WEAVING

WEAVING
It is oldest art of interlacing vertical and horizontal yarns at right
angles to create a textile.
 TERMINOLOGY
Warp/Ends:
Vertical threads that run along the length of the textile material are
called as warp yarns. They run parallel to the selvedge. They're attached to
the loom during the weaving process.

Weft/Picks:
Weft yarns are those which run horizontally and perpendicular to the
selvedge. They pass through the warp threads to form the weave pattern.

Loom:
A frame (or machine) on which weaving is done.
Selvedge/Selvage:
It is the ‘self edge’ of a woven fabric and is located on
the either side of a woven or flat-knitted fabric to prevent
ravelling specifically.
Grain:
Grain is the direction of yarns in a fabric. There are
three grains in a fabric namely;
• Straight/ Lengthwise grain
• Cross/ Horizontal grain
• Bias grain
PARTS OF A BASIC LOOM
• A warp beam is a cylindrical bar around which the warp threads are
wound before the process of weaving begins. It holds them in place
during the weaving process.
• A shaft or harness is a frame that moves up and down in a loom. In a
simplest loom there are two harnesses and alternate warp yarns pass
through them.
• The shaft or harness has many heddles/healds, wires with holes that
hold selected warp threads to create a pattern when the weft threads
cross it. In order to design a more complex image, a weaver can utilize
many harnesses at once, all with heddles.
• The weft yarns are wound onto small bobbins (pirns).
• A shuttle has a boat-like shape, with a pointed ends and is made of a
wood. It holds the weft threads. On a hand loom, the weaver passes the
shuttle through the warp threads to do the actual textile weaving.
• Reed is a comb-like device placed towards the front of the loom. It has
fine metallic wires with spaces called dents, through which threads are
passed. The number of threads per dent will vary. Two ends per dent is
common, but it is not unusual to say one to four ends per dent.
 MOTIONS/MECHANISM OF LOOM
In order to interlace warp and weft to produce a fabric,
the following motion are necessary on any type of loom:

• Primary motion
• Secondary motion
• Auxiliary motion
 PRIMARY MOTION
There are three primary motions on a loom. They are:
• Shedding
• Picking
• Beating
• SHEDDING
‘Shedding’ mechanism separates the warp threads
into two layers by the harness to form an opening called ‘shed’ and it
allows the weft to pass through it.
• PICKING
The picking mechanism passes weft thread from one selvedge
of the fabric to the other through the shed by
means of a shuttle. The inserted weft thread is known as “pick”. It is
the second primary motion of a loom.
• BEAT-UP MOTION
The third primary weaving motion is performed by the beat-up
mechanism. The beat-up mechanism beats or pushes the newly
inserted length of weft thread (pick) into the already woven fabric
by the reed.
 SECONDARY MOTION
Two additional operations are essential if weaving is to be
continuous:

• Warp control (or Let-off): This motion delivers warp yarns to the
weaving area at the required rate and at a suitable constant tension by
unwinding it from warp beam.
• Cloth control (or Take-up): This motion withdraws fabrics from the
weaving area at the constant rate that will give the required pick-
spacing and then winds it onto a cloth roller.
 PRIMARY & SECONDARY MECHANISM OF A
LOOM
 AUXILIARY MOTION
• To get high productivity and good quality of fabric,
additional mechanism, called auxiliary mechanisms, are
added to a loom.
• The auxiliary mechanisms are useful but not essential.
 AUXILIARY MOTION
The various auxiliary motions on a loom are:

• Warp Protector Mechanism

• Weft Stop Motion
• Warp Stop Motion
• Weft Replenishment
• Brake
• Temples
• WARP PROTECTOR MECHANISM:
The warp protector mechanism will stop the loom if the shuttle
gets trapped between the top and bottom layers of the shed.
It thus prevents excessive damage to the warp threads and shuttle.
• WEFT STOP MOTION:
The object of the weft stop motion is to stop the loom when a
weft thread breaks or gets exhausted. This motion helps to avoid cracks
in a fabric.
• WARP STOP MOTION:
The object of the warp stop motion is to stop the loom immediately when a
warp thread breaks during the weaving process.
• WEFT REPLENISHMENT:
It ensures a continuous supply of weft yarn to the loom
whenever supply package is exhausted.
• BRAKE:
The brake stops the loom immediately whenever required. The
weaver uses it to stop the loom to repair broken ends and picks.
• TEMPLES:
The function of the temples is to grip the cloth and hold it at the
same width as the warp in the reed, before it is taken up.
 TYPES OF LOOM
• A loom is a machine for weaving threads for getting cloth. This machine
produces fabric by interlacing a series of lengthwise, parallel yarns with a
series of widthwise parallel yarns.
• There are two types of looms
 Hand Loom
 Power Loom
 HAND LOOM
• Handloom is a type of loom that is operated manually, without the use
of electricity, to weave fabric.
• This is used by the handicraftsmen to furnish different types of fabrics.
• Handlooms come in different types like the traditional ones used by the
tribal people and a modernized version which is used to weave
different styles of weaving.
• The growing textile industry has created a vast demand for the
handloom weavers since 19th century since a few forms of weaving can
only be done by these special craftsmen.
• No one exactly knows how or when weaving began, but the idea of
weaving clearly predates the loom by at least thousands of years.
• However, the once commodity-generating sector is lacking owing to
the rise of more efficient modern looms such as power looms.
 POWER LOOM
• A power loom is driven by electricity and is used to weave
cloth.
• It is mechanical in nature and need not require any manual
labour.
• It is in 1850’s that power loom industry became popular since
there was a rise in the demand of cotton but no other means to
produce it.
• Since power looms are mechanically powered, they were
preferred over handloom since they work 10 times quickly and
efficiently which leads to bulk production, thereby controlling
much of the fabric market.
• However, a power loom can replicate a limited variety of
designs and patterns.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAND & POWER
LOOM
HANDLOOM POWER LOOM

• Manual operating system • Operated by electric power

• Shedding is done by pedal and picking • Shedding picking and beating is done
and beating is done by manual automatically

• Less production • High production

• Slow running speed • High running speed

• Initial investment is high
• Initial investment is low
• Capable of producing less number of
• More variety of designs can be produced
designs
• Check and stripes fabrics are produced
• Check and stripes fabrics are produced
 CLASSIFICATION OF WEAVES
• The fabric weave or design is the manner in which the warp and weft threads
are interlaced.
• In practice, the weaves of most fabrics are designed in a such way that the
weave pattern of a small area is repeated over the whole area of the fabric.

WEAVES

BASIC FANCY
 BASIC WEAVES
• There are 3 basic constructions namely;
 Plain Weave
 Twill Weave
 Satin Weave
• The variations of these basic weaves are given below:
1. Plain - Rib, Basket
2. Twill
3. Satin - Sateen
 1. PLAIN WEAVE
• It is the simplest form of the weave, consisting of
alternate interlacement of warp and weft yarns.
• E.g., Each weft yarn pass over and under the warp
yarn, the weaving is called as 1/1 (1 up and 1 down).
• Plain weave is sometimes called cotton, taffeta, or
tabby weave.
• It is very strong weave because the maximum
interlacement of the yarns is there.
• It is the most durable weave.
• The plain weave cloths can be cleaned easily.
• The weaving process is comparatively inexpensive
because the design is so simple.
 1. a. RIB WEAVE
• It is a variation of plain weave.
• The rib effect can be produced in warp or weft by
alternating the fine yarns with a coarse of thick yarns
or a single yarn with a double yarn.
• The ribbed fabrics are not so durable. Warp Rib
• If the yarns are exposed to friction, it looses the
drapability of the fabric.
• E.g., Taffeta, poplin, broad cloth etc.
• There are two types of ribs – warp rib and weft rib.
Weft Rib
 1. b. BASKET WEAVE
• It is a variation of plain weave.
• Two are more warp yarns are interlaced with
the same number of weft yarns. E.g., 2/2 or
3/3.
• This weave has loose construction.
• It is low in strength and durability is also less.
• Hence it produces attractive check patterned
loosely woven fabric, it stretches easily and
drapes well.
• Basket weave is commercially known as Matt,
hopsack, or full panama. Design of the 2/2
matt weave is shown below.
 2. TWILL WEAVE
• The second basic weave, which has the
characteristic diagonals, called as “Twill weave.”
• These weaves are more tightly woven & therefore
twill weave fabrics are durable and strong.
• Twill weaves are commonly used for suit and coat
materials and for work clothes where more
durability of the fabrics is essential.
• Twill weave requires 3-4 harnesses.
• These fabrics do not become dirty easily as they
are tightly woven.
 3. SATIN WEAVE
• The third basic weave is satin weave.
• It is similar to twill weave but uses 5 to 12
harnesses.
• The satin weave is a warp face weave.
• There are long floats of warp on the face of the
fabric, which makes the fabric flat, smooth and
lustrous in appearance. Satin
• The satin weave gives great sheen to a fabric
and reflects the light.
 3. a. SATEEN WEAVE
• The weft / filling yarns lies on the surface of
the fabric as it passes over 4 warp yarns and 1
under.
• The fabric surface is very smooth and lustrous.

Sateen
 FANCY WEAVES
• Fancy weaves are also called as decorative, novelty, figure and design weaves.
• They are formed by predetermined changes in the interlacing of warp and filling yarns.
• The different fancy weaves includes:
• Dobby
• Jacquard
• Leno
• Lappet
• Pile
• Swivel
• Spot
• Double weave
 DOBBY WEAVE
• Dobby designs have small figures such as dots,
geometric designs and floral patterns woven into the
fabric.
• The design is produced by a combination of two or
more basic weaves and the loom may have up to thirty-
two harnesses.
• Examples of dobby weave are shirting madras, pique,
huck towelling.
 JACQUARD WEAVE
• Fabrics with elaborate designs are woven using the
jacquard loom attachment.
• It was introduced by Joseph Marie jacquard in 1801.
• The machine is very big and very expensive.
• The pattern for the jacquard loom is transferred to a series
of perforated cards, one for each filling pick in the pattern.
• The card is punched so as to permit the needles on the
machine to be raised to pass through the card.
• The shed is formed and the pick passes through each card
stops on the cylinder for its particular pick, moves on, and
new card takes its place.
• This process continues until all the cards are used.
• Thus, when pattern is over the cards start for the next till the entire cloth is woven.
• Thus, extremely complicated and decorative woven designs are produced using
jacquard loom attachment.
• Examples include brocade, damask, tapestry, terry-cloth towels.
 LENO WEAVE
• It is also known as gauze or cross weaving.
• Leno weave is a weave in which two warp yarns twist and grip tightly around the
weft yarns.
• This makes for a more open weave that can be woven tightly for shirting or left
completely loose to resemble netting or mesh.
 LAPPET WEAVE
• In lappet weave an extra warp yarn is introduced in a manner so as to create
design on the base, fabric.
• Patterns are woven in the fabric by an attachment to the loom.
• Long floats formed on the back of the fabric are cut away, if floats are small,
they are usually left.
• Example: Fancy sarees.
 SWIVEL WEAVE
• The swivel weave designs are produced by extra filling
yarns.
• Separate shuttles are placed at each point where the
design has to be made.
• The shed is formed by the pattern, where the shuttle
carries the yarn through the shed, the distance of the
pattern. The extra filling floats on the back of the
fabric, the long floats are cut away after weaving is
completed.
• Example: Silk sarees.
 SPOT WEAVE
• Spot designs are formed by extra warp or filling
yarns.
• The yarns are inserted the entire length or width of
the fabric, spots or dot designs are formed.
• The long floats on the back side are cut away,
leaving the dots.
• The threads can be pulled easily.
• Filling threads are easy to cut but warp floats are
difficult.
• Example: Dotted swiss.
 DOUBLE WEAVE
• Double weave fabrics are obtained by using five or more set of yarns.
• The most common types of double cloth have two set of warps and two set of
weft yarns with an extra yarn interlacing both the cloth.
• The double cloth has additional bulk, strength and warmth.
• Examples are coatings, blankets, double brocade and brocatelle.
 PILE WEAVE
• Pile fabrics are formed by having the basic plain or twill
weave as a backing and a third yarn is woven to yield a
surface pile.
• The pile may be warp pile or weft pile.
• The floats are cut and brushed up to form cut pile.
• If an extra weft yarn floats over the warp yarn, it is called
as weft/filling pile.
• Examples are velveteen and corduroy fabrics.
• If an extra warp yarn floats over the filling yarn, it is
called warp pile.
• Examples are velvet, velour and rug velvet.
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