Weaving
The process for outerwear
The fibres whichever type are collected and either combed (worsted) or not (woollen).
Next the fibres are spun or twisted together in either an S or Z direction – this creates yarn. This yarn can then but twisted with other yarn either of the same fibre or different to create a mix. The end result will be a rope looking thread. This can now be woven to make cloth.
Weaving is the process of interlacing many vertical (warp) yarns with many horizontal (weft) yarns normally on an industrial loom. The end result is unfinished cloth. At this stage the cloth feels a bit like cardboard.
The finishing process gives the cloth its life, its lustre. The cloth is washed with the soft water from the pennines which has been filtered through the Yorkshire mill stone with very few impurities in it, added to which is a natural soap which creates a beautiful lather that scorers the material. The cloth is then set and dried at a heat that allows the cloth to go forward and stand up to the riggers of life without loosing its shape and lustre or going shiny.
The process for shirts
Cotton is harvested and combed so all the fibres run the same way. Those fibers are then twisted together and spun to create a 1 ply thread of cotton typically used to create off the peg shirts. More luxurious fabric is made up of cotton which has a longer staple (fibres) of cotton and the resulting thread is then spun with another thread to create a 2 ply thread which is then used to weave the cotton sheet. More luxurious fabrics like Egyptian cotton are made of literally twice the amount of cotton per square inch, which is twice as strong and very crease resistant. The fibers used to create this fabric are combed in a way that stretches them giving them an elastic memory meaning the shirts wont want to crease they will under normal body heat bounce back to being wrinkle free. Not possible with the much more common shorted staple of cotton because its much more brittle.
- Off the peg cotton is normally a mix of cotton and synthetics which isn’t always good for the skin and is made of fibers typically 10mm long.
- Egyptian cotton is 100% cotton and is made of cotton typically 25mm long
- Sea Island cotton is typically 52mm in length.