Colour in woven design

239. Warp and Weft Colouring compared.—This class of figured styles is the most comprehensive. It includes vestings, robes, ribbons, and an endless diversity of ornamental textures. Richer combinations of tints are more feasible by this than the warp method of colouring. A comparison of these two important systems of introducing colours into figured fabrics, shows that the actual weaving process is less intricate so far as shuttling is concerned—not more than one or two shades of weft being employed—in warp-tinted textiles; but, as explained in Chapter XIV., each additional colour in the same line of the design requires a special warp beam. These arrangements are just reversed in the weft system, for here there may be from two to six shades of weft running in the same line of the fabric, but only one warp is utilized. These conditions make the production of such fabrics a laborious operation, inasmuch as the number of picks inserted to the inch in four- or five-colour styles may be very large. Thus, in a pattern composed of the latter number of colours throughout, two or more hundred picks to the inch is not uncommon.

Whatever number of shades occur in succession across the pattern it is exactly so many fold in the weft, whereas if the colours are introduced in the warp the texture is several fold lengthways. The different kinds of weft or warp form layers of threads in the woven product. When they are composing the ornamental details of the design they appear on the face of the fabric, but when not thus used they float loosely on the back, only being stitched at intervals, and in patterns of several shades they are frequently not stitched at all. The loose yarns flushing on the under surface of the texture may be cut off. One other detail in the two systems affecting economic production is, that in the weft system, a somewhat inferior or rather less costly yarn may be used than when colouring by the warp scheme. There is a minimum degree of tension put on weft yarns and a maximum degree applied to warp yarns in weaving. In coarse fabrics and cotton textiles this condition does not materially alter the cost of manufacture, but in fine productions it is an item that has to be considered. Summarizing these points of dissimilarity, the warp method of colouring affords the most scope for the development of ornament in pile or plush goods; does not multiply the intricacies of shuttling, but tends to diminish the figuring power of the Jacquard, and requires yarns of a better quality than may be adopted for wefting; on the other hand, the weft method practically allows of more latitude for diversity of colouring and ornamentation of all types of fabrics excepting the plush and leno, and it is, moreover, in fine textiles, less costly, in so far as it makes it feasible to employ an inferior fancy thread with satisfactory results; and lastly, it utilizes the utmost capacity of the Jacquard in the construction of a figured design.

240. Classes of Designs Coloured in the Weft.—Fabrics figured and coloured by the weft yarns are of various kinds, but to facilitate analysis they may be considered under the following distinguishing types:⁠—

As in warp colouring, a ground warp is an essential element of the fabric, in textiles coloured in the weft—Classes I. to V. inclusive—there must also be a ground weft, which forms a suitable texture on which the more elaborate ornamentation due to the fancy shades may be produced. By extras are meant the shades of weft in addition to the ground picks. A design with two extra wefts is called two-cover; with three extras, three-cover, and so on—the ground weft always being added. The word “cover” is therefore synonymous in this sense with “extra,” and has probably been adopted because it partially describes the texture to which it relates, which consists of so many layers or covers of weft threads in thickness.

241. Designs in which the Pattern is a Product of the Ground Weft.—In this build of fabric there is comparatively little complication of fabric-structure, of weaving, and of colouring. Thus the weft, which interlaces with the warp to form the ground of the fabric, is also used in the construction of the design. Some types of dress fabrics, particularly those of a lustre character, and mantlings for summer wear, are coloured and ornamented on this principle. It may be regarded as the most elementary type of figured fabric. An example is given in Pattern 1 on Plate XXXVII., which will show the scheme of colouring generally practised in this style of textures. A section of the weave-design is that in Fig. 211. It will be observed that the small figures are composed of solid weft floats, and are arranged on a fine sateen twill groundwork. The warp is composed of lavender cotton, and is mainly useful in constituting the foundation of the fabric, and in concealing the weft picks when they are not forming the figured effects. The small objects are chintzed with weft colouring, the order of picking being four of dark blue and four of white. This gives the pattern the aspect of a cloth composed of extra wefts. It should be noted that such a contrast in weft colouring, as obtains in this specimen, is only satisfactory in this build of texture when the warp is closely set, and flushes well in the ground sections. If these conditions were not complied with, the pattern produced would be chintzed by the weft in not only the figure, but also in other parts of the texture. A plain or twill weave, for example, would expose the blue and white shades right across the sample.

Respecting the construction of this style of fabric: it is based on the single-make principle of design. The figure is purely a product of floats of the weft yarn, which are determined by the form of the figure being developed. In some patterns the ornamental sections are composed of twill and other fancy weaves to increase the diversity of effects obtained.

242. Extra Weft Styles.—Fabrics of this description are practically two-fold in the weft. An illustration will make the scheme of colouring and design arrangement evident. Pattern 3, Plate XXXVII., is compound in the weft and single in the warp; for the wefting consists of deep lavender-blue wool, and of white silk, and the warping entirely of lavender cotton. The warp threads are concealed, but this is not an invariable rule, for they may be a different shade from the wefts, and be flushed on the surface of the texture. When this is the case, a buckskin weave is generally used for the ground of the cloth. Should, however, the wefts be worsted and silk, or woollen and silk, and the warp cotton, it is customary to conceal the latter by employing a weave which flushes the ground weft on the face. For vesting and mantling fabrics, this is the common arrangement, but in dresses and cottons, the warp is also used for enhancing the colouring of the fabric. This latter type of design is a compound form of the system illustrated in Fig. 211, two wefts being used instead of one, and each being utilized in the construction of the figured effects, and also in forming a fine warp twill in the ground of the fabric. Different principles of designing are practised from these, in the construction of such styles as are typified by Pattern 3 of Plate XXXVII. Figs. 212 and 213 are the weave designs to Section A of this pattern. The former illustrates the method of preparing designs of this class on point paper for the loom, and the latter the method by which the two series of picks are amalgamated during weaving. Fig. 213 is the last eight picks of Fig. 212, the ◼’s of which form the odd and the ⊡’s the even picks. This is the structure of the fabric; for in stamping the cards each pick of the design as given in Fig. 212 is treated twice: I., the ⊡’s and the ◻’s are cut; II., the ◼’s and ◻’s are cut. The stitches for the silk or figuring picks are added during stamping, and occupy similar positions in the design to those on picks A and B of Fig. 213. The principle of stitching here corresponds to that of stitching cloths backed with weft—so that the ties are, as far as feasible, introduced in such positions in the picks, that the threads on which they occur are depressed both before and after their insertion. Thus thread seventeen, on which the tie on pick A occurs, is depressed on picks twelve and fourteen—resulting in the concealment of this tie.

Whatever the number of colours used in the construction of this style of figured fabrics, the designs are simply drawn out as in Fig. 212, which shows the relation of the colours to each other in the woven structure.

The manner in which the different effects seen in Pattern 3 of Plate XXXVII. have been produced may be explained by referring to Fig. 213. The first pick of this sectional design—marked in solid squares—is a figure pick, being white in the texture, and corresponding to pick 25 of Fig. 212. The second pick is ground, and also corresponds to the twenty-fifth pick. Now it will be observed that the figuring picks in Fig. 213 float under the threads occupied by the ground picks succeeding them; and also that the ground picks float under the threads occupied by the figuring picks preceding them. In this way the effects due to the two series of picks—lavender and white, or ground and figure—are kept separate and distinct, and a clear pattern is developed on an equally clear and regular groundwork.

The figured sections here, as in Pattern 1 of the same plate, may be chintzed, as this process does not increase the number of “extras” required. As to the ground of these styles, it is generally a solid colour.

243. Vestings.—One of the most important species of woven design to which this scheme of colouring relates is vestings. These fabrics are composed of various materials, and constructed on different principles of design, and may be figured in the warp, weft, or both, but in this example only coloured and figured by the weft yarns. It necessarily follows that the most elementary type of this class of patterns only possesses one extra weft, as the example just considered. This extra colour does not, however, always run through the texture, but merely spots it at intervals. Some of these fabrics are composed of cotton and linen in the ground, with these materials or silk for spotting; others possess a worsted or woollen warp, with worsted or woollen ground weft and silk extras; a third class has a cotton warp, with woollen ground and silk figuring; while a fourth class has silk warp and weft for face, and cotton warp and weft for foundation. The first group is mainly produced in light shades for summer wear; the second series has either light or dark grounds; the third series is invariably developed in dark shades, and the fourth in dark and light colours. In the cotton and linen vesting the compound principle of intertexture is utilized; but whatever the weave-construction of the fabric, the scheme of colouring is uniform. Moreover, in the woollen and cotton ground textures, but little diversity of weave is practised in producing the groundwork of these styles; whereas, in the worsted and silk types, various crossings and combinations of weaves are used for this purpose. The construction of the worsted warp vesting affords scope for weave ornamentation in the foundation of the fabric as well as for elaborate figuring by variety of colouring. The two worsted vestings given in No. 2 and No. 4, Plate XXXVII., are, for example, very different from each other in groundwork. The former has a broad diagonal foundation (Fig. 216) composed of several thirteen-shaft weaves; but the latter a fine corkscrew twill in the ground. Fig. 214 also illustrates another system of ornamenting the ground of these textures with weaves. If the spots developed in ⌻’s were removed, this design would be a rib pattern composed of fine twill and weft cord. With the addition of the spots it forms a neat vesting. In colouring, the rib consists of a distinct shade from either the twilled parts or the spotting. This is obtained by wefting as follows:⁠—

This grouping of shades gives a silk spot in the twill parts on a black ground, and a rib effect in dark blue.

In the designing of the ground sections of worsted vestings, it is important to obtain an effect which combines neatness with novelty and richness of colouring.

244. Vestings with one Extra Weft.—Only one specimen in this type of vesting is furnished. It is given in Pattern 4 on Plate XXXVII., and, as stated in the previous paragraph, has a corkscrew ground. The weaving plan for this pattern is supplied in Fig. 215. The spots of which it is composed are arranged on the six-end sateen base. The silk picks used in forming the spotted effects are tied regularly, as indicated by the small line marks in the design; hence, in preparing for the loom, the first pick would be stamped twice thus: I., cut all but the marks ▨ and—; II., cut all but the marks ⌻.

It will be observed that the spots in the fabric (Pattern 4, Plate XXXVII.) are composed of green, blue, and crimson. This is due to the system of weft colouring practised, which is as appended:⁠—

Of course it is feasible to colour a design of this arrangement on other systems. Thus the spots could all be developed in the same colour, or they might each have been composed of two tints, such as crimson and white, claret and lavender, and blue and olive. The base on which the design is constructed causes the respective spots of blue, green, and crimson in the pattern to be neatly distributed over the corkscrew twill surface forming the groundwork of the fabric.

245. Two-Cover Vestings.—Vestings of this class possess one ground weft and two “extras” for figuring. Loud patterns only being occasionally required in these textures, a scheme of figuring is practised which reduces the cost of production. Thus the spots or figures are only produced here and there in the fabric, a considerable number of ground picks intervening. In this way, the quantity of silk used is considerably diminished. An example may be considered in which two extras are necessary in developing the spotted effects. It is the diagonal pattern given in No. 2 on Plate XXXVII., and referred to in the previous paragraph. The ground design here is composed of four weaves—fine corkscrew, weft sateen, twilled mat, and an upright twill—and, apart from the small figures, occupies 288 picks. The spots are developed in two hues, and are arranged on this diagonal base on a sateen method, six occurring in each repeat of the pattern. Those sections of the design—Fig. 216—in which the spots occur are three-fold in composition, the ground, crimson, and green wefts being combined. Picks lettered A, for example, comprise one spot, and include the ground, crimson, and green picks. The ties for the extra wefts are on the principle indicated. The system of wefting which has been practised in producing the pattern formed of the design worked out on the base of Fig. 216 is as follows:⁠—

Blue and white, orange and blue, and salmon and light-blue, also give neat patterns. Light shades may be, moreover, employed, with satisfactory results, in the ground of the fabric.

246. Four-Cover Styles.—Having considered two specimens of vestings in worsteds an example in five shades, may be examined in woollens. Each shade of weft in figured textiles adds to the construction of this type of design. First, it implies a larger number of cards; and, second, more picks to the inch, necessitating more weaving. While, however, these complications are the result of the employment of a diversity of colours, yet it is mainly by multiplying the shades of weft that richness of design is obtained. In the example in the four-cover vestings, Design 217, the foundation of the texture is broken crow or weft swansdown. All the effects are due to solid weft floats. The marks ⧅ represent Shade 1 in the fabric, the ▨’s Shade 2, the ⊡’s Shade 3, the ◼’s Shade 4, and ⌻’s Shade 5. The order of weft colours is:⁠—

In preparing the cards, first cut all but ⧅; second, cut all but ▨; third, cut all but ⊡; fourth, cut all but ◼; and, fifth, cut all but ⌻. Picks A are stamped twice, picks B three times, picks C and E four times, and picks D five times.

247. Honeycomb Vestings.⁠[16]—These are an old style of woven textural effect produced in weaves irregular in structure, or in which there is contrast of warp and weft floats, forming diamond, mat, and other effects. The fabrics may be single, backed, or compound in structure. An example of the first type is given in Pattern 1, Plate XXXVIII., the weave being Fig. 218, on a diamond base. The warping and wefting are as follows:⁠—

A more irregular type is that seen in Fig. 219, in which the diamond principle is combined with mat weave, Fig. 220. The method of manufacture is as follows:⁠—

Warp.

Weft.

Three-fold 2/30’s white worsted.

It will be seen from both examples that there is much irregularity of weave structure and also in counts of yarn.

248. Two-Cover Designing.—Several types of fabrics in addition to Pattern 2, Plate XXXVII., are coloured and figured on this system, which admits of the production of a considerable diversity of effects. Pattern 1 of Plate XXXIX. is an example. The warp of this fabric is cotton, but as the ground weave is a five-end weft sateen, it flushes the worsted picks constituting the foundation of the texture on the surface, concealing thereby the cotton yarns. A section of the design used in weaving this example is given in Fig. 221. By changing the ground weave to twill, and employing a shade of warp distinct from the weft, the pattern could be improved in colouring. As here tinted, however, it is evident that by this scheme of designing ornamental details may be clearly developed in the texture. The order of wefting is one pick of light fawn, one pick of black silk, and one pick of lavender silk. The texture being two-cover, the process of card stamping is as follows: I., cut blanks, solid blacks, and small circles; II., cut crosses, blanks, and circles; and III., cut crosses, blacks, and blanks.

249. Four-Cover Pine Design.—An interesting specimen of four-colour figuring is given in Pattern 2 on Plate XXXVIII. It is a good combination of colours, textile effects, and principles of weaving. First, as to the blending of tints and the figuring obtained. Though only four colours are used in the weft—claret, lavender or blue grey, olive, and salmon—yet five-tinted effects are produced. The extra tint is due to interweaving the warp—which is a bright crimson—plain with the salmon weft, forming that intermingled colouring composing the ground of the interior of the pine figures. The rich claret shade which constitutes the ground of the fabric gives a velvety aspect to the entire pattern, and develops the other tints in the texture.

The order of wefting and colouring is thus: warp, all crimson; weft,1 pick of claret, 1 pick of salmon, 1 pick of lavender, and 1 pick of olive. Each shade runs through the fabric, and is continually helpful in imparting tone and character to the whole composition of both ornamental and textural details.

As to the construction of the design. The ground weave—Fig. 222—is a weft broken [1\3] twill. All the figured parts of the design, excepting where the warp yarns work plain with the salmon picks, are flushed solid. This is apparent from Fig. 222, which is the weave-design of the upper part of the pine figures. Here the solid squares correspond to the claret in the texture, the dots to the salmon, the circles to the lavender, and the grey marks to the olive. Every pick of the weave-design is stamped four times as follows:⁠—

The ground weft is tied regularly, but the other wefts are flushed on the under surface of the fabric.

250. Paisley Shawl Colouring.—Fig. 223 is on the pine base, similar to No. 2, Plate XXXVIII., but the ornament is of a more elaborate character. The structure of the fabric is seen from the section of a design of this character, Fig. 224, the colours being inserted chiefly in the weft. The weaves in the various parts of the figuring are fine twills running in different directions, and the ground is warp twill. Each kind of mark represents the different colour of weft in which the figuring is developed. Each colour stitches in the weft to make a continuous twill.

251. Compound-Weft Reversibles.—Reference should be made, in treating of fabrics coloured in the weft, to rugs and reversible textures, for some classes of shawls, and—in light materials—for mantlings. These textures are composed of weaves which are double or three-fold in the weft but single in the warp Thus they are of such a character as to allow of the employment of two series of weft threads of different colours. One layer of picks is spread over the other. This will be understood on referring to Fig. 225. The weaves used in the construction of this 2-ply build of fabric are supplied in Fig. 226. They are simply swansdown twills backed, hence, when combined and woven in a warp composed of small yarns, and with thick weft yarns arranged one pick black and one pick grey, a textile is produced of the same structure as that represented in Fig. 225. Here it is apparent that the system of weaving causes the black picks to cover the grey picks in part A, and vice versâ in part B. In the actual texture, the black picks are close together, completely concealing the layer of picks over which they are spread. The same may be remarked of the grey picks in part B; consequently the warp threads, being small, are all but entirely hid, and indeed they should not be observed on either side of the finished fabric.

As the designs are two-fold in the weft, they may contain twice the number of picks to threads per inch, in which case they would be worked out on 8-by-16 point paper. Having determined on the ornamental arrangement of the pattern, say that given in Fig. 227, the sketch is transferred on to the plan paper on the same principle as in designing for double-plain reversibles. Weave A of Fig. 226 is then applied to the figured sections, and weave B to the ground, and for the hard effect or shade, a weave arranged 2 picks face and 2 picks backing, intermingling the two colours, is also used. Should black and white wefts be employed, the figure on the upper surface would be in black and the ground in white, and the grey portions, Fig. 227, in black and white.

In the 3-ply colouring, Fig. 228, weaves, threefold in structure in the weft, have been used. A simple type of weave for this purpose is given in Fig. 229, where the face and back of the texture are in weft twills, and the centre in plain weave. If a finer fabric is required, then six-end sateen with warp prunelle twill in the centre may be used, Fig. 230. By such weaves, three colours of weft may be combined, one for each part of the figuring, and the pattern developed in three shades.

252. Warp and Weft Colouring.—This species of colouring is principally practised in figured textiles. The ordinary system relates to flushing the warp and weft—which are of different shades—in the construction of the figure, as is instanced in Pattern 3 of Plate XXXIX. Here the outside of the oblong figures consists of floats of weft, and the interior of floats of warp. Now by warping 96 ends of crimson and 96 ends of lavender, and weaving 96 picks of tan and 96 picks of white, several tinted effects are obtained. First, a solid square of lavender is formed; second, square B is composed of crimson and lavender; third, square C is composed of crimson and tan; and fourth, square D is composed of tan and lavender. By this scheme of colouring and weaving, considerable diversity of pattern is producible.

Design 231 is an example in compound warp and weft colouring. The colour of the warp of this fabric would partially form both the ground and the figured effects. Two wefts might be used, say brown and light brown, the former producing the figure and the latter the ground of the texture. The ⌻’s represent the rib groundwork, the dots the light brown, and the greys the solid floats of warp. Being composed of two wefts, the design is prepared for the loom by first cutting all but ⌻’s; and, second, by cutting all but ⊡’s. The light brown is regularly tied to the under-side of the texture.

Other types of colouring, having “extras” in both warp and weft, are also practised. They are, however, mainly compounds of the two systems of colouring already illustrated.

A useful example is Pattern 2, Plate XXXIX. The broader floral figuring is developed in warp cord (see sectional design 232). Between such floats of warp making the cord, a firm groundwork is formed. The weft figuring consists of long floats of the light silk yarn, underneath which is also constructed a fast woven texture. The ground weave is a fine cord.