ABSTRACT
WARP In weaving, the threads attached to the LOOM, held under tension so that the WEFT can be interlaced between them. On the warp-weighted loom – where the warp is held taut by weights attached to the bottom ends – these were usually regulated at the top by a HEADING BAND. Every second warp thread – for plain weave – was bound over the shed bar of the loom, creating one of the gaps into which the weft is passed. The HEDDLE forms the second – more for complex weaves – allowing the alternate threads to be lifted past the original shed for the corresponding pass of the weft. The nature of a finished textile is determined as much by the structure of the warp – width or tension of threads could be varied – as by the types of weft introduced.
