What is jacquard?

Recently I began my journey with jacquard tapestries. I do a lot of surface design, meaning my artwork is put onto different items (plain products are boring!). And jacquard tapestry products are the latest iteration of the surface design selection at A Cup of Cloudy. But jacquard is a little different. Designs aren’t printed ON, they’re woven IN. These art products are so unique that I thought the topic deserved its own explanation article. So let’s talk about what jacquard fabric is, where it came from, and how I got involved in it.

WHAT IS JACQUARD?

Jacquard is a type of fabric. There are many items labeled wrongly as jacquard – simply because the design imitates the look of jacquard fabric and so they call it that – but don’t be fooled. 

Each thread in a jacquard item is individually dyed and then woven together in such a way to produce an image. The method of weaving is essential to the final result and varies with each design. 

It is NOT woven first and then printed on. 

Jacquard is more about the method and less about the materials, kind of like the word “satin.” It can be made of cotton, which is most common, but it could also be polyester or wool. 

Like any type of fabric, it’s used to make a bunch of different things: pillowcases, wall hangings, table runners, clothing, tote bags, etc.

WHAT’S THE HISTORY OF JACQUARD?

Joseph Marie Jacquard invented an attachment for the weaving loom in 1804. It drastically improved the ease of weaving and earned him the credit for the fabric’s name. 

Joseph Jacquard was a Frenchman born in 1752 who, after poverty and the French Revolution and several failed inventions, eventually had the opportunity to pitch his loom attachment to Napoleon, who liked the idea and agreed to fund the development of it. 

Originally, tapestries were handwoven. This meant each fabric artwork was painstakingly produced with a handloom. Only royalty or the church came to possess these tapestries, since they cost a lot in labor and time to make. Some of these tapestries survive today. 

Multiple people worked to make incremental improvements to the loom. Soon, it became more automated.

When the machine loom came into use, designs were programmed into the loom using wooden cards, each with a series of holes in them. The operator would push a pedal to move the machine. As each card passed over the needles, some needles were let through the holes to weave with the base layer of parallel threads and others were blocked by the wood. Where the thread was let through the holes, that thread color would show on the front. Where it was blocked, it would be hidden on the back. More complicated designs meant more complex blocks. Bigger designs meant bigger blocks (and more threads in the loom). Each push of the pedal would move the card forward, push the needles up, and weave one row of thread on the tapestry — in layman’s terms.

After Jacquard contributed his development to the loom, this weaving process was further automated. Specifically, his attachment machine used the cards which allowed the loom worker to control (with extraordinary precision and speed) which threads were raised, to make a design appear. It was inspired by an earlier loom designed by Jacques de Vaucanson. This eliminated a lot of time and manual labor required. 

Wikipedia gives important context as to how the jacquard invention worked:

“To understand the Jacquard loom, some basic knowledge of weaving is necessary. Parallel threads (the “warp”) are stretched across a rectangular frame (the “loom”). For plain cloth, every other warp thread is raised. Another thread (the “weft thread”) is then passed (at a right angle to the warp) through the space (the “shed”) between the lower and the upper warp threads. Then the raised warp threads are lowered, the alternate warp threads are raised, and the weft thread is passed through the shed in the opposite direction. With hundreds of such cycles, the cloth is gradually created.

By raising different (not just alternate) warp threads and using colored threads in the weft, the texture, color, design, and pattern can be varied to create varied and highly desirable fabrics.”

Now looms are more computerized and electronic. Cards aren’t needed anymore to program the loom. You can upload a digital image into the loom and the loom understands which threads to weave, pixel by pixel. 

The principles of weaving remain the same, but the methods have become easier with technological advancements. Still, the Jacquard name is attached because of his significant contribution to the technology.

MAKING OTHER THINGS WITH JACQUARD FABRIC

Like other fabrics, jacquard is used to make or decorate things. It can be used for upholstery, wall art, clothing, and more. Making fabric into products is called “finishing.”

In the finishing process, other materials are added to make something new. 

When I make pillows, I sew soft backing fabric onto a square of jacquard, fill it with cotton stuffing, and sew the two sides shut. 

When I make wall hanging tapestries, I sew plain cotton fabric on the back of the jacquard to cover the opposite side of the design (which shows up on the back in reversed colors) and to provide a slot to insert a rod into for easy hanging. 

Finishing work is usually done on a regular sewing machine or sewn by hand. Any fabric arts worker will know the finishing work well, as it’s usually the same for any fabric type. 

HOW I ENDED UP WORKING WITH JACQUARD

Becoming a fabric artist was not my intent. I love surface design because it’s mostly DESIGN and not MANUFACTURING. Illustration and design is the fun part for me. That’s why I make prints and not originals. That’s why I pay a local company to bind notebooks for A Cup of Cloudy. That’s why I did a collab with a local artist to make candles that I decorated. 

But when I was approached by a tapestry business owner who wanted to retire and sell me the business, I knew I had to say yes.

Yes to the whole thing – manufacturing, sewing, finishing included. 

And in learning the business, history, and art of jacquard (which was a steep learning curve!) I also learned to love the manufacturing side of art products as well. 

I talked about buying the tapestry business in detail on my artist podcast here.

I also explained jacquard fabrics and showed examples in this video on Instagram here. 

Now I make these jacquard tapestries in my home art studio and sell them at The Michigan Renaissance Festival every year. 

My illustrations are woven into jacquard but I also sell historically relevant pieces. I guess you could call me a surface designer and fabric artist!

Have you ever worked with jacquard? Have you seen my booth at the Michigan Ren Faire? Comment below and let me know!