It is known that the craft of fabric manufacturing originated in the Stone Age. Judging by the results of archaeological research, initially weaving products were woven items made of grass, strips of animal skin and their veins. The first device for the production of primitive types of fabric appeared about five thousand years BC. Then his appearance was a real evolutionary leap in the production of clothing and household items. What is weaving today? How has the technological process and the quality of manufactured products changed?
From the history of craft development
It is believed that the first weaving machine appeared in Asia. It was there that archaeologists discovered his primitive model. The masters of that time used the wool of various animals, plant fibers and natural silk as the main raw materials. Incidentally, the secret to making silk fabric has long remained in China. Despite the fact that with the advent of the Silk Road, the material spread widely throughout the world, for many centuries this country retained a monopoly in the production of silk - the secret of its manufacture was strictly protected.
Nevertheless, looms began to appear everywhere in Asia, Europe and Japan. By that time, people had already learned to use the juice of various plants as dyes for fabrics. At the same time, weaving masters quickly mastered the technique of decorating fabrics with various patterns woven from multi-colored threads. So this craft turned into art and became an integral part of the life of different nations.
It is known for certain that the knowledge of the weaving was well owned by the ancient Incas. The works of oriental and Persian craftswomen from time immemorial have been famous all over the world, and weaving in Ancient Russia was an essential element of handicraft production.
Since ancient times, the technology of hand weaving has consisted in a certain interweaving of threads. The frame of the primitive weaving device was refueled in a special way along the loom. These threads are called warp. The warp threads had to be pulled tight enough, while they should remain parallel to each other. Other threads, transverse to the main ones, which we still call weft, should be interwoven with the warp threads, forming a woven fabric.
So that the warp threads remain evenly stretched, they are wound on a special roller, the so-called navava. As the finished fabric appears, it is wound on another roller located on the opposite side from the front.
First loom
The primitive models of the first mechanisms that were used to create the fabric were a simple vertical frame. Threads were pulled over it, and the weaver, holding a larger shuttle in his hands, passed it through the warp. Such a process was quite lengthy and complicated: the threads had to be sorted by hands, this often torn them, and the fabric itself turned out to be too thick. Nevertheless, manual weaving took one of the primary places in the life of ancient people, and similar devices were used in almost every house. Thanks to the primitive mechanisms of weaving machines, new items of clothing, carpets and bedding began to appear.
Innovative technologies
By the middle of the 11th century, a horizontal loom appeared. Similar devices with small modifications have survived to this day. They were used until the XVIIth century and even now can be found in some houses.
The name "horizontal machine" was due to the method of tensioning the warp threads. The modified mechanisms of the weaving device, in contrast to the first models of machine tools, had already gained improvements in the form of additional parts. Rollers, foot pedals, vertical combs and a shuttle were attached to the main working element (wooden frame). By this time, people had learned how to produce better and more uniform filaments from plant fibers and animal hair. Therefore, more interesting types of weaving began to appear, using new techniques, colors and methods of weaving threads.
New attempts to mechanize looms in the textile industry were successfully realized only at the end of the 18th century, when the English inventor E. Cartwright invented a mechanical loom with more modern design features. Today, machine designs have changed dramatically and are now being used on an industrial scale.
Modern production
Modern automatic machines for the manufacture of fabrics have a more complex structure, they work on electricity and can produce a wide variety of materials. However, hand weaving is a craft that is still alive. Although today it is more likely to be found as applied art, home-made products are often exhibited and sold well in souvenir shops.
The folk traditions of ancient craftswomen are passed down from generation to generation, supplemented by new turns of more modern techniques and the use of advanced materials.
Weaving in Russia
Spinning and weaving in Russia was a compulsory female occupation. Regardless of their social status, every girl was taught to weave, spin, knit and embroider from early childhood. The nickname "not a weaver" was considered the most offensive for a teenage girl, because each had to independently prepare her dowry - sheets, tablecloths, bedspreads, towels and other household items and home decor.
During the great holidays and special events, when many people appeared in the house, each room was decorated with the best woven works: beautiful curtains were hung on the windows, the table was covered with the best tablecloth, and various towels were decorated with walls. This spoke not only about the skills of the hostess, but also testified to the wealth of the family. Therefore, every woman, and even more so an unmarried girl, trying to show herself to be a skilled craftswoman, tried to weave the best works for such cases. That is why family skills were carefully preserved, improved and transmitted from generation to generation. The secrets of Russian weaving accumulated over the centuries have survived to this day.
Of course, in Russia there have always been many talented masters and skilled craftswomen. Therefore, despite the complexity and complexity of the primitive process, weaving techniques have been constantly improved.
Archaeological research of modern scholars suggests that many samples of clothing and household items dating from the X-XI centuries have high artistic merits and are distinguished by a harmonious color with balanced proportions and a successful scale of the ornament. This indicates a high level of weaving craftsmanship in Russia at that time.
Home weaving today
Today, patterned weaving has become more exotic than everyday homework: homespun carpets, curtains, tablecloths, napkins, sheets and clothing fabrics have long replaced industrial counterparts. Today, not every housewife will take up woven needlework. However, the craft is still alive, and in some regions it is actively reviving and developing. Centers of traditional culture and many individual masters conduct specialized workshops and exhibitions of the best works. Self-woven products are successfully sold in specialized stores.
Of course, new devices and modern materials greatly facilitate the work of weavers, while the products retain a bright, multi-color gamut and the complexity of the patterns. Thanks to modern materials, craftswomen can get amazing effects of weaving threads. Nevertheless, weaving is a complex and time-consuming process that requires special attention, endurance and patience. But the finished products created by skilled craftsmen, pleasing to the eye.
Weaving Types
Until the beginning of the 20th century, woven craft was considered one of the priority homework in the cultures of most peoples of Russia and neighboring states. All the main types of reproduction of the woven fabric were carried out using a manual wooden machine. As the main raw material for the production of home fabrics, flax or hemp fibers, sheep or goat hair were usually used. Sometimes the fabric was made from cotton or silk threads - a product imported from Asian countries. By this time, Russian craftswomen had completely mastered various techniques of weaving threads, and many of them mastered the complex techniques of creating patterns.
What is patterned weaving in the understanding of ancient weavers? This is an image of simple geometric lines and shapes. However, to reproduce a similar ornament on the fabric, special skill was required. No wonder patterned weaving has always been considered the most complex and time-consuming way of decorating the canvas. Despite the fact that the loom was present in almost every house, not every housewife could create a product with a complex pattern.
Linen and mortgage technology
The simplest kind of weaving was considered plain. It has been used throughout the history of weaving, creating fabric for underwear and towels.
Mortgage weaving technique is also one of the oldest. This method of weaving involves the laying of threads not across the entire width of the fabric, but only in some of its sections. "Mortgages" were usually an ornament of simple geometric shapes. They could be performed by combining different threads. Patterns were created using multi-colored linen, woolen or cotton threads. As a result of a complex, labor-intensive process, a smooth, identical canvas on both sides was obtained.
Interestingly, mortgage weaving was used on both horizontal and vertical hand looms. A woven carpet made of wool made using this technique was always present in every home.
Brown weaving
This technique in Russia was known even before the Tatar-Mongol invasion. It is distinguished from mortgage weaving by the relief texture of the canvas. When performing this technique, a special bar or plate was used - a bilnitsa. With its help, some threads were selected from the base, creating an additional pharynx. The result was a pattern superimposed on top of the background, either from the front or from the inside. Therefore, the pattern, applied to the surface of branded tablecloths and paintings, from the inside look like a negative. Usually the main background of the woven pattern was horizontal and could be red or blue. However, in some regions, products of the same color were often found, where the pattern stood out due to the contrast of the thickness of the threads and the play of chiaroscuro.
Elective Technique
The name of this method says that such weaving is very similar to brane. To play it, you also need the same special board or bar. One, unlike the branded technique of execution, with the elective technique of weft never prokidyvaetsya from edge to edge. The pattern was superimposed in separate sections, which made the fabrics multicolored and embossed. Nevertheless, the front and the wrong side, as well as with the branded technique, look like a negative to each other.
Manual weaving
This technique of creating a woven fabric was widely used in Ukrainian and Belarusian works. The appearance of such products is very similar to products made by the method of elective weaving, but the fabrication technology is significantly different from it. There is no bindery applied here, but the number of heaps in the machine in which the warp threads fall is increasing. In folk art, to this day, there are two ways of "busting". To obtain a two-sided ornament of a fabric pattern , the craftswomen, as before, use one patterned duck, and in order to get a multi-color pattern, two or more ducks have to be used. Compared to branded or elective hand weaving, this technique is less time consuming. It is worth noting that the use of search makes it possible to create brighter and more diverse color motifs of the picture and the freedom of its location.
Openwork weaving
At the end of the 19th century, openwork weaving became especially popular. This method of creating a surprisingly beautiful ornament was common in the areas of the Russian North. Openwork pattern with entertaining interlacing and interlacing, was performed in the form of through gaps and alternating patterns. It is well known that such weaving was mainly used to create curtains and tablecloths.
Remiz weaving
In the manufacture of fabric using a horizontal loom, one of the most common techniques is considered to be hench or multi-heel techniques. In this case, the colored threads can be alternated in a specific order. Using this technique, all kinds of patterns were created with simple geometric lines, and the resulting ornament could be very diverse in color. Usually this technique was used to decorate tablecloths, towels and women's lower skirts. Some craftswomen made woven carpets using elements of this technique. Examples of fabrics made using this technique can be found on images of the clothes of saints and icons of the XIV – XV centuries in the works of Novgorod and Galician icon painters.
Multi-colored or multicolored
One of the simplest types of heald techniques is multicolored or multicolored. It was a checkered or striped pattern. The main colors used were traditional reds, blues and whites, sometimes yellow and green shades were added. Multicolored canvases were used for the manufacture of shirts, sundresses, aprons and bedspreads.
Cellulose and pawn weaving pattern
A pattern formed by a small weft flooring, overlaid on top of a smooth canvas. This is a rather complicated more laborious type of heald technique. Typically, the pattern of multi-colored fiber had a clear geometric shape. However, woven images could be very diverse. Such a conclusion can be made on the basis of the surviving names: "lattice", "circles", "cucumbers", "gingerbread" or "money".
The woven ornament, made in the form of so-called checkers, is called the “pawn pattern”. Convex patterns were distinguished by an unusual effect due to the play of chiaroscuro.
Combining weaving techniques
An interesting fact is that skilled craftswomen could combine several weaving techniques at once. What is possible to do on primitive devices is unlikely to be believed by our contemporaries when they saw firsthand such a professionally made self-woven fabric. However, it is possible and many modern needlewomen repeat the skill of the ancient weavers today.