CHAPTER VI.

ELEMENTS OF TEXTILE COLOURING--STRIPES.

74. Colours applied to Textiles on Various Systems--75. Types of Woven Colouring--76. Single Weave Colourings--77. Colour-in relation to Backed, Double, and Compound Cloths--78. Colour applied to Single-make Figured Fabrics--79. Fancy Shades applied to Backed and Double Weave Combination Designs--80. Colour in Designs in which the Figures are produced by the Weft Yarns--81. Figured Effects obtained by Warp Colouring--82. Colour in Textiles Figured by both Warp and Weft Yarns--83. Pattern Design--84. Styles due to Colouring only--85. Stripes--86. Checks--87. Mixtures--88. Figures--89. Classes of Striped Patterns--90. Hairlines--91. Compound Hairlines--92. Stripes composed of Longitudinal and Transverse Lines--93. Stripes composed of Two Colours--94. Stripes composed of Three or more Colours--95. Irregular Stripes composed of Black and White Yarns--96. Irregular and Indefinite Stripes in Two Colours--97. Irregular Stripes--Shades in Two Colours--98. Shaded Stripes in Two Colours--99. Irregular Stripes containing several Colours--100. Shaded Stripes in several Colours.

74. _Colours applied to Textiles on Various Systems._--There are numerous methods of introducing colours and fancy shades into woven patterns. According to the kind of fabric being produced, the nature of the materials composing it, and its structural arrangement, the scheme of colouring practised varies. Suitings, trouserings, mantlings, dresses, vestings, shawls, rugs, carpets, and other important typical textures, are all coloured on distinct principles. Worsteds are not treated in a colour sense precisely on the same system as woollens, nor silks as cottons. Simple weaves allow of more varied colouring than diagonals and other intricate crossings; figured designs of a floral or geometrical character, than those resulting from combining several small weaves; single-make than double- and treble-make patterns; ordinary decorative fabrics, than plushes and lenos, and so on. Yet there are some principles of textile colouring common to all species of woven design. Certain methods of grouping yarns in elementary plans of interlacing warp and weft yield, under all conditions, the same style of effects. As a well-known combination of lines makes the key pattern, so in textile designing there are methods of classifying and uniting shades which cannot but produce one form of pattern. While in subsequent chapters it will be needful to specialize and indicate the complex modes of colouring practised by the weaver, here the general principles of the art will be simply expounded.

75. _Types of Woven Colourings._--All varieties of textile colourings may be classified under two great heads, which are capable of subdivision, as in the Table appended.

TABLE VII.

ILLUSTRATING THE TYPES OF WOVEN COLOURINGS.

I. COLOUR IN SIMPLE AND FANCY WEAVES.

(_A_) _Single-make Cloths._--Woollen, worsted, cotton, linen, and silk textures, in plain, twilled, mat, sateen, corkscrew, leno, diaper, and other weaves.

(_B_) _Backed, Double, and Compound Cloths._--Effects produced principally for men’s wear, in both woollen and worsted yarns; also rugs, travelling maudes, winter mantlings, and blankets.

II. COLOUR IN FANCY AND FIGURED PATTERNS.

(_A_) _Single Fabrics._--Stripes, checks, and drafted patterns for dresses, mantlings, ulsterings, blouses, and other textures.

(_B_) _Backed, Double, and Combination Patterns._--Woollen and worsted patterns for men’s garments; shawls, mantlings, rugs, “Kidder,” Scotch, and other carpets; also damasks and decorative fabrics.

(_C_) _Figured Patterns Coloured in the Weft._--Vestings, dresses, matelasses, and cords.

(_D_) _Figured Patterns Coloured in the Warp._--Spotted and figured styles of various descriptions in simple and complex makes, fancy dress patterns, mantles, plushes, velvets, astrachans, and carpets.

(_E_) _Patterns in which the Figure is developed by both Warp and Weft Colouring._--Silk and worsted robes, and elaborately ornamented patterns in an endless diversity of textures and materials.

76. _Single-Weave Colourings._--The single-make cloths, named in Group A of the first class of coloured effects, are textures not only single in structure, _i.e._, not backed, but composed of one weave of a simple character. Here some of the most elementary types of textile colouring occur. Many of the patterns produced in these weaves are due to the arrangement of the shades of the warp and weft. They form a species of woven design which is purely technical in construction. The artistic knowledge requisite to their origination is exercised in the selection and combination of colours. As regards the elements which give the pattern its form or outline, these are solely of a technical nature, and relate to dexterity and ingenuity in the invention of novel plans of cloth construction, and of applying to such makes those schemes of colouring which will most effectively develop their structural composition. This class of textile pattern may be described as Woven Colour Design, for it is one in which the all-important principle consists in devising new systems of shade arrangement and distribution. When considering pattern as obtained in simple weaves, this feature of design is the most prominent for examination. Scotch tweeds, as well as various classes of fancy woollens for suitings, trouserings, and flannels, some styles of cotton fabrics, and a considerable diversity of worsted, silk, and linen fabrics, are examples in this style of pattern. The more or less complex nature of these textiles is determined by the intricacy of the weave employed, and the plan of grouping the shades. Irregular makes or crossings, such as diagonals, fancy twills, diamond and broken weaves, are more difficult to treat with colour than simple twills and hopsacks. The comprehensiveness of this type of textile colouring will be evident when it is mentioned that in the plain weave, and the cassimere twill, there is practically no limit to the variety of patterns obtainable in stripes, checks, diagonals, small figures, mixtures, spotted, and other styles.

77. _Colour in relation to Backed, Double, and Compound Cloths._--The fabrics named in Section B of Part I. of Table VII. are much more intricate in structure than those alluded to in the previous paragraph, and hence require greater technical skill in colour treatment. As these cloths are multi-ply in the weft, in the warp, or in both warp and weft, they can only be economically and advantageously coloured when their build or structure is thoroughly understood. The yarns employed in the composition of the face pattern have to be kept distinct from those forming the back of the fabric, and _vice versâ_. Frequently, the colouring of the face forms a different style from that on the back, in which case a combination of at least two principles of colouring takes place.

The range of patterns in these makes is very diversified, but it is confined to a somewhat limited class of goods, as indicated in the Table. Winter fabrics for men’s and women’s wear are the principal goods to which these weaves are applied, so that for climatic reasons light and fancy patterns are only exceptionally in demand, a fact which somewhat simplifies the application of colour to these styles. Some heavy tartan travelling rugs and wraps are also constructed in this type of weave. In the ordinary backed textures composed of one make on the face, the patterns are mostly of a simple stripe or check arrangement, but in rugs and heavy cloths elaborate and complex blends of shades obtain.

78. _Colour applied to Single-make Figured Fabrics._--These form the A Group of textures given in Part II. of the Table. In addition to the effect in this instance due to association of colours, there is design or pattern produced by a combination of weaves differing in structure or build, and moreover in appearance in the woven fabric. The weaves may be arranged to form stripes, checks, and figures. The classes of goods to which these designs are applied are numerous, including trouserings and coatings in woollen and worsted yarns, fancy dress goods, mohair, silk, and other classes of mantlings, ulsterings, silk handkerchiefs, cotton textures, and decorative fabrics. The principles involved in this type of textile designing comprise the application of colour in the development of simple weave effects, and its introduction into designs composed of several weave elements to give precision and smartness of figuring. Before colour can be suitably applied here, its effect on the elementary crossings must be clearly apprehended. The designs containing various makes, such arrangements of fancy shades have to be used as will emphasize exactly the several parts of the whole style, and not result in the suppression of some sections and in too bold a development of others. The larger the number of weaves entering into any single design, the greater the intricacy of colour application. When colour, in relation to the _A_ Group of fabrics in the first section of the Table, is understood theoretically and practically, its functions and scope in this branch of designing may be readily mastered.

79. _Fancy Shades applied to Backed and Double Weave Combination Designs._--Winter goods of a figured order for apparel are included in Group _B_ of the Figured Patterns. This class of textiles also comprises some styles of shawls, mantlings, and rugs. Many types of striped trouserings, in which two double makes occur, come within the scope of this useful group of textiles. Generally, if the method of colouring is simple, the combination of weaves is diversified; but should the latter only comprise a few elements of weaving, more complex schemes of colouring are requisitioned. This order of patterns, moreover, includes certain species of textile effect not producible by having recourse to any other principle of weaving, but those appertaining to double-cloth combinations. Regarding the style of figuring feasible, it may be either elementary or elaborate in arrangement. Every description of ornamentation can be developed, from the simplest rectangular pattern to the most fantastic and complex blend of floral and other forms. It is this feature of this principle of design and colouring which makes it useful in the production of various kinds of reversible fabrics--textures figured and wearable on both sides, such as shawls, Austrian blankets or rugs, and carpets. Yet while the application of colour to these designs may yield these elaborate loom productions, the same scheme of colouring applied to the identical type of weave designs, may give such patterns as obtain in fancy trouserings, suitings, mantlings, and ulsterings of infinite variety of style. The structure and weave composition of these fabrics, and modes of gaining effects in them by colour, will be explained in detail later.

80. _Colour in Designs in which the Figures are produced by the Weft Yarns._--In Group _C_ the Textiles mentioned are vestings, dresses, matelasses, and curl fabrics. This is an interesting type of weave design in which colour is of great utility in developing the integral parts of the figures composing the pattern. Warp yarns in these goods are only of secondary importance, the figured elements of the styles being solely the product of the weft yarns. These are, therefore, of various shades, while the warp is generally, although not necessarily, of one colour. Strictly speaking, these fabrics may be several fold in the weft, but they are invariably single in the warp. The extreme fancy character of the textures to which this principle of designing and colouring is applicable, is indicative of its scope. It is specially useful in fancy vesting styles, and is absolutely essential to the construction of one important class of matelasses, and also invaluable in the weaving of some kinds of curl cloths made for mantlings.

81. _Figured Effects obtained by Warp Colouring._--This is the reverse of the preceding principle of intertexture. All the fabrics enumerated in Class _D_ are constructed on this system. They have one weft and several warps, the number of the latter varying according to the multiplicity of colours forming the pattern. Warp colouring is applicable to an extensive variety of fabrics. Commencing with the simplest type first, this system of colouring plays an important part in spotted designs, or patterns in which the distinguishing feature is a series of spots or minute specks of bright colours. These effects appear in suitings, mantlings, dresses, and cotton goods, including fabrics for small-ware purposes. Very elaborate dress styles are also figured by several sets of warp colourings. Here the weft is a sort of binding agent, uniting into one compact and firm fabric the various elements of warp colouring. Velvets and figured plushes, comprising astrachans and pile goods made in imitation of animal skins, in addition to Brussels, Axminster, and velvet-pile carpets, owe their design composition to the employment of two or more layers of warp threads.

82. _Colour in Textiles Figured by both Warp and Weft Yarns._--This is the most comprehensive of all classes of textiles to which colour is related. The most elaborate patterns made in the loom, and the most costly, are the product of combining both warp and weft colouring. It is quite evident, on consulting Table VII. of the different types of textile colouring, that, in theory, the _E_ Group of fabrics results from combining the systems of weaving included in Groups _C_ and _D_, but, in practice, as subsequent analysis will demonstrate, other details of designing and colouring are involved in the execution of this class of fabrics than those here comprised. As this species of colouring finds expression in all the types of figured woven effects specialized in the above mentioned styles of fabrics, it is useless to attempt further classification. These styles are intricate in build and unique in principles of intertexture. Usually, they are neither purely double, nor yet purely single in construction, but embrace schemes of designing and colouring, such as may only be mastered by those who previously study the former fabrics to which colour is applied, and which are named in Table VII.

[Illustration: FIG. 5.--_A_, _B_, _C_.]

[Illustration: FIG. 5.--_D_, _E_, _F_.]

83. _Pattern Design._--This style of pattern results solely from the methods of grouping fancy warp or weft yarns, or both these elements of textile fabrics. It may be appropriately designated “Colour” to distinguish it from “Weave” design; for, if the colours are removed from such patterns, all effect is destroyed. Colour here yields both the form of the design and the beauty of the style. No type of textile designing is more extensively utilized than this, for the styles resultant are characterized by neatness and by great utility. Pattern design relates not only to the artistic grouping or blending of shades, but to their arrangement. The latter is a factor which has to be suited to the build of the weave. The same plans of colours are capable of yielding quite distinct effects in two different weaves. Fig. 5, _A_, _B_, and _C_, and Fig. 5, _D_, _E_, and _F_, demonstrate this important principle of textile colouring. The weaves (marked ⊡’s for weft) are plain in Fig. 5, _A_, _B_, _C_, and [2\2] or cassimere twill in Fig. 5, _D_, _E_, _F_. The effects of different marks in the sketches, and also the methods of warping and wefting, or the order of colouring, are stated in the following Table:--

TABLE VIII.

ILLUSTRATING THE EFFECTS ON THE PLAIN AND [2\2] TWILL WEAVES OF THE CHANGING OF THE ORDER OF WARPING AND WEFTING.

---------+-------------+-----------+---------------------------------+ Section.| Warp. | Weft. | Effect in Sketches. | ---------+-------------+-----------+---------------------------------+ _A_ and ⎧| | |◻’s = white warp over white | _D_ ⎪|1 thread grey|White | weft. | Fig. 5 ⎨|1 „ white| |▥’s = grey warp over white weft | ⎪| | |⊡ = white weft over grey and | ⎩| | | white warps. | ---------+-------------+-----------+---------------------------------+ _B_ and ⎧| White |1 pick grey|◻’s = white warp over grey and | _E_ ⎪| | | white wefts. | Fig. 5 ⎨| |1 „ white|▦’s = grey weft over white warp. | ⎩| | |⊡’s = white weft over white warp.| ---------+-------------+-----------+---------------------------------+ _C_ ⎧|1 thread grey|1 pick grey|◻’s = white warp over grey weft. | Fig. 5 ⎨|1 „ white |1 „ white|▥’s = grey warp over white weft. | ⎪| | |⊡’s = white weft over white warp.| ⎩| | |▦’s = grey weft over grey warp. | ---------+-------------+-----------+---------------------------------+ ⎧|1 thread grey|1 pick grey|◻’s = white warp over grey and | _F_ ⎪| | | white wefts. | Fig. 5 ⎨|1 „ white |1 „ white |▥’s = grey warp over grey and | ⎪| | | white wefts. | ⎪| | |⊡’s = white weft over grey and | ⎪| | | white warps. | ⎪| | |▤’s = grey weft over grey and | ⎩| | | white warps. | ----------+-------------+-----------+---------------------------------+

The arrangement of the yarns in the examples is the same, but the weave structures are dissimilar. The plain make so determines the crossing of the warp and weft yarns, that the white picks always float under the grey threads and over the white threads, while the grey picks always float under the white and over the grey threads, hence the solidity of the respective lines of colour is uninterrupted, and a pattern produced of a simple stripe order. Coming to the twill weave, it distributes the colours differently. Each pick floats over and under two threads at a time, so that the picks at every interlacing cover, or are covered, by both a grey and a white thread. Let it now be shown what is the result of this. Supposing the first thread and pick to be grey (Fig. 5, _F_) and the second thread and pick white, then, if the effect of the interweaving of the first pick is traced, it will be obvious how it forms part of the minute diagonal pattern sketched in Fig. 5, _F_. This pick floats over a grey and a white, and then under a grey and a white thread, so that a small transverse line of grey is formed equal in length, not to a float over _two_, but _three_ threads, for although the extent of the weft float is two, yet the grey thread adjoining it enlarges it in effect to three. Next take the second pick. It floats over the second and third threads, and, being white, makes a transverse line of this shade of similar dimensions to the preceding pick, because the fourth thread in the warp is white, and in the texture is added to the two-weft float. If picks three and four are examined, it will be noticed that they give like results, only the positions of the small lines of colours are moved one thread in each case to the right, causing the diagonal effect in the fabric to move to the right. Analyzing the first and second threads, it will be seen that they make short vertical lines, equal in length to flushing over three picks in succession. Take the first thread, which is grey: it is depressed on the first pick, being covered by the grey pick, then up twice; the second thread is also down on the first pick, then down on the second pick, being covered by the white weft, and afterwards elevated over picks three and four, forming a float of white of the same size as if the thread had flushed over three succeeding picks.

These illustrations show how the structure of the weave modifies the effect of the colours. This relation of weave to colour, as regards systems of arranging fancy shades, is one of the technical elements of textile colouring. Weaving principles cannot be ignored; they must always be considered, as they are capable both of destroying or of beautifying a set of colours.

Pattern design also relates to the invention of novel methods of grouping fancy threads, or to the assortment and distribution of the several colours in both warp and weft. Independent of the somewhat subtle question of harmony of tints which has to be considered here, such schemes of blending warp and weft threads of appropriate colours have to be devised as will give various styles in the same order of colourings and the same weave. By a modification of the plan of combining the yarns great variety of pattern may be obtained. Even when limited to this mode of producing pattern in the loom, novelty and force of style is feasible. The simplest alteration in the grouping of the threads frequently gives quite a new cast to the design. There are three features of Pattern Design that are intimately associated with the character of the pattern originated: I. the selection of appropriate shades; II. their classification and arrangement as to quantity; and III. the invention of such a plan of combining these colours in the fabric as will be in accordance with the construction of the weave or design composing the cloth.

84. _Styles due to Colouring only._--The patterns produced wholly by varying the plan of associating colours in textiles may in a general sense be grouped under four heads, viz., Stripes, Checks, Mixtures, and small Figured Effects. These designs obtain in a large variety in all kinds of materials.

85. _Stripes._--Treating of each description of style analytically, stripe patterns may be primarily examined. They consist of bands or lines of different shades, varying in width, running lengthways of the fabric, that is, in the direction of the warp. The distinctive characteristic of a stripe is its line-like composition. All patterns of this order are nothing more than a blend of lines of divers shades and of various dimensions, extending from end to end of the piece. For trouserings, suitings, and some styles of dress and mantling cloths, no form of pattern is better adapted. The prominence of the several bands of colour, their solidity and distinctness, or their intermittent character and subdued or toned aspect, are all qualities depending on the structure of the fabric and its weave composition, which will be subsequently noticed. If the pattern in striped styles is principally a warp product, the weft is only a supplementary feature of the design, being employed, firstly, to bind the warp ends together and thus form a wearable fabric; and, secondly, to constitute an appropriate groundwork on which the warp colourings may be correctly developed. Proper emphasis of the colours composing the stripes is acquired by employing a suitable shade of weft, and by adopting that system of crossing or weaving which will, in addition to yielding the requisite strength and firmness of fabric, sufficiently interfere with the continuity of the fancy shades introduced into the warp. Stripes are of various dimensions and arrangements. Some are mere lines, and no wider than the diameter of the threads employed; others are many inches broad. One colour may be so introduced as to form bands of different widths. Thus, if brown and black were the colours at command, they could be so combined as to give styles of several descriptions in which the bands of the respective shades would always be of corresponding widths; or they might be combined on such a principle as to form sets of stripes of variable sizes. To a considerable extent, the character of these patterns is governed by the class of texture in which they appear. Instances of this occur in the various fabrics produced in the loom. Generally, for example, stripes for trouserings are not wide, but of small and medium sizes, and soft and neatly toned in colouring. For ulsterings, dresses, and mantlings, much broader effects, more elaborate in arrangement, and of greater force of colouring, are required. In cotton blouses, small styles are the most valuable, but in cotton fancies for dresses there are no definite limits to the width of the stripes and to the intricacy of the plan of colouring.

86. _Checks._--These may be considered as forming the second great class of patterns in which colour is the all-important element. Of course reference is only made at this time to that type of check in which the weave is a simple factor. No allusion is made to, or consideration taken of, weave compounds which of themselves will form a species of check. The checks now being examined are those resulting from adopting the same or a similar order of weft as warp colouring. In other words, if the arrangement of warp yarns were 10 threads of black and 2 threads of white, the weft would be the same, forming a solid square of black, surrounded by a skeleton square of white. The term “check” is suggestive of the appearance of these styles and of the scheme of their construction. The warp colourings, however complicated in arrangement and diverse in composition, to produce a perfect check must be crossed or “checked,” as the operation is technically called, in precisely the same manner and by exactly the same shades in the weft. The plaids on Plates V. and X. are typical examples of the principles of checking. Here it is evident that each set of colours in the warp when woven with corresponding shades of weft forms a square of colour perfectly solid. The blue threads of warp and weft make blue checks; the green, squares of this colour; and the black and yellow also checks of these shades. The size of the check is determined by the mode of grouping the yarns, the coarseness of the texture, and the thickness of the yarns of which it is composed. Many of the principles of woven colouring applicable to stripes also apply to checks, which strictly speaking are patterns striped both in transverse and lineal directions.

87. _Mixtures._--The mixtures implied here may be defined as small all-over effects in which the various colours used are so fully co-mingled that the particular part played by any one colour is not observable. They require the most mellow treatment of all coloured styles. Nothing of a loud character succeeds, nor appears attractive in these textures. Mellow, smart, and choice combinations are desired. The pattern should present not so much a patchy, as a rich and tinted appearance--every colour utilized in its formation associating with its neighbours to compose one indefinite blend of minute effects. To produce styles of this order no single colour should be distinct and louder than the rest, nor be allowed to intrude on the eye more than another--complete harmony of colouring and uniformity of tone are absolutely essential. But one shade more pronounced in tint or more powerful in hue--being of a deeper intensity than its associates--is sufficient to destroy the beauty of the whole combination. This being the case, the system of mixing the several shades must be such that all colours will be equally emphasized; for evidently lack of equality in the prominence of the various colour elements amalgamated, destroys the essential character of these useful and valuable styles.

Mixtures obtain principally in woollen yarns, whose fibrous surfaces are well adapted for mixing the hues combined thoroughly, and without producing a fabric in which the colours form patches or spangles of variable sizes and shapes. All mixture effects are minute in character, and are produced for suitings, dress fabrics, etc. In softness and mellowness of tinting, these are not comparable with similar styles resulting from using mixture yarns, but they form such an important description of woven pattern as to deserve specific analysis.

In Donegal (Pattern 1, Plate XXVI.) and other extreme fancy mixtures, specks of bright colour are obtained in the yarn, which give richness of character without that complete mixing of fibres which is the ordinary style of blend.

88. _Figures._--Necessarily these are very minute in dimensions and limited in form. Perhaps they might be also appropriately designated spotted patterns, but as the figures are of definable shapes, and are arranged on various bases, the former term appears the more suitable. This species of colouring is applied to cotton and woollen and worsted fabrics. Invariably the weaves are of an elementary grade. In these, neat and minutely figured styles are developed in considerable variety. Thus in the plain weave alone, several distinct patterns are obtainable; while in the celtic, or mat, and in the cassimere and six-end twills somewhat more broken-up figuring is acquired, which for some makes of cloths is preferable to designs consisting of pronounced and decided forms.

[Illustration: Plate XV

REGULAR STRIPES 1. and 2. Two-Colour Patterns 3. Four-Colour Pattern]

89. _Classes of Striped Patterns._--All kinds of striped patterns may be comprised in two classes, namely, Regular and Irregular styles. In the former (Fig. 11, _A_, and Fig. 12, _A_) the bands of colours, however numerous they may be, are of equal widths, but in the latter (Figs. 11 and 12, _B_, _C_, _D_, etc.) they vary to an indefinite extent. The several species of stripes resulting from blending colours will be treated of as follows:--

I. REGULAR STRIPES.

(_a_) Hairlines. (_b_) Stripes of two colours. (_c_) Stripes of three or more colours.

II. IRREGULAR STRIPES.

(_d_) Patterns of two colours. (_e_) Patterns of three or more colours. (_f_) Shaded patterns composed of several colours.

[Illustration: FIG. 6.]

[Illustration: FIG. 7.]

90. _Hairlines._--These are the smallest striped patterns produced. The real hairline is composed of two colours, and is made extensively in woollen and worsted materials, but is also produced in cotton and other yarns. Standard hairlines are produced in the plain weave, prunelle, [3/1] twill, and the five-end sateen: also in mat and specially-constructed weaves. In the prunelle, three-line, in the [3/1] twill, four-line, and in the five-end sateen, five-line, or five-colour patterns are producible.

91. _Compound Hairlines._--These consist (1) of two or more widths of lines with each grouped in series, of which Figs. 6 and 7, and Figs. 8 and 9 are types; (2) of hairline stripes combined with fancy, and irregular effects. Figs. 6 and 7 are both woven in the broken [3/1] twill, the former being coloured two-and-two in section _A_, 2 black, 2 twist in section _B_, and one-and-one in section _C_, the broad line of white being formed by grouping three white threads together. Fig. 7 is a compound of one-and-one and two-and-two warping, making the respective stripes _A_ and _B_, which might be of any width and grouped together in various forms.

[Illustration: FIG. 8.]

[Illustration: FIG. 9.]

Fig. 8 is developed in mat weaves, arranged to produce two-and-two and four-and-four stripings, grouped as sketched. Fig. 9 is a compound of hairline effect, one-and-one warping in the broken [3/1] twill, section _A_, and of two-and-two warping in the [2/2] twill, section _B_, with a fancy twist stripe, _C_, on the latter.

92. _Stripes composed of Longitudinal and Transverse Lines._--This pattern--sketched in Fig. 10--is a derivative of the common single-cloth hairline. It is due to changing the positions of the colours in relation to the intersections of the weave. Analysis of the fabric shows that in Sections _A_ the light threads float _over_ the light picks and the dark threads _over_ the dark picks; whereas in Parts _B_ the opposite rule obtains, viz., the light threads float _under_ the light picks and the dark threads _under_ the dark picks. As a consequence, the lines of colours in _A_ are vertical, while those in _B_ are horizontal. This arrangement of pattern is entirely due to the system of warp colouring, which is as follows:--

1 thread of grey.⎫ _A._ 1 „ white. ⎭ 1 „ white. ⎫ _B._ 1 „ grey. ⎭

The weft is 1 pick of white and 1 pick of grey throughout the pattern. Now as the plain weave has been employed, and is arranged to allow the white and grey threads in _B_ to be crossed or covered by corresponding picks, it causes the same threads in _A_ to float over the respective picks, producing this useful form of stripe, which is applicable to similar goods as those for which particulars are supplied in the preceding paragraph.

[Illustration: FIG. 10.]

93. _Stripes composed of Two Colours._--These are included in the elementary colour effects. A minimum amount of technical skill is requisite to their construction. The art of producing patterns of this description is confined to the selection and adjustment of appropriate shades. An illustration in the Regular order of stripes is given in No. 1, Plate XV. It is an Oxford shirting, the order of colouring being thus:--

_Warp._ _Weft._ 16 threads of white. All white. 16 „ blue.

Such shades and tints as the following would form good patterns: No. 6, Plate IV., and white; No. 10, Plate IV., and white; and Nos. 12 and 16, Plate VI., and white. In each case white should be used for weft.

[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Stripe Patterns in Two Shades.]

This class of pattern is largely applied to woollen and worsted textures. No. 2 on Plate XV. is an example. This style has been produced in the five-end doeskin and has a dress-face finish. The arrangement of colours is:--

_Warp._ 10 threads of 20 skeins olive. 10 „ „ „ light olive.

_Weft._ 20 skeins olive.

Without multiplying illustrations, it will be evident how considerable diversity of styles is attainable on this system by varying the width of the stripes and the colours employed.

Specimens of Irregular stripes in two shades are given in Fig. 11, _B_, _C_, _D_, _E_, _F_, consisting of lines of different sizes in two shades. It will be seen from these that the method of grouping the lines, as well as the dimensions, determine the form of pattern produced.

[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Stripe Patterns in Three Shades.]

94. _Stripes composed of Three or More Colours_ (Fig. 12, _B_, _C_, _D_, and _E_).--As a larger number of shade elements enters into this kind of stripe than that just described, it follows that the patterns are somewhat more intricate in composition. Yet, as the weaves used are invariably of the simplest type, and the widths of the stripes of different shades in the patterns may be the same, little technical complication occurs in their production. One illustration will sufficiently indicate the nature of this type (Regular stripes) of woven colouring, No. 3 on Plate XV. Four shades are present in this fabric--blue, tan, slate, and crimson. The dark blue runs against all the shades and in this way an appropriate ground is produced on which the various shades may be developed. If slate were made the ground colour a totally different pattern would result; by changing the positions of the shades in this manner, a considerable range of styles is producible. These coloured examples and the forms of pattern in Fig. 12, show that this principle of colouring admits of extensive diversity of composition.

[Illustration: FIG. 13.]

95. _Irregular Stripes composed of Black and White Yarns._--These patterns are far more diversified in construction than regular styles. Even when limited to the use of these shades, a great variety of design arrangement may be practised. The line stripe effects (Fig. 13) are woven in warp-face weaves, such as the ten-heald buckskin (Fig. 13A) and weaves of the cord and corkscrew type. The warp colouring for the upper pattern is--

38 threads of 2-fold 60’s black worsted, 2 „ fine white silk, or worsted and silk twist,

the weft being a dark shade. Of course, any other two shades might be employed, _e.g._, Nos. 1 and 3, Plate IV., and No. 13 and No. 15, Plate VI.

[Illustration: FIG. 13A.]

As illustrative of the different effects that may be obtained in the same shades, Fig. 14 may be compared with the previous styles. It is a pattern over an inch in width, and composed of bands of three sizes. There are, first, bands _A_, containing twelve threads each; then bands _b_, containing six threads each; and, lastly, the small lines of white of two threads each. There are twelve white stripes: eleven stripes _b_, and one stripe of _A_, in each repeat of the pattern. Both this style, and those in Fig. 13, are of a decided character.

[Illustration: FIG. 14.]

Another type is that given in Fig. 14A. The dark grey, the grey, and the check lines of grey and white, all vary in size. There are, therefore, three types of effect; the centre stripe _A_ has a dark line on each side adjoining the check stripe _B_; then follow stripes of grey and dark grey, gradually decreasing in size to line _C_, this being the order adopted on either side of the centre or leading stripe _A_. In one sense, this pattern is on the graduated principle of combining lines of different widths, and working in two colours at each change. Stripes in three shades may also be formed on the same base.

[Illustration: FIG. 14A.]

96. _Irregular and Indefinite Stripes in Two Colours._--No. 1, Plate XVI., is, in one particular, constructed on a similar principle to the last illustration, for it contains a series of small stripes, nine in number, which in combination form one broad band; and then follows a small band of brown, each repetition of which determines the size of the pattern. It is a style adapted to lawn tennis trouserings, flannels, and cotton fabrics. Though there is a marked contrast in the shades, yet the design is somewhat mellow and subdued. The arrangement of the warp colours is--

6 threads of white. ⎫ 1 thread of brown. ⎬ For 36 threads. 1 „ white. ⎪ 1 „ brown. ⎭ 6 threads of white. 3 „ brown.

The occurrence of the three threads of brown after each forty-two threads causes the pattern to appear nearly an inch wide. If the centre end of these three threads were changed to white, the whole pattern would be like the part bracketed _A_; showing what a small item may modify the character of such styles. The white thread between the browns imparts the indefinite cast to the stripe. If this were removed the design would be pronounced and decided in arrangement. Indefinite stripes invariably result from distributing the colours in minute quantities in the fabric.

[Illustration: Plate XVI

FORMS OF IRREGULAR STRIPES 1. Tennis Stripe 2. Shaded Stripe 3. Compound of Ordinary and Shaded Stripes]

97. _Irregular Stripes--Shades in Two Colours._--The principle of shading by colour yields a very useful range of woven patterns. These obtain in fancy dress fabrics, ulsterings, cottons, and, in small styles, in trouserings; just as shades are acquired in black and white in sketching, they may be produced in fabrics in any two colours by softly gradating one into the other. Generally an ordinary twilled weave is employed, and two colours of warp yarns, one of which must be dark and the other of a light shade. Thus, a shaded stripe of blue may be produced in the Venetian twill by grouping blue and white threads together, according to the plan given below:--

4 threads of blue cotton. 1 thread of white „ 3 threads of blue „ 2 „ white „ 2 „ blue „ 3 „ white „ 1 thread of blue cotton. 4 threads of white „ 2 „ blue „ 3 „ white „ 3 „ blue „ 2 „ white „

This forms a lightened shade of blue. If black were used, a darkened shade of this colour would ensue. Any two colours of the same hue, but of different intensities, such as dark brown and medium brown, drab and light drab, when arranged on this principle, produce effective patterns.

98. _Shaded Stripes in Two Colours._--Two excellent styles shaded on this system are supplied in Nos. 2 and 3, Plate XVI. The former consists of broad bands of fawn, and small bands of scarlet and white, and blue and white shades. The order of warping being--

4 threads of colour (red or blue). 1 thread of white. 3 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 3 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 2 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 2 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 1 „ colour. 1 „ white. 4 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 1 „ colour. 1 „ white. 2 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 2 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 3 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 3 threads of colour. 1 thread of white. 1¼ inches of fawn.

Next, consider No. 3, Plate XVI., a style containing a shaded stripe of more than an inch in width. While the principle of construction is the same as in the preceding example, it is more intricate in arrangement, and comprises a larger group of threads. It is as follows:--

Blue and white stripe, Section _B_ of No. 3, Plate XVI.

8 threads of blue. ⎫ For 56 threads. 8 „ white.⎭

Shade of red, Section _A_ of No. 3, Plate XVI.

5 threads of white. 1 thread of red. 4 threads of white. 1 thread of red. 4 threads of white. 1 thread of red. 3 threads of white. ⎫ For 16 threads. 1 thread of red. ⎭ 2 threads of white. ⎫ For 12 threads. 1 thread of red. ⎭ 1 „ white. 1 „ red. 1 „ white. 1 „ red. 1 „ white. 2 threads of red. ⎫ For 12 threads ↠ _C_ 1 thread of white. ⎭ 3 threads of red. ⎫ For 16 threads. 1 thread of white, ⎭ 4 threads of red. 1 thread of white. 4 threads of red. 1 thread of white. 4 threads of red. 1 thread of white. 5 threads of red. ↠ _D_ 1 thread of white. 4 threads of red. 1 thread of white. 4 threads of red. 1 thread of white. 3 threads of red. ⎫ For 16 threads. 1 thread of white. ⎭ 2 threads of red. ⎫ For 12 threads. 1 thread of white. ⎭ 1 „ red. 1 „ white. 1 „ red. 1 „ white. 1 „ red. ⎫ For 12 threads ↠ _E_ 2 threads of white. ⎭ 1 thread of red. ⎫ For 16 threads. 3 threads of white. ⎭ 1 thread of red. 4 threads of white. 1 thread of red. 4 threads of white. 1 thread of red. 5 threads of white.

Section _B_ of No. 3, Plate XVI.

8 threads of blue. ⎫ For 56 threads. 8 „ white. ⎭ 1¼ inches of drab.

By this arrangement an elaborate shade is formed in two colours in Section _A_. It commences with a maximum degree of white, which gradually diminishes until a maximum quantity of red is acquired, when a similar decrease of red and an increase of white occurs, until the maximum white quantity is again reached. An analysis of the plan of colouring may explain how the softly-toned result has been produced. This commences with a 5 of white, then follows a 4 of white, and subsequently 3, 2, and 1 of white. Meantime the red has remained unaltered. At _C_ a change takes place. Now the red begins to augment in quantity, while the white factor is invariable, consisting of one thread only. The red starts at this point _C_ with 2, then 3, 4, and 5 in succession. Here the maximum intensity of this hue is reached. (See _D_ in the order of colours.) From _D_ to _E_ the red factor of the shade decreases, and from _E_ to the end of the pattern the white increases. While the gradation of tinting in this pattern is complete, both sides of the shade are exactly symmetrical.

This style of striping might be adopted in fine cotton, silk, and worsted fabrics; other colours than those appearing in the illustration being of course employed.

99. _Irregular Stripes containing Several Colours._--In this class of stripe are included many of the neatest patterns woven. Such stripes are generally mellow in colouring, and ingeniously diversified in arrangement. A number of shades may be combined, but the patterns should always be characterized by softness of tone.

This scheme of textile colouring is so important that further illustrations will be considered, two styles in dark, and two in light colours. Patterns 1 and 2, Plate XVII., show subdued stripings applicable to tweeds and similar fabrics, and in which there is diversity of line and of colour. No. 1 has a broad stripe _A_, on which there are lines of red, with the bulk of the stripe consisting of one-and-one colouring, and a second stripe _B_, of light olive. The warping and wefting are--

_Warp._

White 1 ⎫ 26 ⎧ 1 1 1 1 1 1 ⎫ 24 Black 1 ⎭ ⎩ - 1 1 1 - 1 ⎭ Red - 1 - - - 1 - Olive - - - - - - 4

_Weft._ Black 38 7 Red 1 1

from which it will be seen that there are four colours with three types of stripes, the large stripe, the single-thread stripes in red, and the small stripe in light olive.

Pattern 2 is more diversified, and consists of the following warping and wefting:--

_Warp._

Green and white twist 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - White 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - Slate - - - 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - Silk - - - - - - 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 - - Orange and white twist - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 Fawn - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 - - - - - - \~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~/ Twice.

_Weft._

Black 98 1 Red 1 1

In the warp alone there are no less than seven colours, grouped to give harmony, as well as richness of style. Red, orange, and green twist are used, but no one colour has greater prominence than another; though the white silk threads form a feature of the pattern, the other colours blend and tone into each other. There is intermingling of colouring and of shades blending together, but the stripe characteristic is prevalent.

No. 2, Plate XVIII., is a style in silk in which five varieties of lines are combined, the ground being white, stripe _A_, with two widths of lines of heliotrope, _B_ and _C_; lines in green, _D_, and in pink, _E_. The diversity of lines adds to the richness of the pattern. Had they been equal in size, there would have been stiffness of form and want of harmony of colour. The green and the pink would have been too pronounced in tone, but by adapting the width of the stripe to the brightness of colour, harmony and contrast are maintained.

No. 1, Plate XVIII., is still richer in colouring and in variety of stripe. There is, first, the simple striping of crimson and white in a series of lines, section _A_, with edging colour of gold of similar width. This is one pattern in itself, but in order to combine it with the second stripe _B_, without colour impinging upon colour, there is down either side dividing lines in white. Stripe _B_ consists of four sizes of lines in addition to the white, in pale blue, pink, gold, and sage green. Again, there is variety of line with diversity of hue, the sizes of the stripes having been well worked out in proportion to the brightness of hue.

In such examples as Nos. 1 and 2, the style of striping has two applications: first, in other colours of the same depth and degree of contrast as those in the patterns, and second, in lesser or larger quantities of each colour, maintaining the same relative proportionate sizes of the lines.

100. _Shaded Stripes in Several Colours._--Another system of shading, besides that already illustrated, consists in employing several shades of yarns of the same hue. For instance, to form a brown shade by this method, at least three or five tones--the larger the number the better, and the more complete the gradation--of this colour would be required, such as very dark, dark, medium, light, and very light brown. Each shade should be continued for a suitable number of threads, taking them in succession, and running from dark to light, and _vice versâ_. But to obtain diversity of colouring in shaded styles economically, other methods are adopted besides this. An illustration in which the two methods are combined is given in No. 3, Plate XVIII. This is a compound of colours which gives shading in two varieties: first, that formed in the broad band _A_, in which there is a gradation from fine pink and deep maroon lines at the edges to lines increasing in width to the centre; and, second, the shaded stripe in green with fawn edges. The style is similar in principle to Pattern 3, Plate XVI., with the shading in section _B_ more graduated, the green warp running from a pale green at the edges to a deep green in the centre. In section _A_ the shading is due to the change in the grouping of the colours, and in _B_ to the use of several tints of colour. The colour contrasts are in tone in stripe _A_, and also in _B_, and in hue between _A_ and _B_, the whole pattern possessing harmony of colouring.