Weaving

History

Weaving, which is the technique of interlocking fibers to produce fabric, can be done with or without a loom. Handwoven fabric can be used to create unique clothing, accessories, and many household items, including rugs, kitchen towels, table runners, and placemats.

Tapestry weaving can be used to tell a story or "paint" a picture with fiber, and is frequently employed in the creation of sculptures and major installations.

Weavers participate in one of the world's oldest crafts. The first cloth was likely woven from grasses and leaves in the early Paleolithic period, about 40,000 BCE. Twine, made from twisting and stretching plant fibers, was invented several thousand years later.

Human fingers acted as the first looms. During the Neolithic period, longer sticks and poles replaced fingers; when stuck in the ground, these sticks formed a primitive loom referred to as a "horizontal ground loom." The Bedouin weavers of the Middle East continue to use this ancient method.

Another loom formed with sticks was the "warp-weighted loom," which dates to 7000 BCE. The warp was pulled taut by the use of clay weights on the ground. Some Norwegian weavers continue to prefer this type of loom.

The Chinese are credited with the invention of the treadle and frame loom, the first loom with a warp shed through which the weft may be passed easily. This innovation increased production capability significantly.

Weaving developed among many cultures simultaneously and evolved into an art early on. Woven tapestries in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome depicted heroes and other legends. Later, European tapestries from France, Belgium, and other countries illustrated religious themes and biblical stories.

By the eleventh century CE, the first weaving guilds had formed in Europe. Craftspeople wove fine cloth of silk, linen, and wool in many patterns that are still used today. Most weaving terminology originated during this period. Terms like "heddle," "warp," "weft," "sleying reed," and "shuttle" are still used today.

From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution through the twentieth century, significant improvements were made in the design of looms that allowed for even greater speed, larger warps, and more intricate patterns. With most cloth being produced in textile mills, home weavers abandoned their craft, freeing up much of the time formerly spent on spinning, dyeing, and weaving.

In the United States, the first weaving revival began early in the twentieth century. Inspired by Native Americans and hand weavers in Appalachia, crafters began to imitate the patterns and textures not available in mass-produced fabrics. Many craft schools opened and began to offer traditional weaving classes. Weaving courses in higher education shifted from industrial textile programs to fine arts instruction.

In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi began to promote the spinning Indian yarn into homespun fabric via charkas, the traditional spinning wheel, and khadi, handlooms. At the time, his vision was revolutionary. India was under British rule and Indians were subject to paying high prices for fabric made in Britain out of raw materials exported from India. For Gandhi, making and wearing homespun cloth could help alleviate rural poverty and improve the nation's prospects for independence and self-sufficiency. In the 2010s, millions of people (80 percent of them women) work in the nation's handloom industry. Many of them are members of handloom weaving cooperatives, which are subsidized by the Indian government.

The lure of weaving includes the beauty of handspun and dyed flax, and the gentle clang of wood as the harnesses on the loom move up and down. Other weavers are drawn to the simple backstrap loom, which can be attached to a tree as indigenous cultures around the world have done for thousands of years.

Weaving loom supplies (some of these supplies may come with the loom):

• Shuttles
• Bobbins
• Boat shuttle
• Beater (this can be as simple as a fork or plastic comb)
• Heddle
• Reed
• Raddle
• Sleying stick
• Reed and heddle hooks
• Shed sticks
• Cross-sticks
• Optional: bobbin winder, fringe twister, temple, additional shuttles, harnesses, and reeds

Related supplies:

• Fiber (linen, cotton, wool, rayon, flax, silk, nylon, polyester, boucles, chenilles, milkweed, animal hair, mohair, cashmere, ramie, sisal, lycocell)
• Project weaving draft/pattern
• Sewing machine
• Sewing supplies
• Scissors
• Clips
• Inch gauge
• Yarn gauge
• Washing machine
• Drying board or roller
• Warping board/post/frame

Additional Materials for Specific Projects

Spinning supplies:

• Fleece
• Spinning tool (spindle, spindle wheel, or single or double treadle spinning wheel)
• Carder
• Extra whorls

Dyeing supplies:

• Containers
• Yarn
• Water
• Natural materials or synthetic dye
• Mordants

Techniques

Basic steps in loom weaving:

• Following a pattern, wind the warp thread around a warping board, measure, and cut.
• Set up the warp by following the weaving draft and loom instructions.
• Once the warp is in place, wind the weft yarn on a bobbin and place in a shuttle.
• Create a heading using either heavy threads or sticks. The heading will keep the weft threads in place.
• To begin weaving, pass the shuttle through the desired shed, formed by lifting the heddles as directed, until it reaches the opposite side.
• The weft thread is then pushed into place with a beater. Maintain an even tension by beating with the same touch each time.
• The shuttle is then returned in the other direction, changing the shed as instructed in the draft, and the thread is beat into place.
• To weave neat edges, check selvages regularly, measure with a stitch gauge, and adjust the shuttle so that the weft is neither too tight nor too loose.
• As the fabric grows, the weft will have to be advanced to provide continued space for weaving.
• When the desired length is obtained, cut weft thread, leaving a tail about 6 inches long. With a tapestry needle, weave it back through the fabric.
• Create another header to hold final end threads in place.
• Cut warp threads and finish as instructed.
• Fabric should be washed and dried before using in sewing projects. Some minor shrinkage is usually desirable.

Trends

While many contemporary weavers prefer crafting traditional items, others enjoy manipulation and innovation. Examples include the embellishment of cloth with beading, embroidery, or unusual notions; felting (shrinking) woven cloth to be used for clothing, purses, and accessories; and weaving fabric with fibers that will shrink differently so that the fabric will pucker when subjected to hot water, which adds texture and visual variety. Contemporary weavers also enjoy working with non-fiber materials, including wire, metal, and plastic, to create sculpture and other artwork.

In India,

Weaving for Fun vs. Profit

Hand weavers compete with the commercial textile industry, which can provide clothing and household goods at inexpensive prices. Therefore, the weaver is challenged to create items that are more appealing than mass-produced goods, and to keep the prices affordable.

It is not easy to earn a living as a weaver, although many weavers earn extra money practicing their craft on the side. The holiday season is an especially lucrative time, since hand-woven items make nice gifts.

Some experienced weavers earn money by offering weaving classes at yarn shops, schools, and online via instructional videos.

Learning More

Organizations

Handweavers Guild of America <http://www.weavespindye.org/>

Interweave Spinning Guilds Directory: US and International <https://www.interweave.com/spinning-guilds-directory/>

Weavolution <https://weavolution.com/>

Books

Chandler, Deborah. Learning to Weave. Rev. ed. Interweave Press, 1995.

Dixon, Anne. The Handweaver's Pattern Directory. Interweave Press, 2007.

Patrick, Jane. Time to Weave: Simply Elegant Projects to Make in Almost No Time. Interweave Press, 2013.

Piroch, Sigrid. The Magic of Handweaving: The Basics and Beyond. Krause, 2011.