The Dutch Engine-Loom, for weaving ribbons, was introduced about eighty years ago. In this loom, instead of one piece of ribbon only, several are woven at once, four of the broadest width, or as many as twenty-four of the narrowest. V, a ch warp has a separate shuttle. The batten extends across the whole width of the loom ; the shuttles slide within grooves made in the batten; the driver is worked horizontally backwards and forwards by a handle. At each motion the shuttles are propelled by the cross bars of the driver across their proper warps in the corresponding direc tion. The loom is worked by the hands, and with treadles for the feet, like the single-hand. The a-la-bar or Bar-Loom, was invented and introduced into St. Etienne by two Swiss brothers about seventy years ago: It is a hand power-loom worked by means of a long transverse handle or bar, which extends along the front of the loom, and is connected. with wheels on each side, which communicate the motion. The shuttles are driven by means of a rack and pinion across the warps. Figures on ribbons, as in other fabrics, are chiefly formed by omitting the regular crossing of the warp and shoot in such a manner that a difference of texture shall occur in the web so as to mark out any pattern. This is effected in the single-hand loom by a multi plication of treadles connected with the lisses by which the different portions of warp are alternately raised. Forty treadles have been sometimes required to form an intricate pattern. Small figures produced in this manner are called Legs. To execute more complicated patterns, an intricate arrangement of the loom is necessary.
Ribbons are made according to a fixed standard of widths designated by different numbers of pence, which once no doubt denoted the price of the article, but at present have reference only to its breadth. The French distinguish their widths by simple numbers. All dressed ribbons, as satins, gauzes, ctc., are made in the loom one-twelfth of an inch wider than sarsenets, in order to allow for the diminution of breadth which results from the lengthwise stretching which they receive in the operation of dressing. Fine gauzes require an allowance of two twelfths. French fancy ribbons are generally made and sold in garnitures, that is, a broad and narrow piece taken together of the same pattern. Sarsenet and Lutestring ribbons are made by the simple andregular alternation of the warp and shoot, as in plain cloth, called technically ground. By Grogram (French gros grains) is meant a variation in the texture caused by the warp threads passing over two of the shoots at once, taking up one only: this often finishes the edge of a ribbon.
The figures are frequently produced in a different colour from the ground by the mixture of colours in the warp; the colouri being warped separately. In the intervals of the figures the coloured threads are carried along the under side of the ribbon ; and it is said to have a double or treble figure, accord ing to the number of colours passing through each dent. A change of colour in the shoot is effected by the use of different shuttles. In brocades the figure is made by small additional shuttles, thrown in partially across the ribbon as the pattern may require ; the connecting threads of shoot being clipped off. By Damask is meant the laying of the warp over the shoot to form the figure in the manner of satin. Some fancy ribbons are of plain texture, but varied in colouring ; they are shot or woven in shades, stripes, bars, or cheques, called its the trade these last, which require the shuttle to be changed very frequently, are still made in the single-hand loom. In Shot Ribbons the warp and the shoot are of diffe rent colours. Clouding is a peculiar manage ment in the dyeing by which a change of hue is produced in the same thread of silk. In Chink ribbons the figures are printed or painted on the warp after it is prepared for the loom, and afterwards woven in by the shuttle. Ribbons are watered by passing two pieces together between two cylinders, one of which has a heater within it. Galloons and DouL/es are strong thick ribbons, principally black, used for bindings, shoe-strings &c. The narrow widths are called Galloons ; the broader, Doubles. Ferrets are coarse narrow ribbons shot with cotton, used for similar purposes. In gold and silver ribbons a silk thread of similar colour is wound round by a flattened wire of the metal, and afterwards woven. Lyon was particularly celebrated for its fabrics of this kind.
The number of persons employed in ribbon making in Coventry, including winders and warpers, was estimated, in 1838, at 6000 or 7000; and in the rural parishes, at 10,000 or 11,000. It has since varied considerably, according to the fluctuations of the ribbon trade.
The ribbons imported into Great Britain in 1850 amounted to the following quantities :— Silk or Satin Ribbons . .282,799 lbs.
Gauze or Crape Ribbons . . 44,5311bs.
Velvet Ribbons 16,675 lbs. Most of these are imported from France. Very few English ribbons are exported.