NEW CARPET DESIGNS TO ATTRACT WOMEN BUYERS

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29273, 3 August 1960, Page 2

NEW CARPET DESIGNS TO ATTRACT WOMEN BUYERS

When a woman goes to buy a carpet, nine limes out of ten she Will admire the pattern before the quality. It is with this thought in mind that a team Of artists are continually producing new and different designs for carpets made by the Carpet Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Riccarton.

MisSes J. Edgar and A. J. Penney are two New Zealand artists Who have been with the firm for a number of years and it 18 through their Work that shape and Colour come into the different patterns.

The first design idea comes to them on a scrap of paper from the chief designer, Mr W. B. Hartwell. It may resemble the texture of tree bark, a full-blown rose or river currents. Whatever it is, it is immediately drawn to scale, then transferred from the scale drawing to graph paper Where the outlines are drawn in charcoal.

The graph paper is important. The size aha number of the squares represent tufts of Wool and from this guide the wool is threaded on to steel spools each of which constitute a “roW” of the pattern in the actual carpet. The artists have a range of 500 colours to choose from when painting In the patterns on the graph paper. When their work on one design is finished the squares are counted and the percentage of each colour used in that pattern is calculated. 40 Shades “Floral carpets can incorporate up to 40 shades in the one pattern,” said Miss Edgar. “And one of these, which we consider to be the most complicated of the designs, Will take an experienced artist up to three weeks to complete.” The area of the design coloured by the artist is usually the equivalent of one yard of the carpet or the complete pattern. If they are asked they can match this piece to a further half-yard of pattern on the same graph paper. . , The junior members of the design team have a class of instruction for two Hours on one day each week. Thus the firm manages to train new artists all the time and is always ready to Consider new ideas for patterns which result from these Classes. Each year more than £lrn of New Zealand wool clip goes through the factory. The process

of manufacture up to the stage Where the design meets the carpet looms is fascinating. At the first stage the soft white New Zealand wool Is blended with a more wiry wool from Britain to give the carpet more resilience. From there the wool, is fed through a carding machine which straightens the fibres and makes them parallel. The wool then receives a second combing in the opposite direction and travels through revolving rubbers to emerge twisted like fine rope. Two strands are then taken and Wound together before they ,arje taken off the spools and looped in hanks. ■ , ■ To remove the oils introduced In the processing so far, the Wool is dipped and washed in two vats of detergent, put through two further rinses then squeezed dry through pressure tollers. Boiled in Dye

Arranged on rods, the hanks are boiled in dye and tested for the required shade. A spin dry process and steam drying come next.

'ln the huge yam stores the wool, which appears to have been wound into giant knitting skeins, iB piled in a myriad Of glowing colours. The whole 500 shades ate represented. They are ready to be woven into the carpets according to the patterns painted by the artists. Chattering looms weave the strips of coloured wool into close packed lengths Which by this time look almost exactly like the carpets displayed in the stores. But there are still many machines to go through before they reach the finished stage. Fifty-yard lengths come off the looms and are put through a brushing treatment which removes surplus fluff. Then they go to a department where women workers look for flaws and mend them by hand. After this, the pile is steamed and a coating of plastic emulsion is applied to the backing before two machines crop the surface to an even height, The last stage comes with a final inspection and the rolling of the carpets ready for dispatch to the retailers. Here the Work of the designers comes even more sharply into focus—a glance from the drawing to the finished product will show them to be almost identical.

This Riccarton plant is associated with carpet manufacturing in Kidderminster, England, Durban, South Africa, and Victoria, Australia.