Linen: Any textile fiber may be used to weave tapestry. Wool has always been the most favored material because its soft springy quali lends itself best to covering the warps. Its abili to take dye is another factor in its favor. Tl earliest fragments of tapestry preserved fro Pharaonic times in Egypt were woven entire of linen; however, in early Christian times wo was almost exclusively used for the wefts, som times with linen, sometimes with woolen warp Linen, silk, and gold threads were also used ; wefts, though generally in combination with woe Early tapestries from Persia combine cottc with wool and the same is true of tapestries i pre-Columbian Peru.
Linen burns slowly and smells like charred wood. No ball is left. Synthetic fibers. These are more difficult to test by the burning method than natural fibers; the difference in ashes is due to the various
chemical elements. Rayon yarns burn rapidly and leave a slightly charred but brittle end. Some of them melt as they burn and small sparks appear. The acetate types sometimes have a pungent odor. There are other tests for certain fabrics. The moisture test can be made to distinguish linen and cotton. If water is dropped on linen, the spot appears translucent; if dropped on cotton, the spot is more opaque. The broken ends of a cotton yarn are fuzzy in appearance while those of linen are pointed. As linen threads are stronger than cotton threads of the same size, it requires greater strength to break them. The feeling or touch test requires experience and is not always accurate, but is sometimes the best way to distinguish between silk and synthetic fibers. Cloth tests are not as important as they were formerly, as yardage is today usually marked by the manufacturer as to its proportional content. |
