Miscellaneous Definitions — accessories, trims, tools and general fashion terms from Apparel Search
A ribbon is a thin band of flexible material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth ribbons, especially silk, are often used in connection with dress, but also applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolical purposes, and cultures around the world use ribbons in their hair, around the body, and even as ornamentation on animals, buildings and other areas. Along with tapes, fringes and other smallwares, the manufacture of cloth ribbons forms a special department of the textile industries.
A ribbon is a thin band of flexible material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth (esp.silk) ribbons are often used in connection with dress, but also applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolical purposes; cultures around the world use this device in their hair, around the body, or even as ornamentation on animals, buildings, and other areas. Ribbon is also sometimes used as a package sealer, on par with twine. A typewriter uses a cloth or plastic ribbon to hold the ink.
Along with that of tapes, fringes and other smallwares, the manufacture of cloth ribbons forms a special department of the textile industries. The essential feature of a ribbon loom is the simultaneous weaving in one loom frame of two or more webs, going up to as many as forty narrow fabrics in modern looms.
To effect the conjoined throwing of all the shuttles and the various other movements of the loom, the automatic action of the power-loom is necessary; and it is a remarkable fact that the self-acting ribbon loom was known and extensively used more than a century before the famous invention of Cartwright. A loom in which several narrow webs could be woven at one time is mentioned as having been working in Dantzig towards the end of the 16th century. Similar looms were at work in Leiden in 1620, where their use gave rise to so much discontent and rioting on the part of the weavers that the states-general had to prohibit their use. The prohibition was renewed at various intervals throughout the century, and in the same interval the use of the ribbon loom was interdicted in most of the principal industrial centers of Europe. About 1676, under the name of the Dutch loom or engine loom, it was brought to London; and, although its introduction there caused some disturbance, it does not appear to have been prohibited. In 1745, John Kay, the inventor of the fly-shuttle, obtained, conjointly with Joseph Stell, a patent for improvements in the ribbon loom; and since that period it has benefited by the inventions applied to weaving machinery generally.
Ribbon-weaving is known to have been established near St. Etienne (dep. Loire) as early as the 11th century, and that town has remained the headquarters of the industry. During the Huguenot troubles, ribbon-weavers from St. Etienne settled at Basel and there established an industry which in modern times has rivaled that of the original seat of the trade. Crefeld is the center of the German ribbon industry, the manufacture of black velvet ribbon being there a specialty. In England Coventry is the most important seat of ribbon-making, which is also prosecuted at Norwich and Leicester.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ribbon). Modified by Apparel Search 12/9/04. |
A ribbon is defined by proportion rather than by material: a thin band, narrow in width and long in length, flexible enough to bind and tie. It is typically cloth, but also plastic or sometimes metal. Cloth ribbons, especially silk, are used constantly in connection with dress — tying, trimming, lacing and finishing garments and hair — yet dress is only the beginning of the list. Ribbons are applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolical purposes: cultures around the world use them in their hair, around the body, and even as ornamentation on animals, buildings and other areas, and ribbon serves as a package sealer on par with twine. A typewriter even uses a cloth or plastic ribbon to hold its ink. The ribbon is one of those textile forms, like the cord or the tape, whose simplicity is the source of its range: anything that can be tied, wrapped, marked or decorated can take a ribbon.
Because ribbons are narrow, their manufacture is a specialty of its own. Along with tapes, fringes and other smallwares, the manufacture of cloth ribbons forms a special department of the textile industries, and its essential machine is the ribbon loom. The essential feature of a ribbon loom is the simultaneous weaving in one loom frame of two or more webs, going up to as many as forty narrow fabrics in modern looms — one loom producing dozens of ribbons side by side, each with finished edges, in a single pass. To effect the conjoined throwing of all the shuttles and the other movements of the loom, the automatic action of the power loom is necessary.
The ribbon loom holds a remarkable place in weaving history: the self-acting ribbon loom was known and extensively used more than a century before Cartwright's famous invention of the power loom. A loom in which several narrow webs could be woven at one time is mentioned as working in Dantzig towards the end of the 16th century, and similar looms were at work in Leiden in 1620 — where their use gave rise to so much discontent and rioting among the weavers that the states-general had to prohibit their use. The prohibition was renewed at intervals through the century, and the ribbon loom was interdicted in most of the principal industrial centers of Europe. About 1676, under the name of the Dutch loom or engine loom, it was brought to London, where its introduction caused disturbance but was not prohibited. In 1745 John Kay, inventor of the fly-shuttle, obtained with Joseph Stell a patent for improvements in the ribbon loom, and since then it has benefited by the inventions applied to weaving machinery generally.
The trade's geography is old and durable. Ribbon weaving was established near St. Etienne as early as the 11th century, and that town remained the headquarters of the industry; during the Huguenot troubles, ribbon weavers from St. Etienne settled at Basel and established an industry that rivaled the original seat of the trade. Crefeld is the center of the German ribbon industry, the manufacture of black velvet ribbon being its specialty, and in England Coventry is the most important seat of ribbon making, also prosecuted at Norwich and Leicester. A definition that begins with a simple band thus ends in a centuries-old specialized industry — one whose looms were controversial machines of automation long before the factory age had a name.
A ribbon is a thin band of flexible material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are often used in connection with dress and for ornamental and symbolic purposes worldwide.
The essential feature of a ribbon loom is the simultaneous weaving in one loom frame of two or more webs — up to as many as forty narrow fabrics in modern looms. Achieving that required the automatic action of the power loom.
Ribbon weaving was established near St. Etienne in France as early as the 11th century, and that town remained the industry's headquarters. Crefeld is the center of the German ribbon industry, and in England Coventry is the most important seat of ribbon making, also prosecuted at Norwich and Leicester.