Village Squire, 1978-11, Page 27Switzerland but the most dramatic textiles
have come down to us from Egypt. China,
India, Africa and the Middle East.
Egyptians were creating fine linen about
3.500 B.C. and the Chinese invented the
satin weave with their silk. In 2,000 B.C. in
Dacca. India fine muslin gauze was woven
of cotton and the Babylonians were
wearing beautifully dyed handwoven
woollens made on the most basic of looms.
Over on the other side of the world the
Incas in South America wove highly
intricate designs based on geometrics and
nature with looms consisting of two
horizontal sticks with warp threads
stretched taut between them this method
was later improved by the addition of a
system of lifting alternate warp threads
and by the use of a belt or strap at the one
end of the loom which passed around the
back of the weaver thus called a back strap
loom and was used to control the tension of
the warp threads. This back strap loom was
and is used extensively in South America.
The Salish Indians of British Columbia
had their own type of loom where the warp
was wound around two horizontal bars.
Another primitive loom is the frame
loom which is simply a frame like a picture
frame. Nails are put in usually about one
quarter inch apart on the two opposite
horizontal sides and the warp is wound
back and fourth from top nail to bottom nail
till the proper width is completed. Many
interesting projects can be woven this way
and the weaver has great scope for his own
creative ability. Using various techniques
there is an almost endless number of
designs that can be produced for a very
limited amount of money.
To get -the yarn to weave one must have
yarn spun. Fleece from sheep. hair from
animals. flax. cotton are the. most popular.
Primitive spinning is done by a very simple
inexpensive 'spindle'-- even a child can
learn to spin this way. The spinning wheel
is the more advanced way of spinning and
there are several types of these wheels.
The more complex looms allowing more
patterns using several harnesses and
operated by hands and feet or just hands
were used in Great Britain until the
Industrial Revolution and by the early
colonists in Canada. One of these early
colonist weavers came to settle in Colborne
Township. Huron County at Nile. Samuel
Pentland came first to Amherst Island in
1825 from Ireland and later moved to The
Huron Tract about 1845 while the area was
being opened up by the Canada Company.
He wove professionally for his neighbours
twill cloth for clothing. linens. and overshot
coverlets. These coverlets were intricate
design woven of wool on a warp of cotton
for the warmth that the settlers needed.
Lengths of warps put on his loom varied in
length from the length of one coverlet to
100 yards but the average was 20 to 40
yards. He had learned weaving in Ireland
and had brought only his shuttles and
reeds with him to the new land. His loom
and weaving notes were donated to the
Vie
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November 1978 The Village Squire 25