Chapter IX: Tapestry

TAPESTRY is a fabric made alternatively with a looped pile or a cut pile, which possesses a close affinity to Brussels and Wilton respectively, in its appearance and texture. In its method of manufacture, however, it has something in common with Chenille, inasmuch as it is essentially a two-process fabric, while the pattern is wholly in the surface, and is the direct result of the preliminary and not of the weaving process. No Jacquard is used.

In comparison with its nearest competitors, Brussels and Wilton, Tapestry is simple in construction, and economical in the quantity of pile yarn consumed, as there is only one pile warp-thread carrying the pattern, as against four or five threads in the two fabrics named. It also has the advantage of a practically unlimited range of colours. On the other hand, Tapestry is expensive in the preparatory processes, and requires a high degree of technical knowledge and skill.

The underlying principle of the fabric, which was invented by Mr. Richard Whytock, of Edinburgh, in 1852, is the attainment of the economy of using one frame of worsted yarn by printing or painting the pattern on the threads, instead of using five frames, each of a different colour. Several methods have been tried for printing the pattern on the warp, such as printing upon the surface either white or dyed, after weaving; printing the warp threads collectively before weaving; and printing the warp threads individually. In the two last named cases the design or part of the design has to be printed in an elongated form to allow for the reduction caused by the insertion of the wires in weaving.

Modern Tapestry manufacture, however, has practically concentrated upon the last-named method; so that the others can be disregarded for the present purpose.

In common with other carpet fabrics, the design for a Tapestry carpet must be put upon squared paper, which is preferably, at least, of the actual size. There is no limitation of colour beyond that imposed by considerations of taste and of expense. The pitch of the carpet varies from 7 to 9 per inch, and the beat-up about the same; but the average quality is about 8 each way.

The design having been prepared, it passes to the printers, who are responsible for colouring the yarns in such a way that they can be assembled ready for producing the correct pattern in the weaving. As the warp carries the whole of the pattern, and the different colours of the design are printed on the warp threads, the design must be read lengthwise. Each square on the design paper represents a loop of the warp in the woven carpet.

The length of colour to be printed on the warp thread must, of course, bear an accurate relation to the height of the wire used and the number of wires per inch. This is a matter of calculation. The length of yarn consumed in 1 inch is determined. This length, divided by the number of wires, or loops per inch, gives the length of warp yarn to be coloured for each wire. Thus, for a carpet of nine wires to the inch, 3 inches of warp yarn are required for each inch of the carpet. The length of each unit of colour to be printed is, therefore, 1/3 in. The mechanism of the printing drum is adjusted accordingly, and can be varied for different qualities.

The normal yarn used in Tapestry varies in count from 10s 2 × 2 to 16s 2 × 3 worsted. It is scoured and dried, and then wound from hanks on to large bobbins. A set of six of these bobbins, or more or less, filled with the white yarn, is placed vertically on a stand in front of the printing drum; and the six ends of worsted are attached at equal intervals to a triple thread of worsted stretched across the width of the drum. The threads, properly tensioned, pass through guides, and are wound on to the face of the drum, the guides being mounted on a rod which is slowly moved laterally in such a manner that the threads are laid side by side on the surface of the drum. The revolution of the drum continues until the whole face is covered, or until the required length of yarn has been wound. In the latter case, fewer bobbins are put on, and the drum is left partly uncovered. To fill a drum of ordinary size, then, there will be required 1,176 threads, which will be obtained from 196 revolutions. Each of the six divisions is called a hank, and is tied separately. Whatever the number of threads and length of the hank, the whole length of the yarn on the drum represents one warp thread only.

The printing drum is a large roller constructed with a wooden or tin face supported upon an iron frame and spokes, the central shaft and external mechanism being carried upon iron framework. Drums are of various sizes, varying in circumference from 12 ft. 6 in. to 40 ft., and in width of face from 18 in. to 72 in., capable of carrying from 700 to 1,200 threads side by side. The most usual width is 30 in. The size of drums is reckoned by the number of “scrolls” or “types,” that is, lines of colour, they will carry. These are commonly 216, 324, 432, 648, 864, or 1,072 scrolls; but an average size is 648.

An essential part of the drum is the double row of teeth cut on a metal edge attached to one of the outer rims of the drum. These are called indices and are of different pitch, say 648 and 432, corresponding to one or other of the scrolls. Each tooth is numbered consecutively, all round the rim; and the indices represent the total number of scrolls which can be printed, since the pitch of each tooth permits the drum to revolve just the width of the scroll pulley. A pawl or scotcher is arranged so as to engage in each tooth and stop the drum when required. Before printing, the drum is covered with strips of oilcloth, which are removable.

The actual printing or painting of the yarn is effected by means of the scroll pulley, which revolves in a box The arrows show where the repeats begin containing the colour, the whole being borne by a carriage running on rails across the width of the drum at the bottom of the frame. The colours are made up by an expert colourist to match the required shades, and by the admixture of flour and water are brought to the necessary consistency, which is about that of a thin paste, so that the colouring matter is dense enough to adhere, but liquid enough to penetrate the yarn fibres. In the carriage, the colour roller, which revolves in the colour, is supported by springs which tend to give it elasticity and keep it up against the face of the drum. The carriage is drawn across the drum by a rope which is mechanically actuated, and, of course, harmonises with the revolution of the drum. At the end of each traverse of the colour carriage there is a pause, which gives the printer time to change the pawl into the new tooth of the index at which it is required.

The printer is guided in his selection of colours for each scroll that he prints by the “scale board” and the “design board.”

Scale boards vary according to the pitch of the design paper, and according to the length of the design, and the number of times in which a design repeats in one revolution of the printing drum. Thus, for a design on squared paper running seven per inch in its length, the scale board is marked into divisions of seven to the inch throughout its length, so as to correspond with the horizontal divisions on the design paper. Supposing a design repeats four times in the whole revolution, a quarter board is employed; if it repeats twice a half board, the total number of scrolls being divided into four or two respectively. Thus, if the size of the drum is 648 scrolls and the number of wires in one repeat of the pattern is 162, the quarter board will have four vertical columns of figures, running respectively 1-162, 163-324, 325-486, and 487-648. The scale board has a bevel edge, and is preferably arranged so that it can be moved over the design board and aligned with the vertical line of the design which the printer is reproducing.

Fig. 18 represents part of a scale and design board combined. The numbers along the top indicate the threads in the design, and the printer may be supposed to be ready to print the eighth thread. The numbers on the right-hand side represent the wires in the carpet, with which the numbers on the scale board and the scrolls in printing correspond. The design is 216 wires long; and as the number of scrolls the drum will take is 648, the design is repeated three times in one revolution. The scale board is numbered in three columns; and for the first, second, and third repeats of the design, the printer uses the first, second, and third divisions on his scale.

To minimise the danger of bad effects from a colour running, the rule is to begin printing with the lightest shade. In this instance, the lightest colour is yellow, represented (heraldically) by spots, and it occurs first at the fourth horizontal line. The printer, therefore, turns the drum by hand, and puts the pawl in tooth number 4. He then puts the mechanism in gear and prints the scroll in the manner described, following on immediately by printing a second scroll at number 5. He then reads further down the eighth vertical line of the design, and sees that the colour recurs at 10, 11, 18, 19, 24, and 25. He therefore puts the pawl in the corresponding teeth of the index consecutively and prints accordingly. When all the yellow squares corresponding to the first column of the scale board have been read, he will take the second column, and print 220, 221, 226, 227, 234, 235, 240, 241 and so on, and then those in the third column. The remaining colours will then follow on in order of their delicacy.

When the printing of a drum has been completed, the next process is scraping. The scroll pulley in the act of printing always conveys more pigment on to the yarn than is needed to colour it, a little wall of material being left on each side of the path of the roller. This has to be removed, or it would smudge. This is done by means of small vulcanite tools, bevelled to a blunt edge, from ½ in. to 2 in. wide, the operator being aided by a steel bar fixed across the face of the drum as a guide. Scraping has, however, a further purpose beyond the removal of superfluous colour, and one no less important; for by skilful pressure and rubbing, the colour is caused to penetrate more deeply into the yarn.

The yarn, having been printed and scraped, has now to be taken off the drum; a process known as “stripping.” The threads are looped together in hanks, and numbered with a ticket to show which thread each represents in the design. The drum is so constructed that a section of it can be drawn inwards upon a telescopic arm of the drum frame. The yarn is thus released from its tension round the drum face; and the strippers, inserting long sticks under the oilcloth, lift it and the yarn clear of the drum. One side of the frame which carries the drum shaft is made removable to enable the yarn to be taken away.

The long hanks are then ready for steaming. They are placed with as little handling as possible upon latticed frames filled with oat-husks. The frames are then run into an iron-walled steam-chest, which is securely closed, and into which steam is turned at high pressure. The effect of the steam pressure and heat is to fix the colours on the yarn. The operation takes about half an hour. Some makers prefer to put the hanks into net bags for steaming, or to lay them on network frames, without the bran. But the first method described is probably the best, as the bran tends to absorb the superfluous colour, and prevents it from dripping from one hank on to another.

After steaming, the hanks are thoroughly rinsed, preferably by a large rocking arm fitted with a hook, in cold running water. The yarn is then partly dried in a hydro-extractor and finished in a stove. Each hank is then wound on to large bobbins, which are numbered so that the setters know to which part of the design each belongs.

The next process is setting. The object of the operations up to this point has been to make a set of warp threads which contain the pattern of the carpet in an elongated form in such a way that, when woven in the loom, the loops as seen in the carpet will accurately reproduce the design. It is the business of the setters to arrange the threads alongside one another in proper order and dressing so that they form the pattern, and to wind them thus arranged on to the warp beam.

The warp beam is at one end of the setting frame; the bobbin-stand, which moves on pinion feet upon a rack, at the other.

The bobbins having been set in proper order on the vertical pegs in the bobbin frame, the ends from them are led between guide rails, through a sley, through two halves of a clamp, over the setting table, through another sley, and a second clamp, on to the warp beam. In the first instance, the setters hold down the yarn in the clamp next to the warp beam. They then adjust and manipulate the threads over the setting table, which is marked with horizontal lines, in accordance with the pattern.

The other clamp is then screwed down, the first one unscrewed, and the yarn wound on to the beam, the bobbin-stand moving forward along its rack up to the setting table. This operation is continued until the whole of the yarn has been wound from the bobbins on to the beam, which is now ready to be put into the loom and woven.

The method of weaving is substantially the same as with Brussels; and except for the pile warp beam, which is generally placed high up at the back of the loom, and for the absence of a Jacquard, the mechanism of the loom is not dissimilar. There are three heald-frames: two for the two halves of the cotton chain, and one for the stuffer and the pile warp, the jute and worsted being threaded through two eyelets, one below the other. The Tapestry loom is run at rather a higher speed than the Brussels, the Moxon or switch principle of wire motion, which is generally adopted, tending to make this possible. A double stuffer, that is, two ends of jute, of 14 lb. or 16 lb. count, to each reed, is used for an average quality; and a treble stuffer where greater weight is required.

Tapestry velvet bears the same relation to the looped fabric as Wilton does to Brussels, the essential difference being the use of a knife-ended wire, instead of a round wire. The use of three weft shots per row of pile is not, however, the almost invariable rule in Tapestry velvet, that it is in Wilton.

A three-shot fabric is, of course, more expensive to make than a two-shot; and there is also the consideration that, unless the pile is pretty high, the double shot on the top will tend to make the surface grin. The method, therefore, of using a double shot in the ground is sometimes adopted. (Fig. 26.)

The Tapestry branch of the carpet trade has naturally passed through a development similar to that of other makes, in that it has found the demand passing from piece goods to sewn breadth squares, and from them to seamless carpets; and it has progressed accordingly. The greater part of the Tapestry trade at the present time is done in squares, and the enquiry for carpets 9 ft. and 12 ft. wide seems to be a growing one. This tendency throws additional burdens on the manufacturer. Square carpets involve more designing and more printing than piece goods; and the amount of preparation required is a very serious item. Before one complete carpet can be produced, preparations have to be made for from 200 to 300, or, in the case of medallions, double the number. That is one of the disadvantages of the manufacture; a further defect is inherent in the fabric. However accurately and carefully the processes of printing, scraping, setting, and weaving may be carried out, the transition from one colour to another cannot be made quite sudden and complete. The colour will appear to have run; and the shade which belongs to one wire will tend to trespass on to the next. This means that with Tapestry it is never quite possible to produce the clearly-defined pattern effect, which is produced in Brussels and Wilton, and which is naturally looked for in all fabrics of moderately fine pitch.

Apart from this, the Tapestry carpet has much to commend it. It can be produced and sold at a moderate price; it can be made seamless, and it has great potentialities of design; while, for those who like plenty of colour, the range of shades available is practically unlimited.