The cloth industry

The chief uses of woven cloth at the time were clothing and sails for ships and windmills. The clothing made by this method was so durable that it would often last longer than the person wearing it and be beqeathed to heirs. The raw materials were high quality and the skills of the tailor (kleermaker) were extraordinary.

One of the measures of fabric quality is the thickness and density of the threads. Since there was so little standardization, merchants like van Leeuwenhoek relied on their own eyes, aided by a thread counter (dradenteller). It is a low-powered lens, like a jeweler's loupe, magnifying perhaps three to five times, with resolution good enough to calibrate and count even the thinest threads.
 
The image above from the Collectie Centraal Museum Utrecht, cat. No. 8803 shows 16 steps in the process.
1. washing 2. painting 3. flattening 4. fluffing
5. scribbling 6. spinning 7. rinsing 8. weaving
9. studding 10. fulling 11. roughening 12. dry shaving
13. brushing 14. stoping 15. approving
16. pressing

Trade organizationss with records in Delft archives

  • 228    Gilde van apothekers (collegium medico-pharmaceuticum Delphense) 1682-1804
  • 229    Gilde van bakkers 1613-1796
  • 230    Bezemmakers- of Sint Michielsbus 1656-1937
  • 232    Brouwersgilde 1615-1816
  • 233    Gilde van chirurgijns 1584-1804
  • 234    Gilde van goud- en zilversmeden 1502, 1536-1807
  • 235    Gilde van grofsmeden of Sint Eloy's gilde 1581-1816
  • 239    Gilde van knopen-, bezem- en ballenmakers of St. Michielsgilde 1626-1803
  • 242    Gilde van Lakenwerkers en -bereiders en droogscheerders 1638-1793
  • 243    Sint Nicolaas-, Marskramers- of Kooplieden gilde (1400)-1792 (1808)
  • 248    Schilders- of Sint Lucasgilde 1537-1966
  • 249    Schippersgilde 1574-5, 1750-1963
  • 250    Schoenmakers en leerlooiers- of Sint Chrispijn gilde. 1752-1945
  • 253    Turfdragersbus 1580-1880
  • 254    Gilde van visverkopers 1797-1808
  • 255    Gilde van warmoeziers 18e eeuw
  • 256    Gilde van wijnkopers. 1716-1965