The Manipulations of the Mechanics of the Jacquard Loom to Weave Nigerian Designs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the working system of the Jacquard loom and to introduce indigenous Nigerian designs into the Jacquard weaving system, thereby reviving the design qualities of Jacquard materials woven in Nigeria by replacing the stylized floral designs with traditional motifs. The study was limited to the furnishing fabrics produced in Universal Textile Industries Limited, Kano-Nigeria. In studying the problems of Nigerian Jacquard weaving designs, the researchers had to be the Jacquard designers. As the designers, the researchers centered this study on the introduction of Nigerian mural and cap designs into the Jacquard weaving system. This study was an experimental research, and the participant observation method was utilized for data collection. The population was drawn from the Jacquard-woven furnishing materials produced in the Universal Textiles Industry in Kano- Nigeria. A purposive-sampled population, which consisted of nine original graph-paper designs with traditional Nigerian motifs, was adopted. The researchers experimented with indigenous Nigerian designs woven on a Jacquard loom initially constructed on graph paper and transferred to the weaving cards according to the graph paper design. Holes were punched on cards where squires on the graph paper were crossed (or marked). Holes were punched in rows of eight to correspond with the block of eight squares on the graph paper design, which represented warp ends on the loom. The results revealed that traditional Nigerian designs could be woven successfully on the Jacquard loom. These traditional designs could not only be a substitute for the imported foreign designs, but products from such works could be exported, conveying traditional Nigerian designs in woven Jacquard fabrics to many countries of the world.