weft

Warp and weft in plain weaving

In weaving the weft or woof is the term for the yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. A single thread of the weft, crossing the warp, is called a pick. Terms do vary, for instance in North America, the weft is sometimes referred to as the fill or the filling yarn.^{[1] [2]}

The weft is a thread or yarn of spun fibre. The original fibre was wool, flax or cotton. Nowadays man-made fibres are used in weaving. Because the weft does not have to be stretched on a loom in the way that the warp is, it can generally be less strong.

The weft is threaded through the warp using a shuttle, air jets or rapier grippers. Hand looms were the original weaver's tool, with the shuttle being threaded through alternately raised warps by hand. Inventions during the 18th century spurred the Industrial Revolution. The picking stick ^[3] and the flying shuttle (John Kay, 1733) speeding up production of cloth. The power loom patented by Edmund Cartwright in 1785 allowed sixty picks per minute. ^[3]

Etymology

The words woof and weft derive ultimately from the Old English word wefan, to weave.

Metaphorical use

The expression "woof and warp" (also "warp and woof", "warp and weft") is sometimes used metaphorically as one might similarly use "fabric"; e.g., "the warp and woof of a student's life" means "the fabric of a student's life." The expression is used as a metaphor for the underlying structure on which something is built.

Other cultures

In India, the weft is referred to as "baana", which is derived from another Hindi word "bun na" or "bunai" which means making with threads or strings, as is done in cane weaving and other forms of primitive weaving techniques.

In hairdressing

Weft is a hairdressing term for temporary hair extensions which are glued into a person's hair.^[4]

Notes

Look up weft in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

• Barber, E. J. W. (1991). Prehistoric Textiles. Princeton University Press. ISBN 069100224x. 
• Burnham, Dorothy K. (1980). Warp and Weft: A Textile Terminology. Royal Ontario Museum. ISBN 0888542569. 

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