Warp and weft

This article is about weaving. For other uses, seewarp and weft (disambiguation).

"Weft" redirects here. For other uses, seeWeft (disambiguation).

Warp and weft inplain weaving.Seeweavingfor other weave pattens, such astwill.

Ghiordes knot

Senneh knot

The yellow yarn is thepile,the vertical the warp, and the horizontal the weft

In the manufacture ofcloth,warpandweftare the two basic components inweavingto transformthreadandyarnintotextilefabrics. The verticalwarpyarns are held stationary in tension on aloom(frame) while the horizontalweft(also called thewoof) is drawn through (inserted over and under) the warp thread.In the terminology of weaving, each warp thread is called awarp end(synonymous terms arefill yarnandfilling yarn); apickis a single weft thread that crosses the warp thread.

In the 18th century, theIndustrial Revolutionfacilitated the industrialisation of the production of textile fabrics with the "picking stick"and the "flying shuttle",which was invented byJohn Kay,in 1733. The mechanisedpower loomwas patented byEdmund Cartwrightin 1785, which allowed sixty picks per minute.

Etymology

The wordweftderives from theOld Englishwordwefan,to weave.Warpmeans "that across which the woof is thrown". (OldEnglishwearp,fromweorpan,to throw, cf.Germanwerfen,Dutchwerpen).

Warp

Warped loom. Warp is wrapped onto the warp beam; as the cloth is made, the fell (woven part) is wrapped onto the breast beam next to the weaver.

Wrapping the warp threads around the warp beam of a loom in preparation for weaving.

Warp threads intablet weaving

The warp is the set ofyarnsor other things stretched in place on aloombefore the weft is introduced during the weaving process. It is regarded as thelongitudinalset in a finished fabric with two or more sets of elements.

The term is also used for a set of yarns established before the interworking of weft yarns by some other method, such as finger manipulation, yielding wrapped or twined structures. Very simple looms use aspiral warp,in which the warp is made up of a single, very long yarn wound in aspiralpattern around a pair of sticks or beams.

The warp must be strong to be held under high tension during the weaving process, unlike the weft which carries almost no tension. This requires the yarn used for warp ends, or individual warp threads, to be made ofspunandpliedfibre.Traditionally natural fibres such aswool,linen,alpaca,andsilkwere used. However,improvements in spinning technologyduring theIndustrial Revolutioncreatedcottonyarn of sufficient strength to be used in mechanized weaving. Later,synthetic fibressuch asnylonorrayonwere employed.

While most weaving is weft-faced, warp-faced textiles are created using densely arranged warp threads. In these the design is in the warp, requiring all colors to be decided upon and placed during the first part of the weaving process, which cannot be changed. Such limitations of color placement create weavings defined by length-wise stripes and vertical designs. Many South American cultures, including the ancient Incas and Aymaras, employedbackstrap weaving,which uses the weight of the weaver's body to control the tension of the loom.

Weft

Because the weft does not have to be stretched on a loom the way the warp is, it can generally be less strong. It is usually made of spun fibre, originallywool,flaxand cotton, today often of synthetic fibre such as nylon or rayon.

The weft is threaded through the warp using a "shuttle",air jets or" rapier grippers ". Handlooms were the original weaver's tool, with the shuttle being threaded through alternately raised warps by hand.

As metaphor

The expression "warp and weft" (also "warp and woof" and "woof and warp" ) is usedmetaphoricallythe way "fabric" is; e.g., "the warp and woof of a student's life" equates to "the fabric of a student's life".Warp and weft are sometimes used even more generally in literature to describe the basic dichotomy of the world we live in, as in, up/down, in/out, black/white, Sun/Moon, yin/yang, etc. The expression is also used similarly for the underlying structure upon which something is built. The terms "warp" and "woof" are also found in some English translations of the Bible in the discussion of mildews found in cloth materials in Leviticus 13:48-59.

See also

• Knot density
• Pile (textile)
• Warp knitting

References

• Barber, E. J. W. (1991).Prehistoric Textiles.Princeton University Press.ISBN0-691-00224-X.
• Burnham, Dorothy K.(1980).Warp and Weft: A Textile Terminology.Royal Ontario Museum.ISBN0-88854-256-9.