Pongee

PONGEE

The real pongee is woven in Northern China on hand looms from the silk of wild cocoons. Almost always of pale or dark ecru, but sometimes dyed in colours to meet a fashion. The warp is always finer than the weft and more even, the weft having nubs characteristic of wild silk yarn which forms a crossrib effect with the many nubs scattered in the fabric. The name means " own loom " in Chinese, signifying that the piece was woven on a house's own loom in guarantee of which certain Chinese characters are stamped on the cloth. Another explanation of the name is that it derives from pang-chih (Cantonese, " pung-che ") which is the name of the wheel on which the silk is reeled from the cocoon. A very fine cloth is also made by the natives of many parts of India from natural coloured silk warp and weft, plain weave, very fine sett, such as 150 ends and 150 picks per inch. The Lancashire pongee is made from the best of cotton and mercerised, dyed and schreinered. A variety is 35-in., 120 yards, 98 ends and 104 picks per inch, 80's warp, 120's weft. British silk pongees are "woven from yarn in its gummed state and degummed after weaving. When dyed and finished the handle and brilliance of the cloth are excellent. A typical cloth is made 80 ends and 80 picks per inch, 26 denier singles warp, 90 denier singles weft. Pongees are very fine fabrics, but many muslins are called pongees and the quality varies according to the market, such as 98 ends and 104 picks per inch, 80's warp, 120's weft, all Egyptian, home trade; 74 ends and 74 picks per inch, 60's warp, 60's weft, all Egyptian, South America; 60 ends and 60 picks per inch, 34's warp, 32's weft, all American, Java and China.