Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on caps, hats, coats, overlays, blankets, dress shirts, denim, dresses, stockings, and golf shirts. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour.
The Jacquard machine is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Jacquard loom. The machine was patented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740). The machine was controlled by a "chain of cards"; a number of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design.
Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. An array of stitches is passed through all layers of the fabric to create a three dimensional padded surface. The three layers are typically referred to as the top fabric or quilt top, batting or insulating material and the backing.
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns.
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags, electronic device cases, and shoes. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame.
Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus Corchorus, which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is Corchorus olitorius, but such fiber is considered inferior to that derived from Corchorus capsularis. "Jute" is the name of the plant or fiber used to make burlap, hessian, or gunny cloth.
A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century.
Lawn cloth or lawn is a fine plain weave textile, made with fine combed cotton. Terms also used include batiste and nainsook. Originally the name applied to plain weave linen, and linen lawn is also called "handkerchief linen". The term lawn is also used in the textile industry to refer to a type of starched crisp finish given to a cloth product. The finish can be applied to a variety of fine fabrics, prints or plain.
Bedding, also known as bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environment. Multiple sets of bedding for each bed are often washed in rotation and/or changed seasonally to improve sleep comfort at varying room temperatures. Most standardized measurements for bedding are rectangular, but there are also some square-shaped sizes, which allows the user to put on bedding without having to consider its lengthwise orientation.
Irish linen is the brand name given to linen produced in Ireland. Linen is cloth woven from, or yarn spun from flax fibre, which was grown in Ireland for many years before advanced agricultural methods and more suitable climate led to the concentration of quality flax cultivation in northern Europe. Most of the world crop of quality flax is now grown in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Since about the 1950s to 1960s, the flax fibre for Irish linen yarn has been imported almost exclusively from France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It is bought by spinners who produce yarn, which is then sold to weavers who produce fabric. Irish linen spinning has now virtually ceased, yarns being imported from places such as the eastern part of the European Union and China.
Magee of Donegal are a textile manufacturer, clothing manufacturer and retailer, and manufacturer and retailer of home goods based in Donegal Town, County Donegal, Ireland. The company are known for their woolen Donegal tweed, but also manufacture items from linen, cashmere, silk and other materials.
Passementerie or passementarie is the art of making elaborate trimmings or edgings of applied braid, gold or silver cord, embroidery, colored silk, or beads for clothing or furnishings.
Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen is the last remaining of the old established Irish linen Jacquard weavers in Ireland. Situated in Banbridge, Northern Ireland it has been weaving since 1854. The Company, bears the name of its founder, Thomas Ferguson (1820–1900), who was born at Clare, near the village of Waringstown in Co. Down.
Donegal tweed is a woven tweed manufactured in County Donegal, Ireland. Originally all handwoven, it is now mostly machine woven and has been since the introduction of mechanised looms in the 1950s-1960s. Donegal has for centuries been producing tweed from local materials in the making of caps, suits and vests. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, The Royal Linen Manufacturers of Ulster distributed approximately six thousand flax spinning wheels and sixty looms for weaving to various Donegal homesteads. These machines helped establish the homespun tweed industry in nineteenth-century Donegal. Although Donegal tweed has been manufactured for centuries it took on its modern form in the 1880s, largely due to the pioneering work of English philanthropist Alice Rowland Hart.
William Clark & Sons is the oldest linen mill in Ireland and the textile company founded in Maghera, County Londonderry in 1736.
The Game of Thrones Tapestry is a hand-crafted tapestry, woven by hand on a jacquard loom, with additional embroidery. The tapestry tells the entire story of the television show, Game of Thrones. It consists of seven 11-metre-long panels and one 10.5-metre panel. The eight panels depict scenes from each episode and include images of crew at work. The tapestry was commissioned by HBO and Tourism Ireland, the tourism bureau of Northern Ireland. where HBO filmed much of the series.
Belgian Linen is a registered trademark of the Belgian Flax and Linen Association, a trade association that represents over 1,500 artisans and companies that grow and transform flax in Belgium. Since 1960, the association oversees and coordinates the Belgian Linen trademark. There are strict limitations on the use of the label: it has to match a set of quality standards and a certificate can be obtained only by Belgian companies. These standards include that at least 85% of the product by weight contains natural vegetable flax fibres of European Union-origin.
Spence Bryson is a Northern Irish textile company which manufactures and distributes linen and linen products.
Pleated linen is a form of processing linen which results in a fabric which is heavily pleated and does not crease like normal linen fabric.
