WEAVING . 
Having given a general ontlitie of the na- 
ture and process of plain weaving ; it is ne- 
cessary, in order to convey to our readers a 
more comprehensive idea of the art, to notice 
tlie fanciful and ornamental parts of the busi- 
ness. The extent to wliich this species of 
manufacture is carried renders it an object 
of very great importance, and deserving a 
more minute description than our limits will 
admit. 
Stripes are formed upon cloth, either by 
the warp or by the woof. When the former 
of these ways is practised, the variation of 
the process is chiefly the business of the 
warper : in the latter case it is that of the 
wehver. By unravelling any shred of 
striped cloth, it may easily be discovered, 
whether the stripes have been produced by 
the operations of the warper or those of the 
weaver. 
Checks are produced by the combined 
operations of the warper and tlie weaver. 
Tweeted cloths are so various in their tex- 
tures, and at the same time so complicated 
in their formation, that it is impossible to 
convey' an adequate idea of the mode of 
constructing them, without the aid of several 
engraved figures. In examining any piece 
of plain cloth, it will be observed, that all the 
threads in the warp and woof cross each 
other, and are tacked alternately. This is 
not the case in tweeled cloths j for in this 
instance only the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, 
&c. threads cross each other to form a tex- 
ture. Tweeled cloths have been fabricated 
of various descriptions. In the coarsest 
kinds every third thread is crossed : in finer 
fabrics, they cross each other at intervals of 
four, five, six, seven, or eiglit threads, and 
in some very fine tweeled silks the crossing 
does not take place until the sixteenth in- 
terval. 
Tweeling is produced by multiplying and 
varying the number of leases in the harness; 
by the use of a back-harness, or double- 
harness; by increasing the number of 
threads in each split of the reed ; by an 
endless variety of modes in drawing the 
yarns through the harness; and by increas- 
ing the number of treddles, and changing 
tlie manner of treading them. When the 
numlier of treddles requisite to raise all 
the variety of sheds necessary to produce 
very extensive patterns would be more 
than one man could manage, recourse is 
had to a mode of mounting, or preparing 
the loom, by the application of cords, &c. 
to the harness; and a second person is ne- 
cessary to raise the sheds required, by pull- 
ing the strings attached to the respective 
leases of the back harness, which are sunk 
to their first position by means of leaden 
weights underneath. This is the most com- 
prehensive apparatus used by weavers for 
fanciful patterns of great ektent, and it is 
called the draw-loom. In weaving very 
fine silk tweels, such as those of sixteen 
leases, the number of threads drawn through 
each interval of the reed is so great, that, if 
woven with a single reed, they would ob- 
struct each other in rising and sinking, and 
the shed would not be sufficiently open to 
allow the shuttle a free passage. To avoid 
this inconvenience, other reeds are placed 
behind that which strikes up the weft ; and 
the warp threads are so disposed, that those 
which pass through the same interval in the 
first reed are divided in passing through the 
second, and again in passing through the 
third. By these means the obstruction, if 
not entirely removed, is greatly lessened. 
In the weaving of plain thick woollen 
cloths, to prevent obstructions of this kind, 
arising from the closeness of the set, and 
roughness of the threads, only one fourth of 
the warp is sunk and raised by one treddle, 
and a second is pressed down to complete 
the shed, between the times when every 
shot of weft is tlirown across. 
Double cloth is composed of two webs, 
each of which consists of separate warp 
and separate weft ; but the two are inter- 
woven at intervals. The junction of the 
two webs is formed by passing each of them 
occasionally through the other, so that each 
particular part of both is sometimes above 
and sometimes below. 
This species of weaving is almost exclu- 
sively confined to the manufacture of car- 
pets in this country. The material employ- 
ed is dyed woollen, and, as almost all car- 
pets are decorated with fanciful ornaments, 
the colours of the two webs are different, 
and they are made to pass through each 
otlier at such intervals as will form the 
patterns required. Hence it anscs, that the 
patterns of each side of the carpet are the 
same, but the colours are reversed. Carpets 
are usually woven in the draw loom. 
Gauze differs in its formation from other 
cloths, hy having the threads of tlie warp 
crossed over each other, instead of lying 
parallel. They are turned to the right and 
left alternately; and each shot of weft pre- 
serves the twine which it has received, 
This effect is caused by a singular mode 
of producing tlie siieds, which cannot easily 
be described without the aid of drawings. 
