local. [?] A layer of cloth when the finished piece is folded.
1541. Act 33 Hen. VIII., c. 3. The said clothes … shall be folded either in pleights, or cuttelle, as the clothes of all other Countries of this Realme commonly haue beene vsed.
1885. Yorkshire Wool-Trade Terms, Cuttle, the layers of cloth in the finished piece. The width of the cuttle varies according to the requirements of the market for which the cloth is intended, but is generally twenty inches.
Hence Cuttle v.1, to fold cloth so as to lay it in ‘cuttles’ or pleats.
1883. Almondbury & Huddersf. Gloss., 34. Cuttle, to fold cloth in the following manner. First, a small portion is doubled, then another upon it (not round it), and so on until it is all doubled up; finally wrap the end, left first or last, round all. The reasons for adopting this mode are, that the cloth is supposed to keep best; it is easier to unfold for show purposes; it piles best.
