A bolt is a piece of cloth woven on a loom or created by a knitting machine, as it is processed, stored and/or marketed. Consequently, its dimensions are highly variable – flexible and dependent upon the manufacturing, machinery, quantity, size, thickness and quality of the product. It is a unit used in manufacturing, transport and inventory. It is also used as a descriptor for wallpaper, which uses different fabrication machinery. Being encompassing, it is by its nature a generic and ambiguous term of convenience and context, used to describe fabric and wallpaper.
Rolls leaving the factory, 2014
Rolls on retail sale, 2019
Specialty cloth; velvet, cloth with sparkles, etc.
"Narrow cloth" is cloth of a comparatively narrow width, generally less than a human armspan; precise definitions vary.
Weaving narrow cloth on a back-strap loom. A lone weaver without a flying shuttle must be able to span the cloth they are weaving with their arms.
Weaving raffia on an upright loom in Babouantou, Cameroon.
Weaving jamdani on a two-person loom.
Tanmono, traditional narrow Japanese fabric bolts. This is cotton dyed with indigo before weaving (kasuri) Behind is a yukata (type of kimono) made from this cloth.
