exactly reversed; thus, in Fig. 21, the checks included in the bracket 1 are just the opposite in shade, but of the same size, as those grouped in bracket 2. It will be noticed that the principal square of black has one square of white at each corner, while the principal square of white has one small square of black at each corner, forming the counter-change which gives this species of checking its designation. The arrangement as here given, obtains development in various materials. It is modified in size according to the fabric to which it is applied. The colourings may be grouped as below:⁠—

The style lends itself to numerous schemes of modification, but two or three can only be named. Firstly, bisect the large squares of black with small lines of white, and the large squares of white with fine lines of black; secondly, divide the small squares of the respective shades with black and white lines; and thirdly, combine these two systems of alteration.

110. Compound Checking.—This is one of the most useful schemes of checking. The example given—Fig. 22—only contains two sizes of checks, but such designs may be composed of a much larger series of different-sized squares. Here the plan of grouping is also elementary, including a set of eighteen small squares of black and white separated by similar-sized checks of white and black twilled, and also a number of large checks of black and white. The colourings are arranged as appended:⁠—

In light shades and colours forming a mellow contrast, it makes a good style, being a check capable of development, and one that may be altered in several ways. Thus the single large square of white is divisible by two ends of black, which produce an over-check that considerably improves the whole pattern. Next, each of the squares of black should be divided with small lines of white, and lastly, both alterations should be combined.

111. Gradated Check.—This style—Fig. 23—is not so largely employed as those described, but it gives an attractive pattern. The object of the arrangement is to graduate from a series of small to a series of large checks. In the fabric, the respective checks appear to run into each other. No less than eight sizes of squares occur in this example, varying from a check of two to sixteen threads, the order of colouring being thus:⁠—

When using fine materials and high counts of yarns the series of gradations is largely extended, continuing to checks containing as many as forty-eight and even sixty-four threads. Occasionally, the check is graduated from a maximum to a minimum size on both sides of the extreme large square, and not simply shaded off on one side as in the illustration.

112. Broken Check in Two Colours.—A species of irregular check in two colours is given in No. 1 on Plate XIX. The order of the threads is not intricate, being 8 threads of maroon, 8 threads of green, 2 threads of maroon, and 2 threads of green, and forms a mellow check style. This arises, first, from the corresponding strength of the two shades used; second, from the system of blending practised; and third, from the manner in which the weave distributes the threads. This pattern illustrates what neat effects may be acquired in two shades by an appropriate method of combining colours which contrast and harmonize. The style under consideration is composed of the contrasting colours green and maroon, which, when of corresponding intensities, as in this illustration, produce harmony. This is evident by the sense of completeness which characterizes the style when it is examined. It does not require any additional hue to brighten or freshen it, for it is apparently rich and mellow in colour composition.

The plan of grouping the shades causes the full checks of maroon and green to be in contact with each other, while the two threads of the respective hues give a shaded tone to the pattern—the colours seeming to vanish into each other. When making checks in which softness rather than loudness of effect is desirable, this toning of one colour into another is a very requisite element.

113. Basket Check in Two Colours.—Basket checks are obtained in two shades, and comprise two sizes of checking. They are produced in both four-and six-shaft twills, and also in fine yarns in the eight-end make. They contain four varieties of work, due to the manner in which the several sets of threads interlace with each other. A reference to No. 2, Plate XIX., will make it evident what is the nature of these effects. This is a basket check which has been woven in the cassimere twill, and in the order of threads which follows:⁠—

The four-and-four grouping gives the shepherd-plaid effect bracketed A, and the two-and-two grouping the fine and minute checking bracketed B. The remaining effects in the pattern are due to the four-and-four wefting crossing the two-and-two warping—part C,—and the two-and-two wefting crossing the four-and-four warping in section D. In woollen, worsted, and other yarns this style of check is largely developed. In the illustration the sizes of the respective checks are not the same, the large plaid effect extending over 64 and the small plaids over 48 threads; but in some patterns they are exactly of the same dimensions. When the six-end twill is used, the shades are not grouped in fours and twos, but in sixes and threes, as in the example:⁠—

One feature in colouring these checks is that no strong contrast of shades is suitable. Seeing that the system of grouping the shades is enough to produce ample diversity of style, loudness of colouring is unnecessary. From the illustration given, it will be seen that there is no marked distinction of hue in the colours combined. Such shades as white, and slate and white twist; white, and brown and white twist; and white, and blue and white twist, all yield patterns of the requisite depth of contrast. These examples are in light shades, but this type of checking also obtains an important place in dark patterns for ulstering and mantling fabrics.

Checks of Three or more Colours.

114. Principle of Checking with Three Colours.—The principles of design and colouring involved in making check styles in three shades are more intricate than those relating to checking with two colours. More ingenious patterns, fuller of detail and more diversified in composition, are producible with three than two shades. The third colour is important and valuable in toning and mellowing the check arrangement. Thus, supposing a light and dark shade formed the principal sections of a check composition, then by introducing into it a third and intermediate colour, increased softness of effect could be acquired and harshness of contrast obviated. Check arrangements of this class are employed in many types of woven goods, and are particularly useful in designing for some species of suitings, mantlings, cotton and silk fabrics. They are not so formal in cast as two-shade patterns, the square spaces of colour being better toned. Some of the most generally adopted systems of grouping the shades in these styles are represented in Figs. 24 to 32 inclusive. By comparing them with the checks obtained in two colours given in Figs. 15 to 23, it will at once be evident that they contain a more complete range of effects and are more diversified in outline than the preceding examples. The function of the third shade and its utility in improving the aspect of the patterns will also be observed. Fig. 25, for instance, though a simple arrangement, possesses a mellower character than any of the checks developed in two shades. The grey factor not only increases the multiplicity of effects appearing in the patterns, but enhances the value of the respective checkings by giving a softly-toned cast to them. Amongst the forms of check combinations illustrated in these figures are the common three-shade pattern, the set check, the compound base, the counter-change base, the interchanging base, and counter-change with over-check base.

115. Ordinary Three-shade Check.—The commonest and most elementary form of three-coloured checking is that in which the squares of colour are equal in size, e.g., 10 black, 10 grey, and 10 white. When the squares of each colour are large, the check is satisfactory; but if they are minute, say about four threads each, and composed of neat colourings, it is improved in character. Should the colours be dark, medium, and light, or black, grey, and white, a shaded check is formed of limited gradation. In greys, blues, browns, or slates, this arrangement makes a very useful form of pattern, and one that may be modified in various ways. It might, for example, be shaded off on both sides by allowing the intermediate shade to alternate with the dark and light colours. Another change may be effected by bisecting one of the squares of colour, say the black, with two ends of a lighter shade, in which instance one outline check would be obtained in each repeat of the pattern, which would give quite a new aspect to the style. If this idea of dividing the checks is further worked, a considerable range of appropriate modifications of this base may be acquired. Let one example be considered. Alter this form by arranging the shades as below (Fig. 24):⁠—

According to this scheme the check would be completely changed, though the base remains unaltered. Each square of colour is here divided into four sections. The black checks are divided with an outline check of grey, the grey with an outline check of black, and the white with an outline check of grey. It will be clear from this method of modifying the simple order of colouring, that it is an elementary principle of grouping three shades to form a check which may be utilized in the development of fancy patterns.

116. Set Check.—A check pattern in which certain squares—namely, black in the illustration—form the main feature of the design, and are set at corresponding distances apart, with the respective shades alternately intervening, is supplied in Fig. 25. It is designated a “set” check, on account of the manner in which the large spaces of the leading shade in the pattern are arranged, these repeating on such a principle as to give a stiff and “set” appearance to the pattern.

It is made in various dimensions, according to the style of fabric being manufactured. The size of the black check in lining and shawl textures ranges from eight to forty-eight threads, but in suitings and other materials it is frequently not more than six or four threads, and the spaces of grey and white proportionately reduced.

Taking the order of the shades to be 16 threads of black, 8 threads of white, 16 threads of black, and 8 threads of grey, then one method of modifying this base practised with good results is (Fig. 26)⁠—

The centre of each of the squares of black would, by this means, be occupied with a square of four threads of grey, while the square of white would be outlined with skeleton checks of grey, and that of grey with skeleton checks of white. When this system of alteration is adopted, a pattern fairly diversified in construction is the result.

117. Compound Checking in Three Shades.—Fig. 27 forms a neat principle of checking in three shades in which several series of small squares of colour are combined. The manner in which the small checks are grouped, obviates the stiff cast which characterizes some forms of checking. It will be observed that the several shades do not occur in uniform quantities. White is the main element, alternating with both black and grey; then comes black, of which there are three sets of checks, but only two sets of grey. To produce the pattern, the yarns are grouped as indicated below:⁠—

The white not only produces minute checks, but also four large squares in each repeat of the design.

This base may be varied. One alteration consists in, dividing the large squares of white with fine lines of black; another modification practised changes the single square of white, intervening the checks of grey, into black; while a third system of alteration bisects each of the checks of black with outline squares of white; then a fourth principle (Fig. 28) combines these several methods of utilizing this form, making a pattern constituted thus:⁠—

If this last scheme is employed, the cast of the pattern undergoes considerable change, and is characterized by much variation of checking and intermingling of shades. By adopting three tones or tints of one colour, such as brown, olive green, or slate, this mode of checking is capable of being used in the construction of effective patterns for mantling, dress, and other fancy fabrics.