THE STAGES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A THROW
Before it takes up position on your sofa, at the bottom of your bed or draped around your shoulders when the evenings turn chilly, the throws created by La Maison de la Maille go through several stages of manufacturing, each of which is important for the quality and the top-of-the-range finish of the brand’s products. Sourcing, knitting, grafting… we do not want to keep any secret from you, here are the 7 key stages in the manufacturing process of the Maison’s throws.
SOURCING OF THE FIBERS
Sourcing is an essential stage in the creation of a fine quality end product. Everything starts from this. If the fibers are not selected correctly, the touch and the strength of the throw at the end of the line will inevitably be altered. To ensure that the animal fibers are of as good a quality as possible, La Maison de la Maille takes the time upstream to choose only the finest farms, so that it is always working with excellent fibers.
SPINNING
The next stage of the process is spinning. This is the action of spinning the animal fibers, and can be one of two types:
Carding: this technique gives a more voluminous result. The yarn has a drier feel, and its appearance is denser and more rustic, sometimes irregular, compared to combed fibers. This process is used at La Maison de la Maille for the recycled wool in its Signature range.
Combing: this is a superior spinning stage, which comes after carding. Combing makes the yarn softer, much smoother and shinier. It is used at La Maison de la Maille for merino and baby alpaca wools and its Le Plaid Merveilleux.
KNITTING
Knitting is done on a machine, in one piece. This is the stage that creates the throw. To refresh your memory, knitting is a manufacturing process that involves the use of needles to interlace loops of yarn called stitches. When the stitches are interlinked, the result is a supple, stretchable and very strong material. This is the principal difference compared to a woven fabric which, because the yarn are stretched and there are no loops as in knitting, does not have this stretchable quality that allows it to become “distorted”.
GRAFTING
This is what we might call the “finishing” stage in the throw manufacturing process. Grafting can be done completely by hand, with a crochet hook, or semi-manually with the help of a machine that knits the last row stitch by stitch. At this stage, it is important to be very delicate with the handling, to ensure that the end product is perfect.
WASHING AND PRESSING
When it comes off the machine after the different stages described above, the throw is washed and then pressed to ensure that it is impeccable before packaging and dispatch.
INSPECTIONS
Inspections are also a very important part of the process. After every stage, La Maison de la Maille checks to ensure compliance with all the criteria that give it its prestige image and to make sure that nothing is left to chance. The end product must be FLAWLESS. Four quality controls are carried out systematically: the first when the product comes off the knitting machine, another after the grafting stage, a third after washing and finally during pressing.
TAILORING
Between the washing and pressing stages, the brand label and the composition label are hand-sewn delicately onto the throw. This is what we call the tailoring stage.
PACKAGING
Once pressing is completed, and all the inspections have been carefully carried out, the product is packaged. The throw is carefully rolled, adorned with a blue, white and red ribbon and a cardboard label added as a final touch. The throw is then ready for dispatch, to delight lovers of prestige woolen products, “Made in France” and timeless design.
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Article écrit par Laura Isaaz
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