Textile or Cloth

A textile or cloth is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibers yarn or thread. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibers of wool flax cotton hemp or other material to produce long strands. Textiles are formed by weaving knitting crocheting knotting or felting.

The words fabric and cloth are used in textile assembly trades such as tailoring and dressmaking as synonyms for textile. However, there are subtle differences in these terms in specialized usage. Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibers. A fabric is a material made through weaving knitting spreading crocheting or bonding that may be used in production of further goods garments etc. Cloth may be used synonymous with fabric but is often a finished piece of fabric used for a specific purpose e.g table cloth. The word textile is from Latin from the adjective textiles meaning woven from texts the past participle of the verb exert to weave.

The word fabric also derives from Latin, most recently from the Middle French fabrique or building thing made and earlier as the Latin fabric workshop an art trade a skillful production structure fabric which is from the Latin Faber or artisan who works in hard materials from PIE Dhabi meaning to fit together.

The word cloth derives from the Old English clao meaning a cloth woven or felted material to wrap around one, from Pronto-Germanic kalithaz compare O.Frisian klath Middle Dutch cleet Dutch kleed Middle High German kleit and German Klein all meaning garment.

Wool remained the most popular fabric for all classes, followed by linen and hemp. Wool fabrics were available in a wide range of qualities, from rough unfunded cloth to fine; dense broadcloth with velvety nap high-value broadcloth was a backbone of the English economy and was exported throughout Europe. Wool fabrics were dyed in rich colors, notably reds greens gold’s and blues.

Silk-weaving was well established around the Mediterranean by the beginning of the 15th century, and figured silks, often silk velvet's with silver-gilt wefts, are increasingly seen in Italian dress and in the dress of the wealthy throughout Europe. Stately floral designs featuring a pomegranate or artichoke motif had reached Europe from China in the previous century and became a dominant design in the Ottoman silk-producing cities of Istanbul and Bursa and spread to silk weavers in Florence Genoa Venice Valencia and Seville in this period.

As prosperity grew in the 15th century, the urban middle classes, including skilled workers, began to wear more complex clothes that followed at a distance the fashions set by the elites. National variations in clothing increased over the century. European dress changed gradually in the years 400 to 1100. People in many countries dressed differently depending on whether they identified with the old Romanized population, or the new invading populations such as Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and Visigoths. Men of the invading peoples generally wore short tunics, with belts, and visible trousers, hose or leggings. The Romanized populations, and the Church, remained faithful to the longer tunics of Roman formal costume.

The elite imported silk cloth from the Byzantine, and later Muslim, worlds, and also probably cotton. They also could afford bleached linen and dyed and simply patterned wool woven in Europe itself. But embroidered decoration was probably very widespread, though not usually detectable in art. Lower classes wore local or homespun wool, often under, trimmed with bands of decoration, variously embroidery, tablet-woven bands, or colorful borders woven into the fabric in the loom.

Textiles were not only made in factories. Before this, they were made in local and national markets. Dramatic change in transportation throughout the nation is one source that encouraged the use of factories. New advances such as steamboats, canals, and railroads lowered shipping costs which caused people to buy cheap goods that were produced in other places instead of more expensive goods that were produced locally. Between 1810 and 1840, the development of a national market prompted manufacturing which tripled the output’s worth. This increase in production created a change in industrial methods, such as the use of factories instead of hand made woven materials that families usually made.

The vast majority of the people who worked in the factories were women. Women went to work in textile factories for a number of reasons. Some women left home to live on their own because of crowding at home; or to save for future marriage portions. The work enabled them to see more of the world, to earn something in anticipation of marriage, and to ease the crowding within the home. They also did it to make money for family back home. The money they sent home was to help out with the trouble some of the farmers were having. They also worked in the mill houses because they could gain a sense of independence and growth as a personal goal.