Silk Dream Weaver

Do you know how fabrics were made in the good old days?  If not, you are in for a treat coz we were down at Lyon, in the South East of France this past weekend to check out this boutique museum called La Maison des Canuts (if you are wondering what canut is, it means weaver) where they showcase ancient Jacquard looms that produced many yards of gorgeous silk fabrics in history.  It is hard to believe that some of these weird looking machines could have produced those fine and detailed fabrics.  We were just speechless!

This is a poster that explains the Lyon silk regulated conditions for its weight

This is the machine that determines the weight of the silk

This is where silk yarns are placed to be weighted

A small model to show you what it takes to make that little gold fabric swatch behind

This is called La Cannetiere à Pedale (Pirn Winder) in a reduced scale

This is called La Mecanique Ronde (Yarn Counter) to unwind the silk's skein

These are all the tools needed to wind the yarn before pass them through the machines

Mechanical Jacquard machine to produce the patterns

These are Cantre et Ourdissoir (Creel and Warping Frame) for the preparation of the warp threads

This is Métier à Bras Jacquard (Jacquard Hand Weaving Loom), an ancient set-up called "corps et lisses" (body and smooths)

These are Cantre, Rouet (Creel and Spinning Wheel) to spin threads on bobbins

This is another machine that produces fabric trimmings