Blog Post 3

Of the sites we went to in Munich thus far, I really enjoyed the Textile Industry Museum. I love to sew and in my fibers and fabrics class we actually wove rugs and spun yarn by hand. It was very long and tedious work to spin yarn and weaving could also take a very long time. Thus it was incredible to see the modern looms at the museum. They were so quick and efficient, even the oldest machine. Also, I did not know that now modern looms don't even use a shuttle, they just use compressed air. This must make the machines somewhat safer to use because you no longer have something, which is essentially a projectile, flying back and forth at very fast speeds within the machine. Also, I thought it was amazing that all of the machines were still functioning. I expected that the older ones would have broken down by now. After all the oldest one was from, if I recall correctly, the early 1900s and that is quite a long time for a machine to continue running, especially one that was probably heavily used in the industry.
Outside of the looms we saw, I also liked the pattern room. I thought it was funny that workers from the textile industry would steal patterns from other companies so that their company could make the pattern better and more efficiently. I also liked that you could identify an era or time based on the patterns that were created then. Also, the books containg these patterns were enormous. I am surprised that they made such a variety of cloth back then. Even today I am surprised at how quickly certain patterns and lines of cloth filter in and out of the industry. For example some pieces I bought just a month ago are no longer available today. I think this is very reflective of the industry itself. Like the evolution of the looms, the industry is always changing and innovating itself and its products.