Developing Thread:

The earliest humans in the hunter gather stage made clothing out of animal skins. Only as civilization developed did weaving and more sophisticated clothing production begin.

Spinning Threads

Using fibers both animal and plant to create textiles necesitated the conversion of those fibers into actual threads. The production of threads and yarns was a major step in the development of civilization. Twisting fibers to produce threads is known as spinning. It is a necessary step before further operations such as sewing, weaving, and knitting can proceed. Primnitive man probably first use rocks for spinning thread. Archaeologists theorize that rocks were commonly use by primitive peoples for spinning thread, but can not conclusively prove it. As the first humans to spin thread were nomadic pre-agrarian peoples, there is little archeological evidence. No one knows when man first began to refine spinning technology. It appears to have been independently developed in several different civilizations. Historians estimate that humans first began spinning threads about 10,000 years ago. Through much of history the only spinning device used was the dropspindle. Medieval European spinners often used a distaff to hold their fibers while they were spun on to spindle. This was commonly done at home by the women and children. The term “distaff side” today has come to mean the maternal side of one's family. Wool and flax in Europe were most commonly spun materials with a distaff and dropspindle. The distaff was a forked stick or staff around which a a bundle of cotton, flax, silk, flax, or other raw fiber was placed. The distaff was either held in one hand or secured in a waistbelt. The spindle was a tappering rod which was rotated by hand and twisted the raw fiber into a usable fiber. This dropspindle was the primary device used to spin threads for clothing and other textiles for most of European histopry from Egyptian mummy wrappings to the fabulous tapestries of Medieval Europe. It was effective, but was labor intensive, requiring an enonrmous amount of labor. This and the equally labor intensive weaving process made clothing in the ancient and Medieval era exceedingly expensive. Archeologists in the Middle East have found hand spindle whorls dating to 5000 BC in Middle Eastern excavation sites. One historian suggests that since the wheel does not appear until about 3500 BC, the use of dropspindles may have lead primitive man to discover the wheel. Perhaps during the endless hours of spinning fiber, man may have realized that the rotation of a spindle whorl of a spindle, man may have experimented perhaps by accident with that rotation, by dropping or placing it on a vertical instead of a horizontal plane--creating the wheel.

The Spinning Wheel

Using fibers both animal and plant to create textiles necesitated the conversion of those fibers into actual threads. The enormous length of silk threads created a huge need for some kind of winding device. Silk in China may date from the 27th century BC, although some authors give more conservative estimates, most agrree it was before the 14th century BC. No one knows when the Chinese first fiber winding machines, but they appear to have been developed out of a need to form silk treads out of silk fibers. There is mention of silk fiber winding devices in Chinese dictionaries by the 2nd century AD. The initial devices were quilling machines which may date to the 1st century BC. Actual spinning wheels. No one knows when they first appeared in China. It is known that spinning wheels were being widely used in China by the 11th century. By that time, cotton culture had developed in China and spinning wheels appear to have been a way of adapting silk winders so that cotton fibers could be created. Historians believe that the the spinning wheel was one of the devices that Marco Polo brought back to Italy from China. While this is conjecture, there is no evidence of spinning wheels being used in Europe until the late 13th century.

Weaving

Weaving is the interlacing of threads, yarns, strips or other fiberous material. It is primarily associated with the production of fabric for clothing, but other items are also woven such as baskets. Weaving is well established in aiciet socities where it was generally relegated to women. While weaving has pre-historic orgins, many technical developments over a long period have led to modern industrial weaving mills.

Cloth in CatSailing

Cloth is a very important part of catamaran sailing.