Weaving

Weaving Manufacture

Weaving is the process of making a fabric, either by hand or by machine. Most of the fabrics produced today are made by either weaving or knitting. In order to weave a fabric, two yarns must be used. One makes the warp, which makes the yarns running vertically down the fabric. These are put into place on the waving loom first, making sure they are evenly spaced. Another yarn, which is called the weft is interwoven between these warp yarns. These two sets of yarns always intersect at right angles.

Weaving is an Ancient craft. It dates back to the Stone Age, and is still today the most popular way of manufacturing fabric. It is mainly done by machine today, but can still be done by hand, as the long as a loom is available.

There are many different types of Weaving. These include Plain weave, which is where the pattern of the weft yarn goes under one warp yarn, over one warp yarn. There is also Twill Weave, Basket Weave, Satin Weave, Leno Weave, Oxford Weave and Rib Weave. All of these types of weave are variations on the original and basic Plain Weave.

Many yarns can be used for Weaving, be they Natural of Synthetic, or blends of the two, Staple or Filament. Interesting effects can be made from Weaving such as open weaves and colour woven fabrics, where the pattern is dictated by the colours of yarns used. Many weaves used can create different fabrics depending on the yarns used, and some even give their name to the fabric that they make, for example Satin is made using a Satin Weave.

Properties of Woven Fabrics

• Characteristic depend mainly on the types of yarn used
• Strong
• Good Bias Stretch
• Frays Easily
• Not Strong Lengthwise or Crosswise generally
• Durable
• Versatile
• Resilient
• Flexible

End Uses of Woven Fabrics

• Most Common type of fabric used for garments
• Used for many fabrics, such as Corduroy, Satin, Denim and many others
• Garments
• Hats
• Shoes
• Handbags