13
The last tweak
Carding thistles and cloth shears are the guild emblems of the clothiers.
The shears were not used to cut the cloth as one might expect; they were rather used to shear fibre that stuck out of the freshly woven, dyed and fulled cloth. To prepare the cloth for this shearing it was roughened using the carding thistles. The shorn cloth was brushed to align the shortened fibres. If the cloth passed the control by the looker it was marked with a cloth seal. The blades of the enormous shears measured up to 60 centimetres; two of these impressive tools are on display in the Kaisertrutz.