"Narrow cloth" (streit, strait, narrow ware articles, narrow ware woven) is cloth of a comparatively narrow width, generally less than a human armspan; precise definitions vary.
Historically, human factors and ergonomics limited the width that could practically be woven by a single weaver on a handloom. The weaver had to be able to reach both edges of the cloth, so they could throw the shuttle through the shed. A weaver thus could not weave a bolt wider than their armspan. So cloth was typically made in narrow widths onnarrow-width handlooms.
