Just as a “by the by by “as you have a good answer, broadcloth is broader than what went before.
A hand loom weaver,the loom in his home - could not manage to hand throw a shuttle very far ,about 44”- a bigger loom needed something to assist the weaver but such sized looms were too big for home weaving .
Kay invented The Flying Shuttle but weaving was leaving homes and going into factories where 54” looms were the norm .
I think this coincided with the demand for material for army uniforms in The Peninsular Wars .Less wastage with the broader cloth.
That material was very high quality something like facecloth velour , densely woven and with a low nap so no pilling.
It was “ fulled” ie beaten by wooden hammers in water and so felted .
Really beautiful quality.All water powered.
A local mill ,now a sometimes working museum at Helmshore . Lancashire has open days and that process is there to see.
Another process is “ tenting “ where material is stretched on tenterhooks and the nap raised by teasels , the spiky heads of a plant in the Thistle family .
Fascinating .
Amazing that the vast amount of cloth needed for uniforms in those days was produced by quite primitive means .
I am open to correction if anyone has more accurate info.
It is many years since I visited the museum.
Viktoria.
