Thanks for joining me for the second installment of Weaving Terminology! In Part One, I focused mostly on the parts of a Jack-Type floor loom as well as the basic terms for the threads that make up woven cloth. You don’t need to read these posts in a particular order, but I encourage you to read both for a thorough understanding of weaving. Plus, you never know what might help you stand out on Trivia Night! So let’s talk terms.
Sett/EPI: The density of the warp threads, specifically how many there are per inch in the reed. EPI stands for Ends Per Inch. Ends of threads that is. Sett is another point of practice and observation for the weaver. It will affect the stability of the textile produced as well as the pattern. Calculations have to take into account the weave structure and the size of the warp and weft yarns, particularly if one is thicker than the other. It can be quite tricky to get this just right and is another good reason to always make a sample when you’re using a new yarn and/or weave structure.
Weave Structure: The structure of a weave is the foundation of the cloth. It is what the pattern is built on top of. Structure is how warp and weft intertwine to form cloth. This is best explained by example. Plain Weave is the most simple of weave structures. The Weft thread goes over and under one warp thread at a time. It does the opposite on the row above. Plain weave is a beautiful structure which produces and even balanced cloth. There are many weave structures. My favorite is Twill!
Pattern: Different Patterns can be achieved within the same Structure by changing the combinations of warp threads lifted over 2 or more rows of weaving. In Plain Weave we achieve a checkered pattern by lifting opposite warp threads on each row. In Twill, we can achieve many patterns including chevrons and diamonds. Some patterns require 4 rows and some require over 20! The patterns I employ most often require between 8 and 15 rows.
Shed: The space created by warp threads when some of them are lifted on a loom with shafts so that weft thread can be carried through the entire width of the cloth at once.
Reed Hook: A tool with a plastic, metal, or wooden handle with a flat metal hook attached. It is usually several inches long. Some are straight and some have a slight bend near the hook end. This is to aid the weaver in grabbing warp threads as they pass through the reed or heddles. My favorite reed hook has this slight bend, but is a matter of preference.
Shuttle: A weaving shuttle carries a bobbin or pirn full of weft thread through the shed. There are many kinds of shuttles. The one I use most often is a Boat Shuttle; so named because it looks like a little boat.
Bobbin: A cylindrical rod, usually with wider flattened ends which holds weft thread to be wound off as it moves through the shed in the shuttle.
Pirn: *if you google this one, make sure to add “weaving” to your search* A pirn is a special type of bobbin which does not move to wind the weft off as the shuttle moves. They are only used in end-feed shuttles. The pirn stays still and the weft winds off the end through a tensioning device as long as the shuttle is in motion. Pirns have to be wrapped skillfully and it is more difficult to fix a mistake if you have to undo a row or more of weaving. But many weavers love them because they help to make even
selvedges.
Bobbin Winder: There are some very fancy electronic bobbin winders these days and I’ve even seen people use power tools! My bobbin winder is a metal hand-crank model. You slide the bobbin onto a thin rod which then rotates as you turn the crank and wraps the weft thread onto the bobbin. Much faster than winding them all by hand!
What have I left out? Probably a number of things which will occur to me over the next week. I’ll make sure to keep a running list for the inevitable Part Three of Exploring Weaving Terminology! In the meantime, let me know in the comments what you’d like to know more about!
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