History of Textile Weaving Weaving is acknowledged as one of the oldest surviving craft in the world. The tradition of weaving traces back to Neolithic times that is approximately 12,000 years ago. Even before the actual process of weaving was discovered, the basic principle of weaving was applied to interlace branches and twigs to create fences, shelters and baskets for protection.
Weaving is one of the primary methods of textile production and it involves interlinking a set of vertical threads with a set of horizontal threads. The set of vertical threads are known as wrap and the set of horizontal threads are known as weft. Weaving can be done by hand or it can also be done by using machines. Machines used for weaving is termed as loom.
Loom originated from crude wooden frame and gradually transformed into the modern sophisticated electronic weaving machine. Nowadays weaving has become a mechanized process though hand weaving is still in practice.
John Kay of Bury, England first discovered flying shuffle in 1733 which speeded the process of weaving and the production was almost doubled.
Initially weaving was done by hand by the weavers but with the mechanization of the weaving and industrial revolution, the traditional hand weavers felt threatened to their very livelihood.
Wool available from sheep served as the earliest textile fabric available for spinning into yarn and then for weaving into cloth. The first spinning wheel was discovered in India and then it reached Europe in the latter half of the 14th century.
Modern Machines Used in Weaving The impact and wide spread use of modern, technically updated machinery becomes clearly evident list of following list of weaving machineries.