Chapter VII.Making Frills in the Middle of Goods—Woven Shirred Effects—Novel Decoration at Edge of Fancy Frills—Lappet Weaving on Elastic Fabrics Affords Opportunity for Elaboration at Small Cost—Production of Pearl Edge—Special Fancy Drafts
Making Frills in the Middle of Goods—Woven Shirred Effects—Novel Decoration at Edge of Fancy Frills—Lappet Weaving on Elastic Fabrics Affords Opportunity for Elaboration at Small Cost—Production of Pearl Edge—Special Fancy Drafts
Woven elastic fabrics are open to many forms of elaboration that are not possible in non-elastic weaving. We have already made mention of the frills woven at the outer edges of the goods, formed by the fluting of non-elastic sections produced by the contraction of the center part. This same effect may also be used in the center of the goods. To accomplish this it becomes necessary to employ a distinct set of harnesses to operate each half of the web, together with additional harnesses on which the frill sections are drawn in.
The chain draft is arranged so that the shuttle is made to pass through one-half of the web and a half section of the frill, and then return. The shuttle then passes through the other half section of body and frill. The operation is repeated continuously. Fig. 1 shows a sample of web in which the frill is brought up for a distance and then buried inside the goods for a short section. Fig. 1A gives the harness and chain draft.
Fig. 1.—Web With Center FrillFig. 2.—Fancy Figure With Seersucker Center
Fig. 1.—Web With Center Frill
Fig. 1.—Web With Center Frill
Fig. 2.—Fancy Figure With Seersucker Center
Fig. 2.—Fancy Figure With Seersucker Center
The weave used for producing a frill may also be used in the center of the main body; it then produces a seersucker effect. At Fig. 2 there will be seen an example of this, in combination with a figure on either side of the seersucker, the figure part being bordered with a regular frill. The insertion of this seersucker section lessens the number of rubber strands used in the whole, and it therefore will be found advisable to use a somewhat heavier size of rubber in the remaining cords to compensate for this. The harness and chain draft for Fig. 2 are given at Fig. 2A.
Another example of an effective form of fancy elastic weaving may be seen at Fig. 3, where the center or rubber part of the web is made to imitate a shirred effect. In the regular method of shirring a piece of plain elastic web is used, under tension, and is passed through a sewingmachine where a wider piece of ribbon or some other light non-elastic material is stitched to it by a series of needles running side by side. When the web contracts, upon being released from tension, the non-elastic part forms in a regular fluting on the face of the web. At the same time the remainder of the wider non-elastic section frills up on either side of the elastic part.
Fig. 1A.—Harness and Chain Draft for Fig. 1
Fig. 1A.—Harness and Chain Draft for Fig. 1
Fig. 2A.—Harness and Chain Draft for Fig. 2
Fig. 2A.—Harness and Chain Draft for Fig. 2
The method of producing this effect direct upon the loom is done by an interchange of weaves, first making a short section of single clothand then changing to a short section of double cloth weave. There being no binder warp employed to knit the upper and lower cloths together, the strands of rubber will lie between the two cloths so formed. Upon the contraction of these strands of rubber the outer cloths are thrown out, and appear as flutings on the web, while the side sections in which there is no rubber will complete the frill effect. This woven method has in it the advantage of making both sides of the web alike, whereas in the stitched shirring the back of the goods is not so presentable and unfits it for many uses. It also eliminates the added expense of labor in assembling the different parts.
A novel form of decoration is seen at the extreme edge of the fancy frill at Fig. 4. This may be produced by what is known as the draw-in method. This effect was formerly produced by the use of additional banks of shuttles in a rise and fall lay, but is now made by using two threads of cabled silk coming from spools, these threads being worked by the harness the same as a warp. They are very lightly delivered by a delicately adjusted return spring arrangement. The threads are operated on a special harness, being passed through the harness eyes outside of all the other warp stock, and then through a dent in the front reed as far away from the other stock as is desirable to form the size of the loop required.
Fig. 3.—Woven Shirred EffectFig. 4.—Novel Edge Decoration
Fig. 3.—Woven Shirred Effect
Fig. 3.—Woven Shirred Effect
Fig. 4.—Novel Edge Decoration
Fig. 4.—Novel Edge Decoration
The harness used for these threads stands still a given number of picks, and at regular intervals is brought down so that the draw-in thread comes in contact with the shuttle filling, which then passes around it. As the shuttle returns through the open shed, the filling or weft pulls the easily running draw-in thread with it, until it comes in contact with other warp threads, which the filling passes around, and so stops the further progress of the draw-in thread into the shed. The thread at the same time is carried around a wire which works in a dent next inside the one in which the draw-in thread passes. Quite a variety of fancy effects may be produced in this manner. Threads of different materials and colors may be used and drawn across the face of the web at different points, and selvages of a distinctly different color and character to the body of the goods may be made.
Lappet weaving on elastic fabrics is a method which has not been extensively used, probably on account of the limitations of design obtainable by this style of weaving. Nevertheless, it affords opportunity for considerable elaboration at a very small cost. The loom attachment which permits the making of these patterns, which are somewhat similar to embroidery, is known as the lappet motion. Wherever it has been used it has been found to be serviceable. It can be attached either to a plain loom or a fancy loom. It is a system of levers operated by a chain composed of different sized balls, arranged according to the pattern desired.
On the loom lay are one or two slides running the full length of the lay, which are moved laterally by the different sized chain balls. They can also be raised and lowered as required by the design. Both these slides have generally three needles for each suspender web, which are spaced at equal distances apart, one or all of which may be threaded and used. When slides are lowered into the web, the shuttle filling or weft passes over the yarn which is carried in the needle eyes and binds it into the cloth. Then by moving the slides backward and forward for succeeding picks, and each time binding the thread into the cloth, the various lappet patterns are produced.
Fig. 5.—Lappet WeavingFig. 6.—Broken Effect on Silk Frill
Fig. 5.—Lappet Weaving
Fig. 5.—Lappet Weaving
Fig. 6.—Broken Effect on Silk Frill
Fig. 6.—Broken Effect on Silk Frill
The figures are mostly irregular trailing patterns, as shown at Fig. 5, and well adapted to narrow goods. Dots of different sizes and in different positions may also be made, but it is not practical to get the finely finished lines which can be obtained from other methods where there is positive control of any particular warp threads or group of threads, as for instance in jacquards and overshots.
The sliding bar of the lappet motion may vary slightly in its movements so that the needles will not always pierce through at exactly the same points at each repeat of the pattern, although the general design will be maintained. The threads which feed the needles should be of good clear ply material, free from slubs and irregularities, so that they will pass freely through the needle eyes, and they should have enough turns to enable them to withstand the friction resulting from the backward and forward sliding movements of the lay passages. The yarn must be delivered from independent spools, which work with perfect freedom, and measures should be taken to control the stock by the use of delicate springs.
The material used for the lappet figure is perhaps best run from grooved spools which are so weighted that they feed easily through the needles at every forward movement of the lay.
An effective and inexpensive method of elaborating a silk frill is found in what is known as the pearl edge. This adds much to the richness of the goods, besides giving the appearance of greater width at slight increase of cost. The pearl edge is produced by a series of fine steel edge wires, which are carried in separate dents of the front reed outside of the frill itself. Each wire is operated by a special harness which brings it into the weaving lines as desired, so that the filling may pass around it and make pearl loops at these particular places. It will be found necessary to use hard steel dents in the front reed to work the wires in, otherwise the dents will soon be cut from the constant wear of the wires.
A silk frill may also be much enriched by special fancy drafts. These allow for the operation of groups of threads so that the filling passes over and under them and show up the luster of the silk filling in blocks contrasting with the more plainly woven parts. An example of this is shown at Fig. 6.