Weaving Weaving is the oldest form of textile art, which was originally used for making mats and baskets. A woven fabric consists of two sets of yarns which are interlaced at right angles to each other, to form a compact construction. It is done on machines called looms. One set of yarns is fitted on the loom, which determines the length and width of the fabric to be woven.
These are called warp yarns . The loom helps to maintain these yarns at a fixed tension and even space. The second yarn, which is the filling yarn , is then interlaced to form the fabric. The simplest interlacing is when the filling yarn moves over and under one warp yarn alternately in one row and reverses the process in the second row.
By passing the filling yarn over and under different number of warp yarns, in a specified sequence, different designs can be created. Attachments like the dobby or jacquard to the loom can help to create figurative designs as well. These designs become clearer when different coloured yarns are used for warp and filling. Certain designs make use of an extra yarn which may run parallel to warp or filling yarns.
This can be held up as loops during weaving, which may be left uncut or cut afterwards. This makes the texture like one sees in towels (uncut) or velvets and corduroy (cut). The direction of the yarns in a woven fabric is referred to as grain . Warp yarns run along the length wise grain or selvedge .
Filling yarns run along the width wise grain or weft . Thus the length and width in a woven fabric is called the selvedge and weft. When you buy a fabric, you see it has two cut sides and two bound sides. The bound sides are the selvedges.
The fabric is strongest along the selvedge. Try and note the difference between the structure of the material of your shirt or dress, pant/jeans, towel, socks, shoe laces, floor covering felts (namdas) and carpets.