Warp, Weft, and Customs

New to handwovens? Great! You are in the right place. Let’s go over some the basics, specifically, what the difference is between warp and weft, and a full custom and semi-custom.

The warp, is the threads that are beamed onto the loom.

Above, is a newly beamed warp. The warp threads run the LENGTH of your wrap or fabric, and the weft runs the WIDTH.

Below is a birds-eye view of my loom.

Now let’s focus on the weft. The weft can be a completely different fibre and colour from the warp.

Here is a freshly dyed weft, ready for weaving.

The weft then gets wound onto a pirn and loaded into my shuttle.

Here it passes back and forth through the open shed of the warp.

And beat into place, creating beautiful woven fabric.

Hopefully you now have a clear understanding on what is the warp and what is the weft.

Now lets talk about the difference between customs.

FULL CUSTOM

A customer shares vision and colour inspiration with me and I design a warp specifically for them, in the fibre and colours of their choice. They also choose their own weft colour, dye technique, fibre and length of wrap.

SEMI-CUSTOM

A customer gets to choose their own weft details which include, the fibre, colour, dye technique, and also the length of wrap.

I hope this helped you understand these areas of the process.

Looking forward to working with you!