For thousands of years, people have developed creative ways to produce textiles. A textile is a piece of cloth that has been formed by weaving, knitting, pressing or knotting together individual pieces of fiber. Yarn is a general term for long pieces of interlocked fibers. Yarn can be made from natural materials such as cotton, linen, silk and wool. Or it can be made from manufactured materials such as nylon, acrylic and polyester. The paints that give color to yarn are called dyes.

Many people today might not think much about the shirt, pants, or socks they are wearing. Manufacturing cloth is now a very low cost process. But this was not always the case.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Until the 19th century, all cloth was made by hand. It took a great deal of time and effort to gather fibers from plants or animals to make into yarn which could then be made into cloth. Humans probably first made textiles to meet important needs. These include textiles for keeping warm, creating shelter, and holding goods. But cultures around the world also developed methods of making cloth that were artistic, creative, and beautiful.

Weaving is one way to produce cloth. A set of threads called the warp form the base of the cloth. Other threads called the weft are placed over and under the warp. The device used to weave together warp and weft threads is called a loom. If you look down at a piece of fabric as though it were a map, the warp threads would go in a north-south direction. The weft goes in an east-west direction.