Glossary of Weaving Terms

Comprehensive Basic Weaving WEAVING TERMS

Apron Rods (aka Tie-on bars) - sturdy wood or metal rods, one of which is attached to the warp beam, the other to the cloth beam, sometimes by cloth aprons, more often by cords. The warp is tied to the apron rod (tie- on bar) of the warp beam prior to beaming and to the apron rod of the cloth beam after beaming, threading and sleying. This applies to warping your loom from back to front.

As Drawn In (aka Tromp as Writ) - to treadle in the same order as the shafts are threaded.

Back beam - the horizontal cross-piece on the back of the loom around which the warp passes on its way to the warp beam.

Beaming - the process of winding the warp onto the warp beam. The layers of warp are generally separated by warp sticks.

Beater - a frame that holds the reed; used to beat the weft threads into place.

Boat shuttle - (which looks like the shape of a boat) is equipped with a central hinged rod on which a bobbin (slender spool) wound with the weft thread is placed.

Bobbin - a slender spool wound with the weft thread.

Bobbin Winder – a mechanism used to wind the weft thread onto a bobbin; may be hand or power driven.

Bout – a grouping of warp ends chained off from the warp board or mill.

Choke Tie - a tightly wound tie used to secure the warp prior to removing from warp board or mill; also handy for various and sundry tasks when beaming, holding together lease sticks, etc.

Cone Holder - allows ends from multiple cones to be wound at the same time. A screw eye, hook or other device directs each warp end so it unwinds above its cone without upsetting the cone or becoming tangled with threads from other cones.

Cross - the “X” formed by alternate warp ends. These ends are wound on a warp board or mill. Do not lose your cross!

Dent - one opening in a reed.

Draft - a “map” of your weave structure. A complete draft is made up of four parts: threading, tie-up, treadling sequence and drawdown.

Dressing the Loom - another way of saying warping or loading the loom. epi - (ends per inch) the number of warp ends per measured inch or 10 centimeters for ends per centimeter (epc).

End - (aka warp end) a single warp thread.

Comprehensive Basic Weaving WEAVING TERMS

End-feed Shuttle - has a shaft secured at one end that supports a pirn (like a bobbin but with a tapered end). This shuttle has an adjustable tensioning device which is located at the nose of the shuttle.

Fell (aka Fell Line) - the woven edge of the cloth on the loom where the last pick was placed.

Fiber Content – it is important to be aware of so that you’ll know how your fabric will behave and how to care for it.

Filler (aka Woof) - used to weave across the warp threads and can be yarn made from animal, vegetable or mineral, or simply a grouping of loose fibers stranded into a roving which can be packed between warp threads.

Finishing - This refers to techniques used to turn the woven web into a cohesive fabric; usually involving water, brushing, etc. Also refers to adding details to your completed project such as fringes, hemming, knotting, etc.

Harness - erroneously referred to as a “shaft”; the framework which holds all of the shafts.

Heddle (aka needle) - made of wires, nylon braid, string or flat steel rods attached to the shafts. Each heddle contains an “eye” in the center through which a warp end is threaded.

Interlacement - to cross one another, typically passing alternately over and under, as if woven together; intertwine.

Lease Sticks - flat sticks which are usually the width of your loom. In some techniques of warping, they can be used for maintaining a warp cross secure while proceeding with dressing the loom and weaving.

Linen Test aka Tester – a magnifying device which measures precisely 1” or 2.5cm; this enables the weaver to count picks per inch or centimeter effortlessly.

Loom - a frame or machine for interlacing at right angles two or more sets of threads or yarns to form a cloth

Loom Waste - refers to the portion of the warp length between the back of the heddles to in front of the beater which cannot be woven at the end of a length of weaving; in addition to that portion of the warp required in knots, etc. for tying on the front and back beams of the loom. This amount varies with loom brands and sizes. ppi (aka Picks per Inch) - number of weft picks per inch or in the case of measuring in metric, picks per 10 centimeters (ppc).

Pick (aka Shot) - a single pass of weft thread.

Ply - when yarn is spun, it is twisted into a single strand. This will be referred to as a single-ply yarn (even though it was never really plied). Two strands together are referred to as 2-ply yarn; three strands together are referred to as 3-ply yarn, etc. Plied yarns are generally more balanced and easier to handle than singles for warping.

Portee (aka Pass Pair) – The two passes which sit together at the turning peg of the lease pegs.

Comprehensive Basic Weaving WEAVING TERMS

Pre-sley – instead of using a raddle, the pre-sley method allows the even spreading of the warp for beaming.

Raddle - used for warping methods in which the warp is wound on the warp beam prior to being threaded through the heddles. This is a board at least the width of the loom which contains pegs or nails placed every 1/4”-1” apart.

Reed - a steel comb with teeth that space the warp at an even density for the desired width. The reed is sized by length and number of spaces or dents per inch or centimeters. The reed is placed within the beater assembly and acts to press the weft into the cloth as well as pace the warp.

Reed Holder - wooden supports that keep the reed at a vertical position so it can be sleyed at a table rather than on the loom.

Reed Hook (aka Sley Hook) - a flat piece of metal, wood or plastic with curves at both ends for pulling threads through the dents of the reed.

Quill – may be cardboard or paper used in place of a wooden or plastic bobbin.

Sectional Warp Beams – are warp beams with protruding pegs that separate the beam into sections, usually 1- 2” wide each. The warp is wound into each section separately with the aid of a tension box.

Selvedge (aka Salvage, Selvege) – the sides of the woven fabric. Sealed edges that don’t ravel, just like on commercial fabrics.

Sett (aka Set) – refers to the number of ends per inch. Set is the verb and sett is the noun. The towel was set at 20 epi. The warp sett was 20 epi.

Shafts – the frames that hold the heddles. Shafts and harnesses are not the same thing.

Sley – to put warp through the reed, often uses a “sley hook” to assist the process.

Sley Hook – tool for threading the warp through the dents of the reed.

Shed – Opening between raised and lowered warp ends into which the shuttle travels with the weft yarn.

Shuttle – a device to assist storing and delivery of the weft yarn. It may be a flat stick, ski shape or boat shuttle.

Spool Rack – a frame with thin horizontal metal rods that can support many spools of thread. Multiple warp ends may be wound at the same time from the rotating spools to fill a section to fill a section of a sectional warp beam or to pass through the slots and holes of a warping paddle.

Swift – an expandable cage that turns on a center rod to hold a skein of yarn so that it can be wound into a ball or directly on the warping board, mill or bobbin.

Tabby – used to name a weft that weaves plain weave when there is also another weft, usually heavier, that weaves pattern (as in overshot). Tabby is sometimes used as a synonym for plain weave.

Comprehensive Basic Weaving WEAVING TERMS

Take-Up – the flexing or curving of warp threads and weft threads as they interlace to form the woven web of fabric, causing a “shortening” effect.

Tension Box – used when warp is wound sectionally. The box tensions each thread evenly and spreads the threads to the desired width of each section.

Threading – the order in which each warp end passes through a heddle on a specific shaft.

Threading Hook – a long, skinny hook to assist threading warp ends through heddles.

Tie-Up – shows the shafts that must be raised and/or lowered by each treadle to make each shed required by the weave structure.

Treadles – are pedals attached to shafts to make them go up and/or down in all of the combinations required by the weave structure.

Treadling (aka Treadling order, Treadling sequence) – is the order in which the treadles are depressed, i.e., the order in which each shed is made.

Tying-On – usually refers to the tying of small groups of warp threads to the front apron rod or bar.

Warp – all of the threads that are aligned vertically on a loom before weaving begins.

Warp Board – a square frame with evenly spaced sturdy pegs along the sides of the frame and pegs that can accommodate a cross along the top and the bottom. Warp threads are wound on the board in order and measured by a designated path around the side pegs.

Warp Mill (aka Warp Reel) – used to wind the warp instead of a warp board. Some mills are vertical; the reel spins on a vertical axis and the warp is wound around it through a path that goes from the top to the bottom of the mill and back again. Some mills are horizontal; the reel spins on a horizontal axis and the warp is wound around it from one end to the other and back again. Mills can accommodate longer warps than boards and can be faster to use (the longer the warp, the greater the savings in time).

Warp Sticks – thin slats of smooth wood about 1/8” thick, ¾” wide and longer than the width of the warp.

Warp Paddle – is a device that allows the winding of multiple warp ends in the same pass around a warp board or mill while keeping them separate and aligned and providing a cross of individual ends.

Weave Structure – the order in which warp and weft threads go over and under each other, i.e., interlacement.

Web – woven fabric. This word is used more often when the fabric is still on the loom.

Weft – the crosswise, or horizontal thread running from selvedge to selvedge, perpendicular to the warp threads.

Comprehensive Basic Weaving WEAVING TERMS

Winding the Warp – the process by which all the threads in the warp are measured and aligned in order. Usually this is done by placing each end in a premeasured path on a warp board or mill. The order of the ends is maintained by the cross.

Yarn (aka Thread) – Perhaps one refers to thinner strands as thread, thicker strands as yarn?