ORDER XII.—TEXTILE WORKERS

Sub-order 1.—Textile Workers

376.—Lace Making Machinists and Warp Hands

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back girl (Swiss embroidery), back end girl ; shuttle girl

refills shuttles and mends broken threads at back of Swiss embroidery machine, either pantograph or jacquard frame, under direction of front girl (Swiss embroidery) q.v.

curtain knitter

see overlocker.

embroiderer, machine (lace)

general term covering machine lace embroidery makers, e.g., Bonnaz machinist, cornelly hand (407), pantographer q.v.

front girl (Swiss embroidery) ; Swiss lace machinist (on jacquard machine)

repairs broken threads at front of machine, and is responsible for work done by machine under direction of pantographer q.v.; directs back girl (Swiss embroidery) q.v.; on jacquard frame, has similar but more skilled duties; minds frame under control of shop foreman.

lace embroidery maker

general term covering machine embroiderer (lace) and hand lace workers (377) q.v.

lace machine tenter

general term for lacemaking machinist; not in general use; includes all terms under this code No. 376.

lace machinist, Swiss

(i) (on jacquard frame), see front girl (Swiss embroidery);

(ii) mends Swiss embroidery, held in tambour for the purpose, on sewing machine; usually done by repairer (embroidery) (379) q.v.

lace maker, lace worker

see twist hand; sometimes specifically designated, according to kind of lace made, e.g. blond lace maker, blond lace worker, curtain lace maker, fancy lace maker, fancy lace worker, plain net lace maker, pusher (blond) lace maker, torchon lace maker; or according to type of machine used, e.g. Lever lace maker.

lace maker, torchon

(i) a twist hand q.v. who works on a Lever's machine adapted to produce imitation torchon lace; real torchon lace being made by a hand process, cf. torchon lace maker (377);

(ii) tends a Barmen machine, which produces! lace known as real imitation torchon.

lace maker, warp (lace)

see warp hand.

laceman

see twist hand.

overlocker, overlooking machinist ; curtain knitter

stitches round scolloped edge of finished lace curtain with overlooking machine.

pantographer

follows point by point, with a flexible metal arm, an enlarged vertical diagram placed at end of pantograph machine, to embroider design on net or lace; cf. pantographer (407); supervises back and front girls q.v.

shuttle girl

see back girl (Swiss embroidery).

spotted net maker

a twist hand q.v. in charge of a plain net machine fitted with a jacquard attachment for making spotted net.

sprig maker, sprig twister, sprig worker

a twist hand q.v. who operates a machine, generally a Lever's machine, which makes sprig lace; cf. sprig maker (hand worker) (377).

tatting maker, tatting worker

a warp hand q.v. whose machine is adapted to make tatting, a kind of knotted lace; cf. tatting worker (hand worker) (377).

twist hand, twister ; lace maker, lace man, lace worker

tends lace machine, Lever's, plain net or curtain, and mends or pieces threads, starts and stops machine, watches for broken threads as net is made, and joins them up, replaces empty bobbins by full ones, etc.; sometimes specifically designated, e.g. fancy lace twister.

warp hand (lace) ; warp lace maker

minds a warp lace machine, guiding threads from bobbins to needles, watching knitting, and stopping machine, when necessary, to join broken threads; sometimes specifically designated, e.g. silk warp hand.

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From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016.   This text is in the Public Domain.