Glossary
Weaving words, explained.
- Block
- A group of ends (or picks) that weave together as a unit, for pattern weaves.
- Dobby
- A loom that lifts shafts from a pattern (a lift plan) rather than tied treadles.
- Draft
- The plan of a cloth: threading, tie-up, treadling and drawdown.
- Drawdown
- The picture of the cloth worked out from the draft.
- End
- One warp thread.
- Float
- A thread passing over several others without interlacing.
- Heddle
- The eye on a shaft that an end passes through.
- Lift plan
- The shafts lifted for each pick, for dobby and table looms.
- Pick
- One pass of the weft.
- Profile draft
- A draft in blocks, turned into a full draft for a block weave.
- Selvedge
- The edge of the cloth, where the weft turns.
- Sett
- How closely the warp is spaced: ends per cm or inch.
- Shaft
- A frame holding heddles; lifting it raises the ends threaded through it.
- Shed
- The opening between raised and lowered ends that the weft passes through.
- Tabby
- Plain weave: over one, under one.
- Tie-up
- Which shafts each treadle lifts.
- Treadle
- A pedal that lifts the shafts tied to it.
- Twill
- A weave whose interlacings step along, making diagonal lines.
- Warp
- The threads held lengthwise on the loom.
- Weft
- The thread woven across the warp.
- WIF
- Weaving Information File: a standard draft format for weaving software and looms.