Yarn:.

Yarn

Spools of thread

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlock fiber, suitable for use in the production of textiles,
sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and rope making. Thread is a type of yarn
intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be
finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing. Embroidery
threads are yarns specifically

A Spinning Jenny, spinning machine which initiated the Industrial Revolution

S- and Z-twist yarn

Spun yarn is made by twisting or otherwise bonding staple fibers together to make a cohesive
threa. Twisting fibers into yarn in the process called spinning can be dated back to the Upper
Paleolithic,[3] and yarn spinning was one of the very first processes to be industrialized. Spun
yarns may contain a single type of fiber, or be a blend of various types. Combining synthetic
fibers (which can have high strength, luster, and fire retardant qualities) with natural fibers
(which have good water absorbency and skin comforting qualities) is very common. The most
widely used blends are cotton-polyester and wool-acrylic fiber blends. Blends of different
natural fibers are common too, especially with more expensive fibers such as alpaca, angora
and cashmere.

Yarns are made up of a number of plies, each ply being a single spun yarn. These single plies of
yarn are twisted together (plied) in the opposite direction to make a thicker yarn. Depending on
the direction of this final twist, the yarn will be known as s-twist or z-twist. For a single ply, the
direction of the final twist is the same as its original twist.

Filament yarn consists of filament fibers (very long continuous fibers) either twisted together or
only grouped together. Thicker monofilaments are typically used for industrial purposes rather
than fabric production or decoration. Silk is a natural filament, and synthetic filament yarns are
used to produce silk-like effects.

Texturized yarns are made by a process of air texturizing (sometimes referred to as taslanizing),
which combines multiple filament yarns into a yarn with some of the characteristics of spun
yarns. Designed for hand or machine embroidery.
Weaving

Warp and weft in plain weaving

Weaving is a textile craft in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced to form a
fabric or cloth. The threads which run lengthways are called the warp and the threads which
run across from side to side are the weft or filling.

Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling
threads are woven through them. Weft is an old English word meaning "that which is woven".[1]
A fabric band which meets this definition of cloth (warp threads with a weft thread winding
between) can also be made using tablet weaving techniques.

The way the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is called the weave. The majority
of woven products are created with one of three basic weaves: plain weave, satin weave, or
twill. Woven cloth can be plain (in one color or a simple pattern), or can be woven in decorative
or artistic designs, including tapestries. Fabric in which the warp and/or weft is tie-dyed before
weaving is called ikat.

Though traditional hand weaving and spinning remain popular crafts, nowadays the majority of
commercial fabrics in the West are woven on computer-controlled Jacquard looms. In the past,
simpler fabrics were woven on dobby looms, while the Jacquard harness adaptation was
reserved for more complex patterns. Some believe the efficiency of the Jacquard loom, with its
Jacquard weaving process, makes it more economical for mills to use them to weave all of their
fabrics, regardless of the complexity of the design.

Process and terminology

An Indian weaver preparing his warp

A woman weaving with a manual loom

In general, weaving involves the interlacing of two sets of threads at right angles to each other:
the warp and the weft (older woof). The warps are held taut and in parallel order, typically by
means of a loom, though some forms of weaving may use other methods. The loom is warped
(or dressed) with the warp threads passing through heddles on two or more harnesses. The
warp threads are moved up or down by the harnesses creating a space called the shed. The
weft thread is wound onto spools called bobbins. The bobbins are placed in a shuttle that
carries the weft thread through the shed.

The raising and lowering sequence of warp threads gives rise to many possible weave
structures:

 plain weave,
 twill weave,
 satin weave, and
 Complex computer-generated interlacing.

Both warp and weft can be visible in the final product. By spacing the warp more closely, it can
completely cover the weft that binds it, giving a warp faced textile such as rep weave.
Conversely, if the warp is spread out, the weft can slide down and completely cover the warp,
giving a weft faced textile, such as a tapestry or a Kilim rug. There are a variety of loom styles
for hand weaving and tapestry. In tapestry, the image is created by placing weft only in certain
warp areas, rather than across the entire warp width.
How do we name a weave?
• Fabric structure
• Fabric weight
• Yarn balance
• Finishes
Basic weaves
– Plain weave
• Basket weave
– Twill weave
• even-sided
• warp-faced
– Satin weave
• Sateen
Complex weaves
– Figured weave
• Lappet, swivel, spot
• Jacquard
– Pile weave
– Leno weave
– Crepe and crepe effect

Three Basic Weaves

• Plain weave : made by weaving one weft yarn over and under
each warp yarn, alternating each row. It is the most common type
of weave.

• Twill weave :

• Satin weave : made by "floating" the warp or weft yarns across

several yarns to bring them to the surface.
Plain Weaves
• Simplest weave, can be made on a loom having only two
harnesses.
• Weave provides maximum number of yarn interlacings:
each warp goes over one fill then under the next, with odd
and even yarns weaving opposite to each other.

Characteristics of Plain Weave

• Raveling related to count & yarn cohesiveness
• Used in apparel, furnishings, & industrial goods
• Weight dictates end use: lighter weights in apparel &
curtains; heavier weights in upholstery, draperies, &industrial goods
Plain weaves
• Simplest and most important of the three basic weaves, used in about 80% of all woven fabric
• The plain weave repeats on two ends and two picks. The first end passes over the first pick
and under the second pick. The second pick reverses this action, and weaves one down and
one up. The weave is executed by passing each filling yarn successively over and under each
warp yarn, alternating each row.
• Broadcloth, Calico, Muslin, Print cloth, Sheeting, Taffeta
• Derivative; Basket weave
• About 90% of all cloth woven is plain weave.
• Unbalanced plain weaves show horizontal ribs, with the rib
becoming more pronounced as the difference in yarn sizes
increases (filling yarns thicker than warp yarns).
Balanced Plain Weave

• Plain weave fabric

– Widest range of end uses; number of warp equals number of
filling.

Lightweight: Very thin, light weight, transparent or semitransparent

due to fine combed or filament yarns of strong fibers
or low count or both; high count with very fine yarns.
Balanced Plain Weave (cont.)

• Lightweight and sheer:

• Lightweight and opaque: slightly larger yarns; may have

higher count; lawn, batiste, china silk, challis
• Low count sheers
Lightweight Plain Weave
• Lawn
• Voile
• Chiffon
Balanced Plain Weave

• Medium weight: Most common for apparel.

– Durable: widest range of types and uses and quality levels
– Medium size yarns
– Medium count
– Medium weight range
– Examples: print cloth, percale, plissé, embossed, chintz, polished cotton,
true crepe, muslin, flannelette, gingham, chambray, taffeta

Heavy Weight
• Heavy weight: Also known as bottom or suiting weight.
– More durable
– More resistant to wrinkling
– Ravels more if count is low
– Examples crash, burlap, tweed, suiting, homespun, butcher rayon,
osnaburg, flannel
Heavy Weight Plain Weave Fabrics
• Crash
• Flannel
Unbalanced Plain Weave

• Rib or Rep
– Balance is 1:2 or 2:1 or more.
– Count is greater by 2-3 times in one direction.
– Slippage may occur with filament yarns; wear concentrates on
one set of yarns.
Unbalanced Plain Weave
• Yarn size often differs between warp and filling.

– Light weight: not common; dimity, crepe de chine

– Medium weight: common; broadcloth, taffeta, shantung

– Heavy weight: common; poplin, faille, flannelette, Bedford cord

Unbalanced

• More yarns in one direction than the other

• 2x more warp yarns creates a rib in the filling directions
• Shantung – silk, irregular due to slubs
• Broadcloth – classic shirting
• Poplin – heavier than broadcloth
• Faille –
• Taffeta – flat filament yarns, warp and fill
• Repp – silk, used for neckties
• Bengaline – pronounced rib, heavy filling yarns
• Grosgrain – pronounced rib, silk warp with cotton filling in some, ribbons are often grosgrain
Unbalanced Plain Weave Fabrics
• Crepe de chine
• Taffeta

Plain Weave Variants:

1. Basket Weaves
– Basket weaves of any description may be woven on a loom having two harnesses.
Common basket weaves are 2x2, 3x2, 3x3, and 4x4.
– A shirting fabric similar to oxford cloth is the 3x2 “matte” weave.
– Because of the yarn floats, basket weaves tend to be softer and to drape better than
comparable plain weaves. More flexible, wrinkle resistant, floats can snag

• Types:
– Full (basket in both directions)
– Half (basket in warp or filling)
– Partial (occasional basket feature)
Plain Weave Variants

2. Oxford Weave
– 2x1(half basket) Basket Weave, can be woven on two harnesses, warp
yarns are paired.
– Oxford cloth, a common shirting, is woven with this pattern, using yarn dyed
or white warp with white fill. Filling yarns are customarily twice the size of
warp yarns. Pin point oxford is a higher count with finer yarns. Duck is also
woven this way, while canvas is plain weave.

Twill Weaves
• Twill weaves are characterized by diagonal ribs caused by staggered floats of
yarn on the fabric face. Face and back are different; fabrics are usually used
with the warp yarns predominating on the face.
• Twill fabrics which are balanced in fabric count and in warp and fill yarn sizes
show a 45 degree twill angle. Unbalanced twills may show steeper or
shallower twill angels.

Characteristics of Twill Weaves

• May have face/back and up/down orientation
• Interesting surface and texture
• Seldom printed
• Soil less evident
• More pliable
• Better wrinkle recovery
• High counts possible (more durable)
• More expensive
• Wale may be prominent

Twill weave
• A basic weave characterized by a diagonal rib, or twill line, generally running upward from left
to right.
• Each end floats over or under at least two consecutive picks, and the points of intersection
move one outward and one upward, on succeeding picks, to produce the diagonal line.
• The smallest twill repeats on three yarns and is known as the two up and one down (2/1).
• One of the most popular weaves in men’s wear is the smallest even-sided twill, two up, two
down.
• Twill weaves are used to produce strong, durable, firm fabrics.
• Broken twill, Corkscrew weave, Entwining twill weave, Figured weave, Herringbone twill.
• Variation: Reclining twill or Steep twill (the greater the difference between the number of
warp
and filling yarns the steeper the twill line)

Twill Weaves
• A loom must have a minimum of three harnesses to weave
a twill fabric. Typical pattern repeats are :
– Even sided twill – warp floats over same number of yarns it floats
under
• Common twill fabrics include:
• Even sided:
– Serge – Common worsted suiting fabric, 2/2 RH
– Herringbone – Alternating twill
– Checks – Color effect weaves, usually 2/2 twill
– Hounds tooth
– Surah- silk or silky yarns
• warp faced
– Denim – (Serge de Nimes), Classically 3/1 LH
– Gabardine – Steep twill, slacks, uniform
• Twills are not as strong as plain weaves with similar construction.
• Twills show less dirt/stains because of their uneven surface as compared to plain weaves
• Recover better from wrinkles

Satin Weaves
• A minimum of five harnesses are needed to weave a satin fabric.
• The most common satins are 5-harness and 8-harness.
Satin Weaves
• Satin fabrics are usually woven with flat continuous
Filament yarns, and are warp-faced.
• Flannel backed satins have a flat filament warp and a spun
fill; the filling side is napped.
• The face of the fabric is formed almost completely of warp or filling floats produced in the
repeat of the weave. This is achieved by spacing the yarn crossover or intersection points as
evenly and widely as possible.
• The weave produces a fabric with a characteristic smooth surface, employing a considerably
greater number of yarns in the set that forms the face.
Characteristics of Satin Weaves
• One set of yarns on face and one set on back
• Requires loom of 5 to 12 harnesses
• Lustrous with long floats
• Low count satins: sleazy and weak
Characteristics of Satin Weaves
• Satin made with filament yarns - prone to slip
• Definite face and back
• Unbalanced
• Slick; pliable, wrinkle resistant
• Ravels and frays
Satin Weave- sateen fabric
Complex Weaves
Combinations of the basic weaves create more patterns

Fancy fabrics: Design produced at the same time as the fabric is woven.
–More expensive; more permanent design than applied designs; specialized
looms required
Figured Weaves
• Small figured weaves are those which repeat on 32 picks or less. A “dobby”
attachment to the loom is needed for these weaves. Dobbies enable individual
control of up to 32 harnesses.

Dobby Loom:
Figured Weaves
• The original dobby was a small boy who sat on top of the loom and raised individual warp
yarns so that pattern could be produced. Today, all patterning is done by machine
• Patterns produced by dobby looms are small and usually geometric.
• Examples of fabrics produced on a dobby loom are:
– Bedford Cord: looks somewhat like corduroy
– Bird’s-Eye Piqué: raised diamond effect, have stuffer yarns
– Bull’s-Eye Piqué
– Waffle Cloth: raised honeycomb effect
– Shirting Madras: raised vertical stripes
– Dotted Swiss: swivel, spot, extra warp or fill
Extra yarn weaves- a type of dobby weave
• Extra yarns are used only in certain areas of the fabric to
create a surface design in those areas. These extra yarns
may be woven in either warp or fill direction.
– Examples: Lappet
Swivel
clipped spot of clipped dot
(Dotted Swiss)
Pique’-
lappet
Figured Weaves- Jacquard weaves
• Large figured weaves are produced on a Jacquard loom, which provides
individual control for each heddle through the use of punched pattern cards
linked to form a pattern chain. (Harnesses are not used.) One pattern card is
needed for every pick in the pattern repeat.
• Patterns are created by combining elements of the three basic weaves-plain,
twill and satin-in the same cloth. The figure may be of satin against a
background of plain or twill in the simplest cases.
Jacquard Loom
Example of large figured weaves produced on a Jacquard
loom include:
– Brocade: elaborate figures, usually on a satin background, satin or twill
floats on plain, ribbed, twill or satin background
– Matelasse: patterns stand out and give a pouched or quilted effect
– Tapestry: picture fabric, the entire scene is woven into the fabric. No repeat
is necessary. More durable if warp and fill yarns are comparable.
Double Cloth
• Many of the large figured weaves make use of double-cloth design, with
two separate warps and a common filling. Many of the fabrics having
the larger repeats have long floats of yarn, particularly on the back of the
fabric, when a particular end may appear infrequently on the fabric face
in the pattern.
• Matelasse is an example- 2 sets of yarn are regular warp and filling,
others are crepe or coarse cotton
• Why cotton or crepe?
• Shrink when washed giving a pouched effect
Double cloth method of producing a pile fabric:
Pile Weaves
• Pile weaves make use of extra warp or filling yarns to create
surface pile of loops or cut ends. Special loom attachments are
needed for these weaves.
• The dense the ground fabric, more yarns per inch the higher quality
the fabric
Pile Weaves
• Examples of warp pile weaves include:
– Velvet: Short, dense pile always cut, often silk, cotton or rayon. Used in
apparel
– Terry Cloth: Long pile, often on both sides of fabric, may be cut or uncut.
Used in towelling, robes.
Pile Weaves
• Filling pile weaves use extra filling yarns to create the pile.
Warp and one filling weave the fabric ground, while the
extra filling provides the pile. Pile is almost always cut.
• When corduroy or terry cloth contain polyester/cotton
blends, the blend are always in the ground, never in the
pile.
Pile Weaves
• Examples of filling pile weaves include:
– Corduroy: French “corde du roi” – the King’s cords. Vertical ribs, or wales
are created by arranging the floats in lengthwise rows. In weaving a
second filling floats over the ground and then is cut and brushed to produce
pile. Corduroy may be featherwale (18-21 wales per inch), pinwale (16-18),
midwale (14), thickset (11), or widewale (2-9).
Other Weaves
• Leno Weaves-Adjacent warps twisted together with the filling yarns
interlaced between. Marquisette, Casement Fabrics.
• Yarns are locked in even though it is an open weave fabric
Crepe and Crepe Effect Fabrics
• True crepe made with high twist yarns. Fabric is woven smooth and
then immersed in water where it shrinks and yarns kink to get
characteristic pebbly surface. Wrap or fill crepe has high twist yarn
in W or F. Balanced crepe has W or F crepe yarns
– Chiffon
– Georgette
Crepe and Crepe Effect Fabrics
• Matelassé –
• Seersucker - crepe yarns shrink when placed in water. Result is
crosswire puckers, usually striped.
seersucker
Crepe Effects
• Crepe effect by weaving - crepe weave imitates crepe but no yarns
of high twist are used. Rather fabric has appearance of spots or
seeds due to irregular floats. Also granite or momie weave, sand
crepe, granite cloth. Moss crepe uses both crepe yarns and crepe
weave.
• Crepe effect by slack tension weave - slack yarns create puckered
stripes. Seersucker.
• Crepe Weaves - Intricate irregular weave patterns create pebbly or buckled
surface effects.
Examples: Momie, Granite Cloth, Pebble Cloth.
• Momie weave is no distinct pattern in weave but effect is appearance that is
uneven- a crepe effect.
Crepe weave
Crepe Effects
Crepe effect by finish
• Caustic soda treatment causes shrinkage in treated areas. Puckers fabric. Plissé
• Embossed crepe press crinkled shape into surface of fabric.
Crepe effect using textured yarns such as low twist false twist textured yarns.
Narrow fabrics
• Products up to 12 inches wide
• Narrow-fabric looms weave many fabrics side by side
• Each fabric has its own shuttle
• All weaves are used.

Loom

Draper power loom in Lowell, Massachusetts US

A woman in Konya, Turkey works at a vertical loom.

An early nineteenth century Japanese loom with several heddles, which the weaver controls
with her foot.

A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp
threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of
the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.
Weaving:

Woman weaving in Nepal

Weaving is done by intersecting the longitudinal threads, the warp, i.e. "that which is thrown
across", with the transverse threads, the weft, i.e. "that which is woven".

The major components of the loom are the warp beam, heddles, harnesses, shuttle, reed and
take-up roll. In the loom, yarn processing includes shedding, picking, battening and taking-up
operations.

 Shedding. Shedding is the raising of the warp yarns to form a shed through which the
filling yarn, carried by the shuttle, can be inserted. The shed is the vertical space
between the raised and unraised warp yarns. On the modern loom, simple and intricate
shedding operations are performed automatically by the heddle or heald frame, also
known as a harness. This is a rectangular frame to which a series of wires, called heddles
or healds, are attached. The yarns are passed through the eye holes of the heddles,
which hang vertically from the harnesses. The weave pattern determines which harness
controls which warp yarns, and the number of harnesses used depends on the
complexity of the weave. Two common methods of controlling the heddles are dobbies
and a Jacquard Head.

 Picking. As the harnesses raise the heddles or healds, which raise the warp yarns, the
shed is created. The filling yarn in inserted through the shed by a small carrier device
called a shuttle. The shuttle is normally pointed at each end to allow passage through
the shed. In a traditional shuttle loom, the filling yarn is wound onto a quill, which in
turn is mounted in the shuttle. The filling yarn emerges through a hole in the shuttle as
it moves across the loom. A single crossing of the shuttle from one side of the loom to
the other is known as a pick. As the shuttle moves back and forth across the shed, it
weaves an edge, or selvage, on each side of the fabric to prevent the fabric from
raveling.

 Battening. As the shuttle moves across the loom laying down the fill yarn, it also passes
through openings in another frame called a reed (which resembles a comb). With each
 picking operation, the reed presses or battens each filling yarn against the portion of the
fabric that has already been formed. The point where the fabric is formed is called the
fell. Conventional shuttle looms can operate at speeds of about 150 to 160 picks per
minute.[1]

With each weaving operation, the newly constructed fabric must be wound on a cloth beam.
This process is called taking up. At the same time, the warp yarns must be let off or released
from the warp beams. To become fully automatic, a loom needs a filling stop motion which will
brake the loom, if the weft thread breaks.[1] An automatic loom requires 0.125 hp to 0.5 hp to
operate.

Types of looms:

Back strap loom

A back strap loom with a shed-rod.

A simple loom which has its roots in ancient civilizations comprising two sticks or bars between
which the warps are stretched. One bar is attached to a fixed object and the other to the
weaver usually by means of a strap around the back. On traditional looms, the two main sheds
are operated by means of a shed roll over which one set of warps pass, and continuous string
heddles which encase each of the warps in the other set. The weaver leans back and uses her
body weight to tension the loom. To open the shed controlled by the string heddles, the weaver
relaxes tension on the warps and raises the heddles. The other shed is usually opened by simply
drawing the shed roll toward the weaver. Both simple and complex textiles can be woven on
this loom. Width is limited to how far the weaver can reach from side to side to pass the
shuttle. Warp faced textiles, often decorated with intricate pick-up patterns woven in
complementary and supplementary warp techniques are woven by indigenous peoples today
around the world. They produce such things as belts, ponchos bags, hatbands and carrying
cloths. Supplementary weft patterning and brocading is practiced in many regions. Balanced
weaves are also possible on the back strap loom. Today, commercially produced back strap
loom kits often include a rigid heddle.

Warp weighted loom

The warp-weighted loom is a vertical loom that may have originated in the Neolithic period.
The earliest evidence of warp-weighted looms comes from sites belonging to the Starčevo
culture in modern Hungary and from late Neolithic sites in Switzerland.[2] This loom was used in
Ancient Greece, and spread north and west throughout Europe thereafter.[3] Its defining
characteristic is hanging weights (loom weights) which keep bundles of the warp threads taut.
Frequently, extra warp thread is wound around the weights. When a weaver has reached the
bottom of the available warp, the completed section can be rolled around the top beam, and
additional lengths of warp threads can be unwound from the weights to continue. This frees the
weaver from vertical size constraints.

Draw loom

A draw loom is a hand-loom for weaving figured cloth. In a draw loom, a "figure harness" is
used to control each warp thread separately.[4] A draw loom requires two operators, the weaver
and an assistant called a "draw boy" to manage the figure harness.

Handloom
 Elements of a foot-
treadle floor loom

The earliest looms[citation needed] were wooden vertical-shaft looms, with

the heddles fixed in place in the shaft. The warp threads pass
alternately through a heddle and through a space between the
heddles (the shed), so that raising the shaft raises half the threads
(those passing through the heddles), and lowering the shaft lowers the
same threads—the threads passing through the spaces between the
heddles remain in place.

Haute-lisse and basse-lisse looms

Looms used for weaving traditional tapestry are classified as haute-

lisse looms, where the warp is suspended vertically between two rolls, 1. Wood frame
and the basse-lisse looms, where the warp extends horizontally 2. Seat for
between the rolls. weaver
3. Warp beam-
Power loom let off
4. Warp threads
Edmund Cartwright built and patented a power loom in 1785, and it 5. Back beam or
was this that was adopted by the nascent cotton industry in England. A platen
silk loom was made by Jacques Vaucanson in 1745, which used the 6. Rods – used to
same ideas but it wasn't developed further. The invention of the flying make a shed
shuttle by John Kay had been critical to the development of a 7. Heddle frame -
commercially successful power loom.[5] Cartwright's loom was heald frame -
impractical but the ideas were developed by numerous inventors in harness
the Manchester area in England, where by 1818 there were 32 8. Heddle- heald
factories containing 5732 looms.[6] - the eye
9. Shuttle with
Horrocks loom was viable but it was the Roberts Loom in 1830 that[7] weft yarn
marked the turning point. Before this time hand looms had 10. Shed
outnumbered power looms. Incremental changes to the three motions 11. Completed
continued to be made. The problems of sizing, stop-motions, fabric
consistent take-up and a temple to maintain the width remained. In 12. Breast beam
1841, Ken worthy and Bullough produced the Lancashire Loom[8] which 13. Batten with
was self-acting or semi-automatic. This enables a 15-year-old spinner reed comb
to run six looms at the same time. Incrementally, the Dickinson Loom, 14. Batten
and then the Keighley born inventor Northrop working for the Draper adjustment
Corporation in Hopedale produced the fully automatic Northrop Loom 15. Lathe
which recharged the shuttle when the pirn was empty. The Draper E 16. Treadles
and X model became the leading products from 1909 until they were 17. Cloth roll-
challenged by the different characteristics of synthetic fibers’ such as takeup
rayon.[9]

From 1942 the faster and more efficient shuttle less Sulzer looms and
the rapier looms were introduced.[10] Modern industrial looms can weave at 2000 weft
insertions per minute.[11] Today, advances in technology have produced a variety of looms
designed to maximize production for specific types of material. The most common of these are
air-jet looms and water-jet looms.