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J ust imagine a world—if you can—in which the process of weaving the silk into brocades, damasks, and tapestry-like fabrics. Brocades were
was never discovered. Without weaving, people from the beginning
woven by hand on large looms called draw looms. The weaver would
would have been wearing leather all year long or grass skirts or fig
the right color thread in the right part of the pattern. By the end of a
leaves, probably until cardboard or plastic was discovered. call out to the draw boy to tell which threads to lift and when to put
full day, the makers may have completed two square inches of patterned
Early Stages of Weaving silk cloth.
Throughout the ages, weaving has
been used to make life better. In addition The Jacquard Loom
to clothing, weaving created shelter, Jump forward in time
fences, bedding, footwear, art and so from when the linen cloth
much more. When you contemplate all for the Tarkhan Dress was
the facets of life that were built upon or first woven to the 18th
rely upon some form of weaving, one century, to the time when
gains a greater appreciation for this weaving played a central
simple but often intricate art. role in the development
Take fishing, for instance. Without of the first computing
nets, the quantity of fish that could be machines. In 1725, Basile
taken one at a time with a line would Bouchon created a means
only support a family or two. Nets were for controlling a loom
needed to help feed a village, and thus, by using holes punched
this allowed the population size of towns in sheets of stiff paper
A ca. 490 BC design on a Greek near the seashore and rivers to grow. where threads would be
attic oinochoe (wine jug) of a Without woven canvas sails, fishing fed through—a bit like
woman spinning thread. would be limited to how far a canoe A 1725 Basile Bouchon loom on exhibit programming an early
could be paddled or a boat rowed. There at the Metiers Museum in Paris. computer—to aid in for-
would have been no large sailing ships for exploration of the world or matting color and design
trade. Even Viking longboats relied on sails more often than rowing for within the woven piece.
long voyages. Continents separated by oceans would have remained In 1804, Joseph
mostly isolated until the age of steam power. Marie Jacquard applied
Fortunately, people all over the world from the earliest times had the this method to his
weaving epiphany and realized they could weave palm fronds or grasses own creation, the
by hand into the necessities of life for warmth, protection, and comfort. Jacquard loom machine.
Jacquard’s machine was
Innovation of Fabric very successful, and
The next epiphany that followed many imitated his design
was thread being twisted or spin from then on into the
from twisted plant fibers first and 20th century. Basically,
then from animal hair and hide. cards punched with holes
Later, thread and yarn were spun controlled which strings
from wool, cotton, and linen. One were raised on the loom.
of the oldest dresses made of linen This not only sped up
still in existence today is the the work, but it also
Tarkhan Dress, which was found in made the creation of
the Tarkhan Cemetery in Cairo, highly intricate designs
Egypt, in 1913. It is believed to be in material possible, such
5,000 years old. as brocade, florals,
Around the 6th century came the The Tarkhan Dress has been damasks with their
exciting discovery of silk thread – its radiocarbon dated to approximately reversible fabric figures, A carpet loom by Carl Engel with a Jacquard
sheen and ability to take color. 5,000 years of age. paisleys, and quilted or machine on top, ca. 1860.

Byzantine craftsmen would weave Photo: © Mary Hinkley, The Petrie Museum of padded matelassé. Photo by Dmm2va7; CC BY-SA 3.0
Egyptian Archaeology
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