The Ancient Art of Weaving

As technology advanced new ideas and techniques have shaped the fashion industry. But these advancements would not have been possible without the basic foundation. Weaving is one the oldest form of art and one of the foundations on which fashion has survived. Ancient method of fabric production, weaving involves two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The two set threads, one of which is placed longitudinally that is called the warp and the other is placed laterally, are called weft or filling (in old English weft or woof means ‘that which is woven’. The characteristics of the cloth depends on the method that are used to inter woven the threads. 

Traces of weaving have gone as far as the Paleolithic era. It is believed that weaving has been widespread since Biblical times. Weaving as an art spread all along the world. Both horizontal and vertical looms are found all over Asia, Africa and Europe. Flax was present in the Egyptian culture for a long time. Looms early required two people, one person to pass through the filling. Initially looms were a fixed length of cloth, but later looms extended and as medieval period came in, weaving became an important craft.

One of the inventions of the industrial revolution was the power loom that changed the scenario. The Jacquard loom that was developed during the early 1800s, in particular proved beneficial, this loom allowed complicated patterns to be woven using punch cards to determine which threads of colored yarn should appear in the upper side of the cloth. Though nowadays most of the weaving is done mechanically, there are some artisans that have kept the age old tradition of handloom alive.

The art of weaving has undergone a lot of experimentation and created diverse weaving types. Here are some that are most known and practiced.

Plain 

Also known as the taffeta or homespun, Plain weave is suppose to be the most difficult of the weaves to drape. In this, the weft creates right angles alternately with every warp.

Twill

In this one or more warp fibersweave alternately weaves over and under two or more weft fibers in a regular fashion. Denim is a good example for this kind of weave.

Satin 

The most popular one, Satin weave is rather expensive because of its glimmer. Similar to twill, Satin produces fewer intersections of warp and weft.  

Basket 

Sharing characteristic from the plain weave, except that two or more warp passes through two or more wefts. 

Besides these rib weave, dobby, leno, oxford are some other that are created depending on the fabric. As an ancient art form, weaving is an extremely important, especially for someone pursuing a career in the fashion world. For this purpose, Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion has included the fundamentals of Weaving in its curriculum.