Four stages, one fabric.
Sizing happens off-site. Everything after that — weaving, checking, and measuring — happens on our floor, in this order.
Sizing
Before weaving, the cotton warp yarn is sized — coated to reduce breakage under loom tension. We currently source this as a service from a third-party sizing house rather than running it in-house, and receive the warp back ready to beam onto our looms.
Weaving on the rapier loom
Sized warp yarn is mounted on our rapier looms, where a rigid rapier arm carries each weft thread across the width of the fabric. This is where the grey cotton fabric itself is formed, warp and weft interlacing pick by pick.
Fabric check / QC
Woven fabric goes to our fabric QC team, who inspect each roll for weaving faults — thread breaks, misweaves, uneven tension — before it's cleared to move forward.
Fabric measurement
Approved rolls are measured for length and width. This is the final step before the fabric is recorded and made ready for dispatch as grey bed sheet fabric.
On sizingWhy a third party, for now
Sizing needs its own machinery and yarn handling separate from weaving. Rather than add that line before it's needed, we currently bring in already-sized warp yarn and concentrate our own floor on weaving and quality.
On qualityTwo checks, not one
Fabric check and fabric measurement are treated as two distinct steps — one looking for faults in the weave, the other confirming dimensions — so a roll has to clear both before it counts as finished stock.
Questions about the process?
Ask about lead times from sizing through to a measured, dispatch-ready roll.
Contact the mill