Last week we were able to travel up to Gaffney, South Carolina and get a glimpse of our Red Land Cotton fabric being woven on the loom. It was surreal seeing our cotton yarn transform into cloth. They let us snag a few pictures and we're dying to show you!
* Disclaimer: We are in no way textile engineers. We will be showing and explaining this process per our basic knowledge of it! Enjoy!
So last time we talked about our process we were spinning our yarn. That yarn was wound onto large bobbins and sent to the weaver. From there the yarn will be used as either a warp or a weft yarn. Or as I like to think of it as "the frame" and "the filling". Hopefully, this will make more sense soon.
the warp yarns
The warp yarns run lengthwise. The warp yarns are wound from their original bobbins onto a large "warp beam" (ie. massive metal spool of yarn). This process is visually stunning (we didn't get a picture of our own but it looks like this). It takes between 2,000-5,000 warp yarns to make up the width of a single sheet. 500-600 ends of yarn from spools are pulled onto the large metal beam, thus "warping" it.
After the warp beams are filled they go into "slashing" which consists of coating the warp yarns with a starch or sizing solution that makes the yarns easier to weave. Because the warp yarns are the "frame" for our cloth, they will experience a lot of friction and a bit of a rougher time than the weft or "filling" yarn. All the coating comes off in the finishing process. From there, the sized yarns are wound onto loom beams and placed on the loom.
the weft yarns
Weft yarns run across the width of the fabric and serves as a "filling" of sorts to the fabric as a whole. The weft doesn't have to be sized because flexibility is actually needed from the weft yarns in the weaving process. The weft is fed directly from the spools of yarn onto the loom at a very high speed.
weaving on the loom
Weaving involves the weft threads interlocking with the warp threads. The filler threads are transported across the warp threads at a rate of around 500 insertions per minute! This means that a filler thread can run across the warp thread about every one-tenth of a second. It takes about 90 insertions to weave an inch of sheeting! SO thats about 5.5 inches of sheeting woven per minute — 10 yards per hour. Every week the loom can produce about 1,500 yards of fabric. The woven product is referred to as "greige" or "grey goods" and will go on to finishing after thorough inspection for any imperfections.
Greer Wright Bisignani
I am WOWED by your company and your history. I love that you are in the cotton industry because Alabama has deep roots in textiles and cotton farming. My family had cotton gin in St. Clair County dating back in the 1800s up until mid- 1950s/60s. I grew up in a textile community – Sylacauga. While we are proud of our heritage – the loss of Avondale is still being felt in our community. We are grasping at ways to come back from that loss even though the buildings are being re-purposed, the surrounding homes built by Avondale – look like something left behind.
I would love a meeting with you to ask more about Redland Cotton and your plans for the future. What your needs are and how do you see your operation growing? Sylacauga has highways (Hwy 21/231 and Hwy 280) and railways that could be beneficial with suppliers that may want to consider Alabama as a good place to do business. We are open for business, and we have a new philosophy – we want to come alongside businesses to bring manufacturing back to Alabama and it starts with small businesses.
Please email me a time that works with your schedule to have a 15-20 minute call in the near future.
I look forward to speaking with someone from Redland Cotton. I love watching you guys on Fox News and your story speaks to my heart for Alabama cotton.
Kindest regards,
Greer Wright Bisignani
Fred Faber
Retired from steel heddle reed division and always interested in companies that continue to use American facilities to produce their products…….good luck and good advertising!!!