7.4.2 Weaving
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Weaving is a technique by which yarns are interwoven rectangularly to form fabrics. The longitudinal yarns are called warp yarns and the yarns woven perpendicularly through them are called weft yarns. Using the shafts, the warp yarns can be moved apart from each other ('lifted'), creating an opening into which the weft yarn can be inserted. After each weft, another group of warp yarns is lifted using the shaft and the next weft yarn is inserted into the opening.
Depending on how the warp yarns are inserted through the different shafts and the order in which the shafts lift the warp yarns, different patterns can be made. Some examples are given in the Figure below.
Copied from Motiv.[1]
Copied from Motiv.[1]
Inserting the weft into the shed opening can be done in various ways, namely by means of a weaving shuttle (in the past), rapiers, projectile, air jet and/or water jet.
Wet-spun hemp yarn can be woven on rapier loom or rapier weaving machine; weaving with an air jet loom causes more problems. Cottonised fibres, ring spun or rotor spun, both can be woven on gripper or air jet looms.
The scheme below shows the principle of weft transfer according to the double rapier system. The weft (red) is in the insert gripper (left) and the top of the weft forms a bridge, so to speak, in the gripper head. The receiving gripper (right) moves in the insert gripper where the "hook" of the receiving gripper moves past the weft yarn. At the moment the receiving gripper returns to the right, the "hook" of the receiving gripper grasps the weft, clamps it and transports the weft further through the opening.
Yarn based on cottonised hemp fibre can be woven using an air jet loom. In this process, the weft is fed through a ‘pre-winder’ via several air blowers in relay procedure through the shed opening. After the weft is struck by the reed the cycle begins again. The weft is cut on both sides of the fabric.
[1] Motiv, ‘Aankoopwegwijzer voor circulair textiel 1 – Module 3B: Doeken uit textile’, https://data.secureserver.be/databases/bedrijven.nsf/webopen/downloads/$file/GDCA3Bdoeken.pdf
[2] Joke Nientker, ‘Fragment stof AM-1993-65-5, van textielloodje uit scheepswrak Aanloop Molengat’, 2011,
[3] Geert de Smedt, ‘Weven’, Cusus 2020-2021.