 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Warp and weft" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In the manufacture ofcloth,warp andweft are the two basic components inweaving to transformthread andyarn intotextile fabrics. The verticalwarp yarns are held stationary in tension on aloom (frame) while the horizontalweft (also called thewoof) is drawn through (inserted over and under) the warp thread.[1] In the terminology of weaving, each warp thread is called awarp end; apick is a single weft thread that crosses the warp thread (synonymous terms arefill yarn andfilling yarn).[2][3]
In the 18th century, theIndustrial Revolution facilitated the industrialisation of the production of textile fabrics with the "picking stick"[4] and the "flying shuttle", the latter of which was invented byJohn Kay, in 1733. The mechanisedpower loom was patented byEdmund Cartwright in 1785, which allowed sixty picks per minute.[4]
The wordweft derives from theOld English wordwefan, to weave.Warp means "that across which the woof is thrown". (OldEnglishwearp, fromweorpan, to throw, cf.Germanwerfen,Dutchwerpen).[5]
.png)
The warp is the set ofyarns or other things stretched in place on aloom before the weft is introduced during the weaving process. It is regarded as thelongitudinal set in a finished fabric with two or more sets of elements.[6]
The term is also used for a set of yarns established before the interworking of weft yarns by some other method, such as finger manipulation, yielding wrapped or twined structures. Very simple looms use aspiral warp, in which the warp is made up of a single, very long yarn wound in aspiral pattern around a pair of sticks or beams.[7]
The warp must be strong to be held under high tension during the weaving process, unlike the weft which carries almost no tension. This requires the yarn used for warp ends, or individual warp threads, to be made ofspun andpliedfibre. Traditionally natural fibres such aswool,linen,alpaca, andsilk were used. However,improvements in spinning technology during theIndustrial Revolution createdcotton yarn of sufficient strength to be used in mechanized weaving. Later,synthetic fibres such asnylon orrayon were employed.
While most weaving is weft-faced, warp-faced textiles are created using densely arranged warp threads. In these the design is in the warp, requiring all colors to be decided upon and placed during the first part of the weaving process, which cannot be changed. Such limitations of color placement create weavings defined by length-wise stripes and vertical designs. Many South American cultures, including the ancient Incas and Aymaras, employedbackstrap weaving, which uses the weight of the weaver's body to control the tension of the loom.[8]
Because the weft does not have to be stretched on a loom the way the warp is, it can generally be less strong. Originally spun yarns were used, from fibres such aswool,flax and cotton. Today also viscose (rayon) types and synthetic fibres, such as polyester and polyamide (nylon) are used.
The weft is threaded through the warp using a "shuttle", air jets or "rapier grippers". Handlooms were the original weaver's tool, with the shuttle being threaded through alternately raised warps by hand.
The expression "warp and weft" (also "warp and woof" and "woof and warp") is usedmetaphorically the way "fabric" is; e.g., "the warp and woof of a student's life" equates to "the fabric of a student's life".[9] Warp and weft are sometimes used even more generally in literature to describe the basic dichotomy of the world we live in, as in, up/down, in/out, black/white, Sun/Moon, yin/yang, etc. The expression is also used similarly for the underlying structure upon which something is built. The terms "warp" and "woof" are also found in some English translations of the Bible in the discussion of mildews found in cloth materials in Leviticus 13:48-59.
In computing, awarp is a term for a block of parallelthreads executed on aGPU or similarSIMD device.
| Weaves |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Components | ||
| Tools and techniques | ||
| Types oflooms | ||
| Weavers | ||
| Employment practices | ||
| Mills | ||
