A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Spinning mills in Ancoats, Manchester, England – representation of a mill-dominated townscape
Lancashire cotton mill, 1914
Marvel's Mill in Northampton, pictured in 1746 – the earliest known pictorial representation of a cotton mill
Richard Arkwright's first 1771 Cromford Mill in Derbyshire, with three of its original five storeys remaining
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft, woof, or filling. The method in which these threads are interwoven affects the characteristics of the cloth.
Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. A fabric band that meets this definition of cloth can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, back strap loom, or other techniques that can be done without looms.
Warp and weft in plain weaving
A satin weave, common for silk, in which each warp thread floats over 16 weft threads
A Bangladesh Ansar officer weaving on duty.
Weaving pattern cards used by Skye Weavers, Isle of Skye, Scotland