휴게소(2). Moffat Mill

휴게소(2). Moffat Mill. 스코틀랜드(Scotland)

ewm.co.uk

 

RAMESES

Spinning

Before the wool can be used for weaving it first has to be spun

either by hand or machine.

 

The clean wool cannot immediately be spun into yarn. First it must be blended into the appropriate mixture of types and qualities to produce the desired result. It may be dyed then, once it has been spun into yarn or after the fabric is woven. Whether or not it is dyed, the wool must now be re-oiled. After scouring the wool is dry and brittle and impossible to spin. The lost oil or lanoline must be replaced to make the fibres strong and elastic again. Today the oils used are refined and sweet-smelling but 200 years ago fish liver oil or rancid butter were commonly used.

 

After oiling the wool must be combed or carded sot that the fibres all lie in one direction. Then the wool is spun - twisted into a continuous thread or yarn.

 

Before 1700 spinning was commonly done on a distaff and spindle. This method had the advantage of mobility - the spinner could carry peats,m watch over grazing animals, or keep an eye on the children while she worked. During the 18th century the spinning wheel began to take over. First the spindle wheel - Great or Muckle Wheel - then the smaller and more familiar flyer wheel. But all of these methods began to die out with the invention of the Spinning Jenny in 1764. Previously at least 6 spinners were needed to keep one weaver supplied with yarn, now one machine could produce more than he could use.

 

 

This foot operated "Hattersley Loom" was used in the 1940's for the weaving of cloth.

 

They are still in use in some parts of Scotland, mainly the islands.

 

 

 

Weaving on Hattersley looms

 

Natural Dyes

Before the development of modern artificial dyes, wool was coloured with natural dyes. Hundreds of different plants provided dyes, some more than one, Roots, berries, flowers, stems and leaves, and lichens and seaweeds, were all used. The resultant colour varies with the minerals in the local water and the mordant (colour fixant) used.

 

Winding & Warping

The warp or series of threads which is fixed in the loom runs the full length of the woven fabric. These threads must be arranged in order before weaving. In the past this was done on a wall frame by one worker, ir on a free-standing frame which stood between two people. Today, warping is still a skilled job but the threads are arranged on large cylinders which are then transferred to the loom.

 

Sorted Wool

Wool sorted into various qualities, all from one Scottish Blackface fleece. The finest fibres come from the neck and shoulders, the roughest from the legs.

 

Finished the Cloth

Newly-woven woollen cloth is usually shrunk and thickened before use. In the past this was done by the process known as 'waulking'. This job was usually done by women who worked the fabric, which had been soaked in stale urine (which contains ammonia), with their hands or feet until it had shrunk and thickened. In Lowland Scotland waulking mills were used to do the same job whilst today modern machinery scours and mills the cloth.

 

Twisting & Coning

The powered twisting and coning machine superseded the winding wheel on which yarn was wound by hand.

 

Power Loom

The power loom weaves the same fabrics from the same yarns as the handloom - only much faster. There is little which we can produce today on a power loom which a medieval weaver could not have produced just as well, although more slowly.

 

 

The Building

Piror to 1949, this building was the local Abbatoir situated beside the then railway. In that year, the Company MOFFAT HANDLOOM WAVERS came into being, with the partnership of Mr Frank Scott, Mr David Colledge and Mr George Kemp.

 

Between 1949 and 1951, the Company employed I Weaver and 12 Darners, who also darned for a Galashiels company. MOFFAT HANDLOOM WEAVERS entered the retail side of things on a small scale in 1951.

 

Since then, the Company known as MOFFAT WOOLLENS LIMITED has grown considerably, and today offers one of the widest quality selections of Tweeds, Tartans and Knitwear to be found in Scotland.

 

 

Winding the wool in 1889

ULYSSES

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