Velvet

a closely woven silk fabric having a short, thick pile on one side only. The pile is produced by an extra system of warp threads. These are always of silk. The ground warp and the weft may be of cotton, but are of silk in the best grades of velvet. The pile warp, during the process of weaving, is passed over small brass wires laid across the width of the fabric. The next weft thread fastens the warps down. Another wire is inserted, and the following weft draws the warps over it in the same way. When a few inches have been thus woven the wires are withdrawn and the loops are left standing on the surface. When the web is complete the loops are cut. The pile is sheared to a level, brushed up, and pressed. From forty to sixty loops to an inch are woven in velvet, the process being necessarily slow. When the loops are left uncut the fabric is called terry velvet. See Terry; Weaving; Pile; Velveteen