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Glossary of Weaving Terms

Like any skilled trade, there is a specialized vocabulary of terms used to talk about weaving. As you explore this glossary to learn these terms, pay attention to any words you might recognize. Many of the terms used to talk about weaving have made their way into our everyday language. Did you know ‘space shuttle’ comes from the shuttle of a loom? Like our shuttles, a space shuttle travels back and forth carrying something, only people instead of weft yarn!

Beam

A large spool or flanged cylinder mounted on the front and back of a loom. There are two beams, the cloth beam and the warp beam. Gears on the end of the beam mesh with gears on the loom to control the speed of the let off and the take up.
a roll of white cloth with a brown stripe on either side. The roll is situated on the underside of a metal machine, with the unrolled end feeding into the machine.

Cloth Beam

A roller on which the finished cloth is wound as a loom weaves.
A large beam of individual threads wrapped around themselves. a row of the threads wrap over a metal bar and are fed into a machine.

Warp Beam

A large spool or flanged cylinder around which the warp threads, also called warp ends, are wound parallel to one another. Once wound, the warp beam is attached to the back of the loom and drawn in to begin making cloth.

Beat-in

(Also called beat-up): The last of the three primary motions of weaving, where the weft pick that was inserted is pushed into place against the fell of the fabric.
A hollow boat-like wooden vessel sits on a white piece of cloth. Next to it there is a skinny wooden dowel with groves, wrapped in white thread. At the end of the dowel there is a thicker piece of wood with metal strips.

Bobbin

(Also called a pirn or a quill): A cylindrical or tapered spool, with or without flanges, for holding yarns. Bobbins are inserted into the shuttle to hold weft yarn that is fed out for every pick.
A metal frame full of many rolls of thread. Each roll has a thread that has been pulled forward into a machine.

Creel

A rack that holds individual cones or spools of yarn so that many ends can be pulled out at the same time, evenly and without tangling.

Dent

(Also called a split): The space between two adjacent reed wires. Reeds are measures in dents per inch: a 15-dent reed spaces threads more tightly than a 10-dent reed. Each warp end is drawn through a dent.

Drawing-in

(Also called dressing): One of the steps required to set up a loom to weave. It is the process of threading warp ends through the eyes of the dropwires and heddles and the dents of the reed.
long threads laid out in a line, holding up thin pieces of metal.

Dropwire

A stop motion device for a loom or a creel that uses metal wires hung from each warp yarn. If a yarn breaks, the wire drops, activating the switch that stops the machine. The invention of automatic stops such like dropwires allowed one weaver to tend multiple looms.

End

An individual warp yarn. A warp is composed of many ends, roughly the width of the cloth to be woven.
Top down photo of a loom focused on the moment unwoven threads transition into woven material.

Fell

The working edge between the cloth and the unwoven warp on the loom. The fell is the line at which a pick is inserted and beaten-in.
Close up shot of a hand holding a thin metal instrument which reaches through a hole in a thin strip of metal to draw a thread through

Heddle

A flat metal strip with a loop, or eye, near the center through which one or more warp ends pass on a loom. Heddles are strung on rails held at both ends by a harness frame. These are used to manipulate the threads and control the weave pattern. The shed is opened as the harnesses are raised and lowered during weaving. Heddles can also be made of wire or knotted cord.
Two wooden planks with thin strips of metal hanging off the bottom are attached to a green metal structure

Harness

A frame that holds the heddles in position during weaving that is attached to the loom. A harness is often called a shaft in hand weaving.
black and white historic photo of a machine with rows of material full of small holes

Jacquard

A specialized type of loom. A Jacquard loom uses a versatile pattern mechanism to produce intricate, often figured, designs. A pattern is programmed in by a series of punched cards. Each row on the cards represents one pick and each punched hole controls an induvial warp thread, which is either raised or lowered as the card is read by the machine. Depending on the length and complexity of the design, large strings of punch cards may be needed. Jacquard weaving is used for patterned fabrics, such as brocades, damasks, and some carpets.
Photo of the top half of a loom

Lay

(Also called the raceway): The part of the loom that the shuttle passes across during weaving. The lay also holds the reed. During the beat-in, the lay brings the reed forward with some force to pack the finished pick against the cloth.

Let off

One of the two secondary weaving motions, the let-off controls the delivery and tension of the warp during weaving. The warp beam turns towards the fell, letting new warp threads feed out as they are filled by each pick.
A large machine made of metal and wood. the metal frame is painted green and labeled "Draper Company"

Loom

A machine for weaving fabric by interlacing a series of vertical, parallel threads (the warp) with a series of horizontal, parallel threads (the weft). The warp yarns pass through the heddles and reed, and the weft is shot through the shed of the warp threads by means of a shuttle (or other device) and is pushed into place by the reed and lay. The woven fabric is then wound on the cloth beam.

Pick

One pass, or one thread, of the weft yarn.

Picking

(Also called weft insertion): The second of the three primary weaving motions, where the weft is passed from one side of the loom to the other through the open shed.
Photo of the top half of a loom

Reed

(Also called a beater or batten): A comb-like device, attached to a loom, that separates the warp yarns and beats each new pick against those already woven. A reed is usually made of a top and bottom rib of wood (or steel, in modern looms) into which metal strips or wires are set. Warp yarns are drawn through the dent, or space between each adjacent wire.
close up of woven cloth. the cloth ends on the right side of the loom and the edge is a tighter material with thicker thread.

Selvedge

(Also spelled selvage): The vertical (running parallel to the warp) edge on either side of the woven fabric. A selvedge can be more densely woven than the rest of the cloth or made of stronger yarns to prevent the fabric from fraying or curling
Photo of the top half of a loom

Shed

A separation of the warp on a loom, created by raising some warp threads and letting down others using the harnesses. This separation creates a path for the shuttle to insert the weft.

Shedding

The first of the three primary motions in weaving, shedding creates a path through the warp for the weft to be inserted by raising some warp threads while others are let down.
a hallow wooden vessel with pointed ends holds a bobbin full of string

Shuttle

A boat-shaped device used to carry weft through the shed during the weaving process. Shuttles were usually made of wood, with a metal tip, and hold a bobbin on which the weft yarn is wound. They have an eyelet at one end that allows the weft to feed out as the shuttle passes back and forth.
A clear tube of thick fluffy cotton wrapped around itself

Sliver

Combed cotton fiber that has been removed from hand cards or the carding machine and split into long ropes, about the thickness of a wrist. Sliver is one of the steps in processing cotton between carding and spinning, where each progressive step makes the combed cotton thinner and longer.
A large roll of thick yarn like cotton material placed on a wooden floor

Roving

Cotton sliver that has been further stretched out to be thinner and longer before it can be spun, about the thickness of a pencil, and very light twisted. Roving is the next step after sliver in processing cotton between carding and spinning. Roving is often stored in cans, shown below.
A wooden cart holding two rows of five large metal tubes. The tubes are a red brown color and some are slightly crushed

Take up

One of the two secondary motions of weaving. Take up is the process of moving the finished woven fabric away from fell and winding it onto a beam at the front of the loom.

Thread count

A measurement used to determine how fine cloth, such as cotton, is. Thread count is the number of ends (warp threads) and picks (weft threads) per square inch in a woven fabric.

Warp

The yarn in woven fabric running lengthwise and parallel to the selvedge (or ‘up’ and ‘down’ on the loom). The warp is interwoven with the weft on a loom to produce cloth.
Black and white photo of a large room with two women working on machines. There are large structures with many bobbins of thread, each thread feeds into a machine that is producing a large roll of threads.

Warping

One of the steps to prepare a loom for weaving. Warping involves winding individual warp ends onto a beam so they can be attached to and used by the loom.

Weave

(Also called the pattern or weave pattern): The pattern of how the warp and the weft yarn intersect, creating different structures of fabric such as twill or satin. If you’d like to read more about different weaves, visit our page on weave patterns

Weft

(Also called fill or filling): The yarn in woven fabric running from selvedge to selvedge (or ‘side to side’) at right angles to the warp. Weft yarn is carried by the shuttle or another yarn carrier and interlaced with the warp to form a specific pattern.

Last updated: May 7, 2025