The Art of Weaving

Master the Techniques, Understand the Weave Structures, Create Your Own Designs

Betty Briand

This comprehensive guide to floor loom weaving begins with the basics—parts of the loom, how to wind your warp and dress your loom; how to read and weave drafts—but then goes so much farther, explaining the different types of weaves and how to read and weave from charts, and exploring a variety of weaves in depth. The author covers each topic in detail, with illustrations, photos, and charts to guide you. The first half of the book is devoted to the basics of weaving, and the second part teaches a variety of weave structures and how to use them and adapt them to whatever you want to make. The Art of Weaving is extensive in its scope, and a reference book appropriate for all skill levels.

* Preparing your yarn and threading your floor loom

* Understanding and working from drafts

* Exploring weave structures

* Finishing

* Troubleshooting

Globe Pequot / Stackpole Books

Pages: 288 • Trim: 9 x 11

978-0-8117-7184-9 • Hardback • August 2023 • $39.95 • (£30.00)

978-0-8117-7185-6 • eBook • August 2023 • $38.00 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Crafts & Hobbies / Weaving & Spinning, Crafts & Hobbies / General, Crafts & Hobbies / Fiber Arts & Textiles

The Art of Weaving

Master the Techniques, Understand the Weave Structures, Create Your Own Designs

Hardback

eBook

Summary

This comprehensive guide to floor loom weaving begins with the basics—parts of the loom, how to wind your warp and dress your loom; how to read and weave drafts—but then goes so much farther, explaining the different types of weaves and how to read and weave from charts, and exploring a variety of weaves in depth. The author covers each topic in detail, with illustrations, photos, and charts to guide you. The first half of the book is devoted to the basics of weaving, and the second part teaches a variety of weave structures and how to use them and adapt them to whatever you want to make. The Art of Weaving is extensive in its scope, and a reference book appropriate for all skill levels.
* Preparing your yarn and threading your floor loom
* Understanding and working from drafts
* Exploring weave structures
* Finishing
* Troubleshooting

Details

Globe Pequot / Stackpole Books

Pages: 288 • Trim: 9 x 11

978-0-8117-7184-9 • Hardback • August 2023 • $39.95 • (£30.00)

978-0-8117-7185-6 • eBook • August 2023 • $38.00 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Crafts & Hobbies / Weaving & Spinning, Crafts & Hobbies / General, Crafts & Hobbies / Fiber Arts & Textiles

Author

Betty Briand’s interest in textiles is rooted in childhood skills learned from her grandparents who were passionate about fiber arts: weaving, spinning, vegetable dyeing, knitting, and making ropes. After solid training from several instructors, she became a full-time weaving teacher. Today, she works with students in her ARTissage workshop/school located in Chinon in Touraine, France, while continuing her own explorations in weaving.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Foreword
PART ONE
SETTING THE SCENE TO WEAVE
1 THE MAIN CHARACTERS: THE LOOM, THE TOOLS, THE MATERIALS
Which Loom is Right for You?
Anatomy of a Loom
Tools
Yarns
Natural Fibers
Man-Made Fibers
2FABRICS: BEHIND THE SCENES
What Is the Intended Use?
Which Yarn Should I Choose?
Characteristics of Different Yarns
Yarn Count
The Influence of Colors: the Lighting Designer at Work
Which Weave Structure Should I Choose?
The Basics
The Three Components of a Structure
The Three Basic Structures
What Should the Density Be? Do I Need to Make a Sample?
Calculating Density
Making Samples: the Dress Rehearsal
The Reed: the Tool to Get the Density You Want
What Size Should It Be?
3THE READING AND WRITING OF WEAVING: STAGE LEFT THEN STAGE RIGHT
How to Read and Understand Threading, Treadling and Tie-Up Drafts
Threading
Treadling
Tying Up the Treadles
The Drawdown
Connections Between the Draft and the Loom, or How to Dress Your Loom
A Plot Twist? New Notations
Tying Up Treadles: a 14-Letter Alphabet
Writing and “Weaving” on Paper: Creating the Script
Act One: Drawing the Drawdown of a Draft
Act Two: Inventing Your Own Fabric and Writing It Out
Weaving Software
4STAGING WITHOUT STAGE FRIGHT: DRESSING THE LOOM
The Script: Project Record Sheets
Winding the Warp: Preparing the Yarn
Warp Width
Warp Length
Projected Amount of Yarn Needed for Warp and Weft
Warp Color Order Charts
The Warping Board, an Essential Tool for Length, Tension and the Cross
Preparing the Equipment
Counting Heddles on the Loom According to the Threading
Backstage, Each Accessory in its Place
Setting up the Raddle and “Raddling” the Warp
Beaming the Warp: Quiet on Set… We’re Rolling!
Warp Sticks
Weights
A Few Comments
End of the Act
Heavens, the Cross Has Disappeared!!!
Tightening Loose Warp Ends
Threading
A Comfortable Position is a Treasure Worth Seeking
A Bit of Method to Become More Efficient
Now for a Little Dexterity
Mistakes May Happen
Sleying the Reed: Each Thread in Its Place
Method, Attention, Precision!
Going over Your Reed with a Fine Tooth Comb
Tying the Warp to the Cloth Beam
Tying Up the Treadles: the Stagehand at Work
In Which the Weaver Becomes a “Dresser”
Drum Roll Please! The Countermarch Loom
Having a Good Treadle Stroke
A Short, Well-Thought-Out Summary
A Final Fine-Tuning: Adjusting the Shafts, the Reed and Other Mechanisms
To Conclude, Some Encouragement
5AND NOW, TO THE STAGE: LET THE WEAVING BEGIN!
The Entrance: Before the First Warps
Filling the Shuttle
The « Half-Dozen » Picks
The Paris Stitch and Hemming
Time to Perform: Weaving at Last!
The Song of the Silk Weavers
Beating Pressure
Perfect Edges
Minimal Shrinkage
Advancing the Weaving Every 1 to 2 Inches
Debriefing on Set in 5 minutes!
Winding onto the Cloth Beam
Always Pay Attention to Warp Tension
The Conclusion: Finishing the Weaving
Different Ways to Finish Your Weaving: the Final Bow
A Last Curtain Call: We Keep On Weaving
In the Limelight: Mistakes to Correct, Tips and Tricks
Before Starting to Weave
After the First Picks
While Weaving: What to Do When…
By Way of Conclusion
PART TWO
THE MELODY OF WEAVING: STRUCTURES
6BASIC WEAVE STRUCTURES: PERFECT HARMONY
Dynamic Plain Weave
Plain Weave Fabrics
Let’s Review: Plain Weave Explained
How is Plain Weave Made?
Welcome Creativity with Method
Stripes, Plaid, Log Cabin and Other Color Effects
Supplementary Yarn, Interchanging Warp and Other Manipulations
By Way of Conclusion
Plain Weave Derivatives : Changing the Tempo
Derivatives Due to Number of Threads
Derivatives Due to Density : the Rep Family
Twill
Prelude: Some Definitions
Tie Up: the Conductor Sets the Rhythm
First Concert: Suite of Chevron Threadings on 4 Shafts
Intermission! A Few Clarifications to Stay in Harmony
A Polyphony of Threading: Twill Gamp or Patchwork
An Interlude Suggested by William G. Bateman
The Orchestra is Growing: Twill on an 8-Shaft Loom!
Undulating Twill: New Vocalizations
Plaited Twills: the Weaver’s Braid
Twill in Weft-Faced Rep: A Key Change
Threading, Tie-Up, Treadling: Some Points of Reference
To Your Instruments: First Picks in G major
When the Question of Density Comes Up Again and Again
Finishing the Ends: the Final Arrangements
Satin
Creating a Satin Without Cacophony
Weaving a Satin: Precious and Prized
Mastering a Satin
7 A PROLIFERATION OF STRUCTURES: THE ORCHESTRA DIVERSIFIES
A Concert of Compound Structures
Summer and Winter: the Two Seasons of a Weaver
Overshot and Monk’s Belt: Playing in Major or Minor Key
Interlude with Lace Structures
Huck Lace
Bronson Lace
Other Laces
Bead Leno
Fugues with Deflected Structures
Waffle Weave
Honeycomb Weave
Deflected Doubleweave
Doubleweave: Doing the Two-Step
Theory on 4 Shafts: A Little Sight Reading
Double-Width or Tubular Fabric
With 8 or More Shafts, the Second Movement
Theo Moorman: One More for the Road
A Bit of Technique
Inlays
Taking It Just a Bit Farther
PART THREE
TAKING A GIANT LEAP
8LOOKING AT THE BIGGER PICTURE, SKETCHING YOUR DESIGN
Drawing a Profile Draft
A Few Definitions
First Duet: Profile Draft and Blocks
The Choreography Falls into Place
Analyzing Fabrics
A Few Warm-Up Exercises
A New Set Design
Weaving Software: Switching Roles
Look Around You to Find Inspiration
Choose Your Ballet Master
Dance Like No One Is Watching
Build Up Your Knowledge of Choreography
9DETAILS THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING, MASTERY BECOMES POSSIBLE
Changing the Threading
Memorizing a Complex Treadling by Creating Codes
Installing Supplementary Warp and Rotating the Weaving Draft
Tying Up a Countermarch Loom
The Skeleton
The Network and the Initials Method
The Principle
Building the Complete Draft Step by Step
CONCLUSION
APPENDICES
Glossary
French/English Lexicon
Technical Sheet
Imperial and Metric Equivalents
Equivalents for combing between the imperial and the metric system
Imperial to Metric Titration Equivalencies277
Composition of threads and burn test278
Bibliography280
Suppliers, Partners and Resource Centers283
Index287

Reviews

The Art of Weaving by Betty Briand should be on your library shelf. Ms. Briand shares her incredibly vast knowledge of weaving in this very impressive book. It is a book for all weavers regardless of their weaving experience. The book gives clear explanations on every aspect of weaving. The author also goes into detail on many different weave structures and give tips on how to approach weaving them. There are also many helpful hints scattered throughout the book to make your weaving successful the first time.

— Tom Knisely

Synopsis: "The Art of Weaving: Master the Techniques, Understand the Weave Structures, Create Your Own Designs" by Betty Briand is a comprehensive instruction guide to floor loom weaving. It begins with the basics (parts of the loom, how to wind your warp and dress your loom; how to read and weave drafts) but then goes so much farther, explaining the different types of weaves and how to read and weave from charts, and exploring a variety of weaves in depth.
"The Art of Weaving" covers each topic in detail, with illustrations, photos, and charts to guide you. The first half of the book is devoted to the basics of weaving, and the second part teaches a variety of weave structures and how to use them and adapt them to whatever you want to make.
"The Art of Weaving" is extensive in its scope, and a reference book appropriate for all skill levels as it covers: Preparing your yarn and threading your floor loom; Understanding and working from drafts; Exploring weave structures; Finishing; Troubleshooting.
Critique: Comprehensive, illustrated, and thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Art of Weaving: Master the Techniques, Understand the Weave Structures, Create Your Own Designs" is an ideal introduction to loom weaving wither as a DIY how-to manual or as an academic curriculum textbook. While highly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and community library collections, it should be noted that "The Art of Weaving" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $32.49) as well.

— Midwest Book Review