Ecru Silk

A plain weave silk cloth, woven from ecru yarns in many qualities. The finish is such that the character of the yarn is not altered.

A thrown silk yarn, rather harsh and with little lustre. Only about 3 per cent of the gum has been removed. Largely used for gauze making.

Silk yarns are composed of a number of silk filaments twisted together, usually 8 to 12 to form a thread. The filaments have a natural coating of gum which gives strength and elasticity, but reduces lustre. The gum must be boiled off if lustre is wanted, which may be done either in the yarn state or when woven in cloth. Silk yarns are divided into two classes, " thrown silk" and " spun silk," the first being yarns that are made by the processes of reeling and throwing, and the second consisting of yarns spun from waste silk. Thrown Silk, or Net Silk comprises organzine and tram yarns, organzine being made from the most perfect cocoons and used for warps. Tram is made from the inferior cocoons and used as weft. All silk contains a proportion of natural gum, and the amount of gum removed give rise to the following terms: - Boiled-off Silk - Yarn which has had all the gum removed, and has the highest sheen (see Boiled-off). Hard Silk - Yarn that has not undergone any boiling-off process. Ecru Silk - Yarn boiled to remove about 3 per cent to 5 per cent of the gum by light washing in lukewarm water. Souple Silk - Yarn boiled to remove about one-sixth of the gum. Bengal Silk - See Bengal Silk. Berlin Silk - A silk yarn made for fancy hand work. It is produced by doubling from 4 to 8 twisted singles grege by a right-hand twist; then again doubling three of these with a left-hand twist. The thread is very round, smooth, and hard, also known as cordon-net. Blond Silk - A special silk yarn made by doubling three grege threads left-hand twist, then doubling three of these together with right-hand twist. Brights - Silk which has been entirely de-gummed in the skein and then dyed. Bourette, Bourrette Yarn - A low grade of silk yarn made from the waste produced by schappe spinning. Canton Silk - See Canton Silk. Chiffon Twist - Single raw silk threads, 50 or more turns per inch. Used for chiffons, crepe-de-chines, etc. Crepe-de-Chine - Hard twist tram silk, about 40 to 70 turns per inch. Made from 3 to 5 raw silk ends. Usually woven as weft. Crepe Georgette - Hard twist raw silk usually made from two threads 13/15 deniers, 50 or more turns, both right and left twist, used for crepe georgettes as warp and weft. Crepe Twist - This is tram silk hard twisted, having from 30 to 100 turns per inch. Used for making fabrics of a crepe character both all silk and mixtures. Cordonnet Silk - See Berlin Silk; also under Cordonnet. Eri Silk - A raw silk obtained from the wild silkworm " Attacus ricini." Flock Silk - A general term used to indicate silk yarns made from the outer uneven parts of the cocoon. Floss Silk - Used principally for embroidery purposes. It is a thrown silk and made by doubling two thick raw singles with right-hand twist together with a left-hand twist. Galette Silk - A coarse silk yarn made from waste. Grenadine Silk - Organzine silk with a large number of turns per inch. Jaspe Silk - Silk warps printed in the hank. Ombre Silk - Skein dyed yarn in a gradation of shades, which run in sequence of depth of colour, varying from five up to forty shades. Schappe Silk - A spun silk yarn which is made from silk degummed by the maceration process used on the Continent (see Schappe Silk). Soie Ondee - See Soie Ondee. Silk Yarns - In addition to the foregoing yarns see under the following terms for further silk yarns: - Cable, Cevennes, Chappe, Chine, Clochepeid, Crocheting, Crue (see Ecru), Cuite Cusier, Cusirino, Degummed, Docken, Doup-pion. Ecru, Embroidery, Etschingo, Filature, Filature a 1'Europeune, Filet, Florette, Fringe, Goffered, Grege, Gum Hainin, Hard, Kahing, Knitting, Lousy, Marabout, Maybasch, Melange, Mele, Mi-cuit, Minchcw, Nett, Noil, Organzine, Ouvrees, Oval, Pearlina, Pel, Pelo, Poie, Pure dye Silk, Raw (see Grege), Re-reels, Retorse, Senegal, Sewing, Simonita, Soft Singles, Soie Ondee, Souple, Spun, Steeped, Strafilato, Stumba, Thrown, Tors San File, Tram, Tramette, Tsatlees, Tussah, Twist, Washed, Zaguri.

The natural colour of cotton, wool or silk that is about the colour of unbleached linen or hemp.

See Ecru.

This type of work is very durable and is done with washable materials. The design is drawn on ecru linen or fine cotton cloth, the outlines are run over with ecru thread, then with ecru silk and button hole stitches. The parts of the pattern are connected with bars and wheels. The ecru linen is cut away where no pattern is formed and the work is attached to coloured silk or velvet as desired.

Embroidery on coarse cheese cloth done with ecru coloured cords and ecru silk. For mats, chair covers, etc.

The real pongee is woven in Northern China on hand looms from the silk of wild cocoons. Almost always of pale or dark ecru, but sometimes dyed in colours to meet a fashion. The warp is always finer than the weft and more even, the weft having nubs characteristic of wild silk yarn which forms a crossrib effect with the many nubs scattered in the fabric. The name means " own loom " in Chinese, signifying that the piece was woven on a house's own loom in guarantee of which certain Chinese characters are stamped on the cloth. Another explanation of the name is that it derives from pang-chih (Cantonese, " pung-che ") which is the name of the wheel on which the silk is reeled from the cocoon. A very fine cloth is also made by the natives of many parts of India from natural coloured silk warp and weft, plain weave, very fine sett, such as 150 ends and 150 picks per inch. The Lancashire pongee is made from the best of cotton and mercerised, dyed and schreinered. A variety is 35-in., 120 yards, 98 ends and 104 picks per inch, 80's warp, 120's weft. British silk pongees are "woven from yarn in its gummed state and degummed after weaving. When dyed and finished the handle and brilliance of the cloth are excellent. A typical cloth is made 80 ends and 80 picks per inch, 26 denier singles warp, 90 denier singles weft. Pongees are very fine fabrics, but many muslins are called pongees and the quality varies according to the market, such as 98 ends and 104 picks per inch, 80's warp, 120's weft, all Egyptian, home trade; 74 ends and 74 picks per inch, 60's warp, 60's weft, all Egyptian, South America; 60 ends and 60 picks per inch, 34's warp, 32's weft, all American, Java and China.

A French dress fabric made from mixture yams, silk and wool, silk and cotton, wool and cotton, and sometimes all wool. Used for cheaper styles of dresses. Both prints and dyed are produced, but the bulk is either ecru or cream. Widths about 54-in. and many qualities; the weave is plain.

A heavy corded cloth for dress purposes; it has two silk warps, one single ecru yam, and the other two-fold or three-fold silk. The weft is thick cotton. The effect is a heavy rib across the fabric.

The lace made at Bayeux closely resembles Chantilly bobbin lace. The first silk laces in ecru, and later in white, were made in this town in the 18th century.

A Chinese silk taffeta, white or ecru. Made about 20-in. wide. The texture is very fine and regular, used for drapery and for painting on.

A Chinese foulard made of wild silk and left natural ecru colour, about 21-in. wide, woven on hand looms in satin weave.