World of Textile : FAQs

Weaving is a process of making fabric with two separate sets of yarns called the Warp and the Weft. The Warp yarns in the form of sheet (called warp sheet) are wrapped on the beam and runs the length of the fabric. The Weft yarn is entirely separate yarn than the Warp yarns and it is laid between two layers / sheets of the Warp yarns (called Shed) across the width of the fabric. A new shed is then formed in accordance with the desired weave structure, with some or all of the ends in each sheet moving over to the position previously occupied by the other sheet. In this way the Weft is gripped between two layers of the Warps. Here one Warp yarn is called an End and one Weft yarn is called a Pick.

There was a significant development in 1733 when John Kay (Born in Lancashire, England) developed and patented the “Flying Shuttle” with metal capped ends, wheels and a pirn of weft thread for the hand loom.

Then Edmund Cartwright (Born in Nottinghamshire, England) designed his first power loom in 1784 and patented it in 1785, but it proved to be valueless. In 1789, he patented another loom which served as a model for later inventors to work upon.

Mainly 2 Auxiliary functions are required for the weaving: Warp Stop Motion & Weft Stop Motion.

Warp Stop Motion: This mechanism is responsible to stop the loom when a Warp yarn breaks or excessively loose.

Weft Stop Motion: This mechanism is responsible to stop the loom when a Weft yarn breaks or the Weft runs off the Weft Package.

A general sketch of threads and woven fabric’s flow on the loom is shown in the below figures:

Regular / Basic weaves give even and easily identified appearance to the woven fabric. Some of the commonly used regular weaves are as below:

1/1 Plain: Plain weave is the most commonly used weave in the weaving industry.

The principle involved in the construction of plain cloth is the interlacement of any two continuous threads either warp or weft in an exactly contrary manner to each other, with every thread in each series passing alternately under and over consecutive threads of other series interlaces uniformly throughout the fabric. By this plan of interlacement, every thread in each series interlaces with every thread in the other series to the maximum extent, thereby producing a comparatively firm and strong texture of cloth.

Set of the Warp Yarns, skipping one warp yarn alternatively, making up and down movement one by one creates a shed and this is what being done in plain weave. It means 50 % of total Warp Yarns remains up and rest of 50 % of them remains down always.

A complete unit of the plain weave occupies only two ends of warp yarns and two picks of weft yarns.

2/2 Matt: In case of regular matt weave, the plain weave is extended equally in the warp and weft directions in bunch of 2 or 3 or 4 warp and weft yarns.

Twill Weave: Twill weave is done by passing the weft yarn under the 2 or more warp yarns and then over the one warp yarn and so on. Twill weave distinguishes from other weaves is because of the presence of visible diagonal lines that run across the width of the woven fabric.

Satin and Sateen Weaves: Satin is the Warp faced rearranged twill and Sateen is the Weft faced rearranged twill. Thus satin is the reverse side of the Sateen weave. The highlighted feature of these weaves are their brightness / lustrous appearance and smoothness.

For weaving different kind of Regular / Basic weaves, loom / machine must be equipped with at least separate Cam Shedding mechanism with minimum 7 heald frames accommodation.

With above loom specifications, weavers can able to weave a fabric with basic weaves like 1/1 Plain Weave, 2/2 Matt Weave, 2/1 Twill Weave, 3/1 Twill Weave, 3/1 Broken Twill Weave, 1/3 Twill Weave, 1/3 Broken Twill Weave, 2/2 Twill Weave, 4/1 Twill Weave, 5 Ends Satin, 5 Ends Sateen, Combination of 1/1 & 2/2 Weave, Combination of 1/1 & 3/1 Weave, Combination of 2/1 & 1/1 Weave, Combination of 5 Ends Satin & 1/1, Combination of 5 Ends Satin & 2/2, Combination of 5 Ends Sateen & 1/1, Combination of 5 Ends Sateen & 2/2, etc.