Colour in woven design

131. Simple and Compound Colourings.—As in Weave Design there are two important types of pattern—such as effects resulting from the use of one crossing, and effects due to combining several crossings—so the styles obtained by blending fancy shades are also of two kinds, and may be designated Simples and Compounds. Both classes are divisible into Regular and Irregular orders of colourings. In the Regular order of Simple colourings, the colour elements are of equal quantities and systematically alternate; but in Compounds, the shades may occur in various quantities and be irregularly distributed. If, for example, a pattern were arranged⁠—

it would be a Simple colouring, because it is composed of similar numbers of each sort of yarns, and the respective shades regularly succeed each other. The same shades could be made to form an Irregular Simple pattern in two ways: first, by diversifying the plan of the colours in such a manner as to allow any one or more shades to intervene the other shades, as follows:⁠—

and second, by retaining the original order of succession of shades, but by varying the quantities in which they occur, as illustrated below:⁠—

Here are two types of Irregular and Simple colourings, viz., those in which the shades are grouped in similar quantities but are irregularly combined, and those in which the shades obtain in different proportions, though following in regular order.

To convert the same group of shades into a Compound colouring, it is only necessary to combine two or more systems of blending the yarns, as follows:⁠—

From this example it will be observed, that in making a Regular Compound at least two systems of elementary colouring are combined: in this instance, the four-and-four and the two-and-two methods have been selected. Compounds necessarily give more diversified styles of pattern than Simples; but unless the effects of the latter have been studied, the arrangement and composition of Compounds cannot be fully understood. Simple colourings are the elements of all Compounds. In order to obtain well-balanced effects in designs consisting of various weaves, the construction and woven result of each weave have to be considered, and only such makes united as will yield symmetrical patterns and regularly-built fabrics; and similar laws determine the association of shades as determine the combination of weaves.

132. Regular Simple Colourings.—The principal forms of Elementary Simple Colourings are comprised in the three classes given in the table appended:⁠—

Table IX.

Regular Simple Colourings.

CLASS A.—COMPOSED OF TWO SHADES.

133. One-and-One and Two-and-Two Colourings.—These are the most elementary arrangements of shades. They give different effects, according to the weave in which they are developed. The one-and-one system is applied chiefly to plain and twilled weaves, in which it constitutes two styles of patterns very extensively produced in ordinary fancies. First, in the plain make, it forms the hairline stripe sketched in Fig. 5C; and in the cassimere twill, the step-diagonal effect sketched in Fig. 5F. Both are useful textural styles. In cottons, silks, and fancy woollens and worsteds, this order of threads can be made to produce patterns of some intricacy of composition by simply employing in one instance the two plain makes given in Figs. 60 and 60A, and in the other instance the two twills given in Figs. 61 and 61A. Should the plain weaves be combined, say, in such a manner as to make a stripe, and this design woven in the one-and-one system of colouring, the woven result would consist of a band of lines of the respective colours running longitudinally in the fabric, and of a band of transverse lines of the same shades. This is a principle which is capable of being utilized in the construction of elaborately figured designs.

When the weaves supplied in Figs. 61 and 61A are combined, and the resultant design woven in this order of shades, in such sections of the fabric as 61A occurs, the pattern produced consists of small step effects twilling to the right, but in the sections composed of Fig. 61, of similar effects twilling to the left; hence, by combining these in the form of stripes, checks, or figures, woven patterns are obtainable diversified in aspect and arrangement.

Next, as to the two-and-two system (Class A, Scheme II., of Simple Colourings) of combining shades. This is another plan of grouping colours for certain elementary crossings. Its effects in the [2/2] twill and the mat or celtic are typical of the general style of pattern obtainable.

The results produced in the twill are those in Figs. 62, 62A, and 62B. The different effects are due to the employment of distinct wefts. Thus, in Fig. 62 the weft is grey, in Fig. 62A white, and in Fig. 62B the same as the warp, or two picks of grey and two picks of white. When the grey weft is used, a stripe of grey adjoining an intermittent stripe of white is obtained; when white forms the weft, a small line of white adjoins a broken line of grey and white; but when a corresponding method of wefting is adopted as warping, a small broken check effect is acquired.

Changing the weave to hopsack or mat alters the patterns resultant. If the weft be black in this two-and-two colouring, and the weave four-end celtic, a style is constructed similar to that given in Fig. 63, or a pattern with a black ground on which squares of solid white are regularly distributed at uniform distances apart. Substituting white for the black weft, a texture with a white foundation and a black square spot, just the reverse of Fig. 63, is produced; whereas if the weft is the same as the warp, a style composed of solid lines of black and white, or a pattern of a hairline description, results.

These examples clearly set forth the principles of weaving in relation to methods of colouring. Here the same order of threads—though extremely simple—in two different crossings of an elementary structure, forms quite distinct effects. In the cassimere twill more intermingled, and hence less severe patterns, are formed than in the mat or hopsack. They consist of small indefinite stripes and of a minute and irregular check. But in the mat, the same warp colouring gives a well-defined check composition, even when the wefts are all one colour, and instead of a broken check in the fabric when the weft is similar to the warp, as in the twill, a stripe of a decided arrangement is got.

134. Figured Styles in Common Weaves in One-and-One Colouring.—The principles of woven effect, just elucidated, whereby a combination of plain or twilled weaves may, in the simplest arrangement of colours, be made to produce in the texture two dissimilar patterns, may be utilized in the development of figured designs. Usually these figured fabrics necessitate the adoption of various schemes of weaving and colouring in their manufacture; whereas in this type of design there is no elaboration either of weave or colour. These are particulars of construction peculiar to patterns acquired on this system.

Reference to Figs. 64 and 65 will indicate, first, how the designs are constructed; and, second, how the textural results are acquired. Fig. 64 is a small spotted design composed of two plain makes. In constructing these designs, the form of the figuring is primarily sketched out on point paper, and the weaves subsequently added. When the two makes are in contact, there must not be more than a float of three. Having worked out the design on point paper, the next matter to be arranged is the development of the ground sections in vertical, and the figured parts in transverse lines of colour, as in Fig. 65, which is a sketch of the textural effect produced by this design. In all designs constructed on this base, it is a rule that the fancy shades in the warp and weft shall, in conjunction, be arranged to form the striped effects described. When the design given in Fig. 64 is warped and woven 1 thread black and 1 thread white, these two shades form stripes lengthways of the piece in the ground portion of the fabric, for the black picks cover the black threads only, and the white picks the white threads only, while the small figures are developed in short transverse stripes; because, in such sections, the weave in the design causes the black picks to float over the white threads and the white picks to float over the black threads.

Now consider the effect of the same order of shades in the design composed of cassimere twills given on Plate XXI. This style illustrates the process by which the sketch furnished in Fig. 66 is transferred on to point paper and prepared for the loom. Designs for these fabrics are worked out on the same system as the preceding example. A comparison of Fig. 65 with Fig. 66 brings out several points of dissimilarity. These do not arise from any variation of the plan of colouring, but of the plan of interlacing the threads in constructing the fabric. The vertical and transverse lines of Fig. 65 are substituted by neat diagonal effects, and a pattern of more diversified outline and arrangement obtained. It has been pointed out that the thread-and-thread scheme of shades yields, in the cassimere twill, the two effects seen in Fig. 66. When the weave runs to the right, the black and white diagonal effect runs to the left, and vice versâ; so that in preparing the designs for the loom it has, in the first place, to be decided whether the ground or the figured sections shall be developed in the minute diagonals of shades moving to the right. Generally, it will be found that this effect is most suitable for the ground.

135. Utility of the One-and-One Principle in Figured Textiles.—The scheme of textile colouring and designing analyzed in the previous paragraph is applicable to a large diversity of goods, including cotton, silk, worsted, and woollen fabrics. Styles for dress stuffs and mantlings may be produced in this manner. Cotton yarns in these designs produce very effective patterns. The compact structure of these threads develops both series of effects with a clearness and prominence that are absent from cloths composed of woollen materials. Whether the designs are employed in one set of yarns or the other, schemes of colouring such as the following may be employed:⁠—

I.
1 thread of dark brown
(Shade 1, Plate IV.).
1 thread of medium brown
(Shade 3, Plate IV.).

II.

III.

IV.

Colours slightly contrasting in hue, or merely in shade, may be used in worsted yarns; but in woollens, where the effect is not so clear or pronounced, owing to the structure of the yarn, more contrast of colouring is requisite to emphasize the figuring. Woollen fabrics coloured on this principle may be either “clear” finished or covered with fibre. It depends entirely on the type of fabric produced. If a dress texture, the best results may be obtained by developing the effect of the colours as much as possible in the finishing processes; but if a mantling, a soft, fibrous surface enhances the mellowness and attractiveness of the patterns formed.

Of course the methods of figuring obtained by this thread-and-thread colouring are combined with other schemes of colours in making more elaborate patterns. For example, a band of figuring, such as is given in Fig. 66, may be arranged to adjoin a bold stripe of entirely distinct colouring, and thus a pattern produced containing much diversity of composition.

Pattern is acquired in these and similar designs economically in the loom. No complication, either of weave or of colour, arises in their origination. By the employment of two shades and one weave—used in such a manner as to yield two varieties of style—any form of figuring is on this system producible.

136. One-and-One and Two-and-Two Colourings in Fancy Weaves.—Some applications of this scheme of colouring to other weaves than the plain and twill are shown in Figs. 67, 68, 69, the plans being Figs. 67A, 68A, and 69A. The only alteration in the colouring is the use, as seen, of fancy thick yarns for striping or checking. The contrast in the weaves should be noticed, and also in the woven patterns. The weaves comprise (Fig. 67A) a fancy twill composed of [3/1] and [1/3] twills; Fig. 68A, twill and mat; and Fig. 69A, check in broken [3/1] and [1/3] twills. The line characteristic is noticeable in Figs. 67 and 69, being more pronounced in the latter. Fig. 68 is the most regular in style, due to the weave being composed of twill and mat.

Figured styles in two-and-two colouring are producible in the designs made on the principles given in Paragraphs 134 and 135, and also in other simple weaves similarly combined. One example (Fig. 70) may be taken, woven in the [2/2] mat, the sectional design being given in Fig. 70A. The order of colouring in both warp and weft is:⁠—

By the change in the positions of the colouring, the key pattern is inverted and made more diversified in character.

137. Three-and-Three Colouring.—This method of grouping shades of warp and weft (Class A, Scheme III.) is employed in the six-end twill and its derivatives, also in twelve-shaft and other weaves.

An example of the effects in the [3/3] twill in the fabric, due to three-and-three warping and various weftings practised, is sketched in Figs. 71, 71A, and 71B. The first of these illustrations has a grey weft; Fig. 71A is woven with white, and Fig. 71B with three picks of grey and three picks of white.

138. Four-and-Four Arrangement.—Twill, hopsack, and other common weaves are used in producing styles in this order of colours, which is supplied in Scheme IV. of Class A of the Regular Simple Colourings. Black and white shepherd plaids are made on this base, a useful form and size of check resulting from its employment. Some of the effects got in the cassimere twill by warping four threads of grey and four threads of white, and wefting with white and grey, and with the same order of shades as in the warp, are sketched in Figs. 72, 72A, 72B. The check style here is particularly neat. It is produced in a variety of colours for almost all kinds of fabrics. When the four-end mat weave is used, a species of star check is formed, as seen in Fig. 73. A considerable range of patterns ensues from adopting this order of colours and combining the cassimere and mat weaves in the construction of stripe, check, and diagonal designs. Thus, supposing the last type of weave-combination were employed, then in such parts of the diagonal where the twill occurred, the shepherd plaid effect would result, but the hopsack sections would yield the star check style, so that diagonal bands of these respective patterns, regularly alternating, would extend across the fabric.

139. Four-and-Four Method applied to Fancy Weaves.—There are various patterns obtained in this order of threads by using other weaves than the twill or mat. As an illustration in these effects, Fig. 74, which has been produced in the weave given in Fig. 74A, may be examined. It is a small spotted design; the minute crosses of white, surrounded by rectangles of black, are determined in shape and dimensions by the arrangement of warp and weft flushes composing the crossing. The weft yarn of this pattern is all black. Comparing this style with that sketched in Fig. 72, which is composed of the same order of threads, it will be observed that any modification of weave alters the pattern resultant. In the weave furnished in Fig. 74A, the white threads only show on the face of the texture where the blank spaces occur; whereas, in the cassimere twill employed in the construction of the sample shown in Fig. 72B, the white warp threads float on the face of the fabric on the same system as the black picks. The pattern given in Fig. 74 indicates how, by resorting to novel schemes of weaving, the simplest methods of colouring may be made to produce distinct patterns.

Employment of other weaves than the twill and mat give equally satisfactory results. Such makes are, of course, multiplied in proportion to the ingenuity of the designer. The example considered is but a type of the numerous styles obtainable in this four-and-four colouring by having recourse to designs of this type.

140. Six-and-Six and Eight-and-Eight Schemes.—These are not given in the plan of Regular Simple orders of shades, being but extensions of Schemes III. and IV.; but they are important in practice, and must be considered as distinct principles of grouping colours. They are mainly employed when well-pronounced patterns are required in fine yarns, in which instances they yield far more effective styles than the schemes of shades from which they are derived. In both worsted and cotton dress textures and tweed mantlings, they are largely used.

Both systems are illustrated. The six-and-six plan, and the styles it gives in the six-end twill, are furnished in Figs. 75, 75A, and 75B. The same methods of weft colouring have been practised as in other sketches, showing the changes resulting from varying the weft from light to dark, and from having it exactly like the warp. Fig. 76 has been produced in the eight-shaft twill, and is composed of 8 threads of black and 8 threads of white in both warp and weft. Should such shades as the following be used in the six-end twill, more toned patterns result than those supplied in the illustrations:⁠—

I.

II.

III.

IV.

6 threads of No. 2 mixture, Plate XIII.
6 threads of No. 8 mixture, Plate XIII.

The I. and II. Schemes are for light textures. They illustrate an important method of combining shades, inasmuch as the same shade occurs in both the first and second group of six threads in each example. Thus, in Scheme I. the second group of ends consists of slate and white twist—the slate being exactly of the same hue as that used in the first six threads. This arrangement gives neatly-toned patterns, and is suited for Simple Colourings in which the respective shades are combined in these qualities. The third group of shades is for a dark pattern. Here the contrast should not be strong; the mellower the better. It only requires to be sufficiently pronounced to develop the outlines of the checkings and the effects due to the plan of interlacing the threads. A mixture-yarn example is also given in the fourth scheme of shades. Yarns of this class are useful in the manufacture of both worsteds and tweeds. The black and white shades which have been used in these illustrations—75, 75A, 75B, and 76—bring out the character of the pattern due to the structure of the weave.