Weaves: Axminster

The first carpet mill established in the United States, at Philadelphia in 1791, by William Peter Sprague, undertook the production of Axminister on looms painstakingly moved from England.

Later, many other mills would develop their own versions of the axminister looms closely coping Sprague's work and the original hand-knotted axminsters he based his product on.

The name is taken from the real "axminster", a hand-tufted carpet, originally made in Axminster, England. As is so closely resembles the original, the name was borrowed and began synonymous with the several variations of the weave made on power looms. In appearance, it more nearly resembles a hand-knotted carpet than do any of the other well-known machine weaves. Almost an unlimited number of colors may be woven into the design of an axminster carpet.

The type of axminster best known in American is called the spool axminster, because the yard is wound on wide spools and then threaded through tiny metal tubes, and so finds its way into the fabric. The entire patterns of the carpet is "set," or arranged in the colored worsteds wound on the spools, before the weaving begins. In the axminster weave, small tufts of the worsted yarn are inserted between the warp threads and bound in by the weft threads. No extra worsted or wool is buried in the body of the fabric.

Jute is most often used for filling, to add weight (though cotton is also used in better qualities). Seven tufts to the inch across the fabric is standard pitch in the United States, and from four to seventeen shots to the inch, lengthwise. Many qualities of axminster are made. Bigelow at one point had 47 different qualities of the axminster. All vary somewhat in method of weaving, type of loom used choice of materials, and finished appearance. Axminster was typically woven in the traditional strip fashion and some was broadloom woven up to widths of 18 feet.