It turns out Joseph Marie Jacquard helped invent more than woven designs with his intricate machine, his idea eventually led to one of the earliest computers.

We became well acquainted with Jacquard Ribbon when we began to customize the hooded towel design, we found sewing with jacquard ribbon was a perfect match. It is sturdy and pleasing to the eye. Our design would last years as the child grows so our materials would also need to be high quality to stand up to years of use.

Jacquard is a specialized weave that creates a woven design instead of a printed pattern. The jacquard weave is a sequence of raised and lowered threads creating a complicated pattern in fabric or ribbon. Invented by Jacquard in 1801, the process simplified manufacturing by cutting back on the amount of human labor while allowing for patterns to be stored and reused.

The idea behind the Jacquard invention was a system of punch cards and hooks. The cards, made from heavy cardboard, had holes punched in them to guide and control where the hooks would pass. The hook was held in place unless it came in contact with a punch hole. When the hook encountered a hole it would pass through and meet a threaded needle to form the desired pattern.

Jacquard’s idea was revolutionary as an early pioneer to the computer age, which led to web hosting and FTP which led to the Internet as we know it! This idea of a machine having the ability to follow an algorithm helped advance technology and spark the computer revolution. Proven a useful technique, Jacquard’s punch card system was revisited later by computer scientists to develop the future of the modern computer.

And now his idea has come full circle as we unveil our new online Jacquard Ribbon store we call the Ribbonerie.
Happy sewing!

Melissa @ Towelhoodies.com