The Savannah morning news., 1902-05-02
WEAVING ROYAL WEBS.
Cloth for Edwards and AIexandra's
Coronation Robes.
From the London Mail


is being woven in the quiet Essex viii
lage of Braintree.
A visit there soon shows that the
Queens wish that only goods of Brit
ish manufacture should be worn at
the coronation has. even in the short
time which has elapsed since the royal
mandate went forth. borne good fruit
in the increased activity of the silk in
dustry and in the revival of velvet
handloom Weaving, which had be-
come almost an obsolete handicraft in
the country.
This is the way to the factory" said
a rosy checked girl, one of three who
were walking briskly up the hill as
came out of Braintree station.
I'VE work there" she added; and
could not but compare the good ap-
Dearance of these girls with the fac
tory hands" one sees thronging the
cotton mills in the North, with shawls
tied over their heads.
The silk industry has evidently a re-
fining influence on the worker and the
Queen has conferred not only a boon
upon British trade, but has opened
wider the door of desirable occupa-
ton for women and girls.
Once within the factory l understood
the bright animation of my guides.
What feminine nature would not be
happy in the midst of shiny silks of
every color in the prism. To look at
those gay revolving shuttles made one
feel light-hearted, and if my object
had not been to study every detail
from beginning to finish in the manu-
tacture of the robes which the King
and Queen are to wear at their crown
ing, l should have fallen into a philo-
sophie reverie regarding the effect of
the cardinal pnln1.c ar he
The "ROynI" weaving Shed.
Entering the lofty and commodious
weaving shed on the ground floor l was
made sensible that / was entering sd
cred ground.
The clanking of the great hand looms,
a sight which would have done the
heart of William Morris good, was not
exactly seraphic music. but about the
workers was a subdued air of import
ance.
Were they not the selected crafts
men for weaving the royal robes?
Each loom unfolded for me it's SHIN
mering silk of glossy velvet from the
protecting cover. The weaver of the
golden cloth for the Kings mantle said
impressively:
Il am almost afraid to breathe lest
l should injure it."
There was the cleaning yellow silken
warp stretched on the loom, and
through it the shoot" filled with
thread of gold, of purer metal even
than a sovereign. was being deftly
thrown to and fro, and one saw line
upon line of wondrous cloth forming
under the weaver's hand. The great
est care has to be taken in throwing
the shuttle that the gold thread does
not break the silk warp.
The quantity ordered for the King
mantle is thirty yards. The cloth is
twenty-one inches wide, and is manu-
featured after the style of that for the
late Queens coronation robe, with the
exception that hers was figured ant
the Kings is woven perfectly plain. His
Majesty lent Queen Victoria's robe as
a guide for Messrs. Warner.
The weaver works so carefully and
slowly that he can only make one yarc
in a day. On this calculation the max
ing of the Kings mantle will take tbs
whole time of an expert weaver for {
month
From the factory it will pass to tn,
| Royal School of Art Needlework, Soutl
| Kensington, where it is to be hanC
| embroidered by girls l also saw
piece of cloth of gold of a softer finish
pliable as SATIN which is to be used fol
| trimmings.
White Satin for the Queen.
Passing to the next loom 1 saw ir
process of manufacture the satin which
it is expected will be used for the
Queens underdress.
1t is pure white and of a wonderfully
rich texture. One can understand
that the care bestowed upon it to pre-
serve it's spotless purity is as great
as that given to the respondent cloth
of gold. This satin will also be en-
broidered at the School of Art Needle
work
A cloth of silver made exactly like
the Kings cloth of gold, with the ex-
ception that it is softer for draping,
is also being prepared for lining the
purple velvet robes Of the royal ladies'.
On the opposite side of the weaving
shed" the looms showed nothing but
glossy velvets. This is the most in
teresting outcome of the Queens wish.
Foreign manufacturers had absorbed
practically all the velvet trade of this
country. Everybody must have their
velvet from Lyons! The Queen has
changed this and velvet weaVers who
have for the past thirty-five years
drifted entirely into the silk and bro
cade trade are now plying their shut
ties on coronation velvet. 1t is impos-
sible to say how many hundreds of
yards of the ruby red for the peers
and peeresses' robes will be turned out
at Braintree and also in Yorkshire dur
ing the next few months.
Velvet for Princess of Wales.
1 saw on the looms the rich purple
velvet for the robe of the Princess of
Wales.
The pile is so close that the weaver
can only make half a yard a day. He
said, with proud delight, that it had
never been his lot to handle so rich
a velvet before. The color was beau
tiful beyond description, but the shade
like that of the red velvet, has only
been arrived at by repeated expert
ments in fast dyes.
Leaving the royal weaving shed,
visited the large room above, where a
greater number of looms We're at work
manufacturing silks and brocades of
all kinds, in execution of the orders
which the West End shops are plac-
ing, and there was evidence of a re-
vival in this branch of British man.
ufacture.
"Why do women buy their silks
abroad?" was the universal query dur
ing Messrs. Liberty's recent exhibition
of homemade goods. and l reiterated
thu question again as / gazed at the
lovely fabrics which are being made al
Braintree.
Preparing the Web.
Passing through the warehouse
where samples of cloth-of-gold, cloth
of-silver delicate white satin, and the
imperial purple velvet, some of which
had only lust been received with the