Reweaving is an old art, and a certain amount of secrecy has always surrounded it.  In olden days reweaving was practiced only by  master craftsman handed down through their families.

These families guarded their secret closely.  It was their means of livelihood.  They were proud of their knowledge and their skill.  They gave their secrets only to those people who they believed were most sincere and most able to carry on their tradition of fine workmanship.  

The only exceptions were people who paid huge sums of money in order to receive knowledge of the art.  Every novice reweaver had to spend years as an apprentice.  Today, as a result of modernization, the fine hand skill of reweaving has almost become lost.  There are only a few people who still possess the knowledge and skill to perform this very old art of fabric repair.