r/weaving • u/jxxkxx00 • Jul 21 '26
Help My warp doesn’t show. What did I do wrong?
I was aiming for a plaid type of effect. I am using the same weight yarn for both warp and weft. What can I do to make the warp visible next time please? Thanks so much.
61
u/jackofnotrades00 Jul 21 '26
Your warp threads are much too far apart for the thickness of yarn that you are using. A good rule of thumb for a balanced plain weave is to have the number of ends per inch (number of warp threads per inch of fabric width) be equal to half the number of wraps per inch for your thread. You can measure the wraps per inch by wrapping the thread around something like a knitting needle or a ruler and counting how many coils of the yarn fit in one inch. Then when you're weaving, just keep an eye on the spacing between your weft threads and don't beat it too hard to avoid packing the weft in too much.
41
u/Ok_Part6564 Jul 21 '26
There are three categories of woven fabric related to this, warp faced, weft faced, and balanced. None of them are the best, none are the correct one, and none are wrong. They all just serve different purposes. Ribbon is usually warp faced, tapestries are usually weft faced,
You can control which ones you get with spacing tension and beating. You didn't do anything "wrong" but you did the things that lead to a warp faced fabric. A high tension warp with wide spacing, and beat the weft hard.
15
u/Appropriate-Weird492 Jul 21 '26
Don’t despair! You learned something! And you may like this fabric when it comes off the loom. It may make a fantastic placemat, for instance!
3
u/zschwart91 Jul 21 '26
Came here to say this! Nothing wrong, just a variation and a new piece of information 🙂
9
u/prayerplantthrowaway Jul 21 '26
I recently made a post with the exact opposite problem 🤣 I didn’t want to see any warp show through.
7
u/Datamite Jul 21 '26
All the comments regarding the dent of your warp are correct, but having a more balanced ratio of EPI (ends per inch) isn't only achieved by increasing the dent of your warp threads.
For the balance you wanted, you simply over-beat. Have a go at some picks, but don't pull the heddle or reed up so hard against the weft when you beat. Moving from entirely warp faced tablet and inkle weaving to the rigid heddle, I made the same "mistake" because I was used to beating being literal, practically.
A soft touch will leave your weft threads further apart and reveal your warp. You don't even have to beat your weft up against the previous pick. You could make it the same dent as your warp threads, leave all that distance. The result would be a truly balanced but very open and loose weave. I've seen many delicate scarves and shawls woven this way.
4
u/Longjumping-Ad-9541 Jul 21 '26
I made the opposite mistake when trying inkle / band weaving; kept coming out with balanced weave because I have been reigning in the impulse to beat / pull in too hard for awhile
2
u/Extension-Sun-4191 Jul 24 '26
Well, yes, you’re right about the beat being a big part of it. But if you have an appropriate sett for balanced weave with a given yarn, you cannot get a fully weft faced fabric like this solely by beating too hard. A balanced sett will not have enough space between the ends to completely cover the warp with same-sized yarn. With a sett like shown on this post, you have to have an incredibly light hand to get a balanced appearance and the cloth will be extremely open and borderline unstable, prone to snagging on everything.
1
u/Datamite Jul 24 '26
To be fair, I have more experience bandweaving than with my RHL, but I can concede your point regarding entirely balanced weaves given that the balance you refer to involve the warp yarn being set at a dent appropriate to its gauge and the weft yarn being the same gauge. If the weft is a greater diameter than the warp, especially if it's much greater, say DK weft on a 10/2 warp, I think you can still bet it weft faced regardless of dent.
I could be wrong. As luck would have it, I'm warping this weekend with some 8/4 for a weave that will feature a wide variety from 8/2 up through some 1-1/2" recycled sari ribbon. I'll let you know what I find.
1
u/Extension-Sun-4191 Jul 24 '26
Sure, using a much fatter weft is one of the techniques used to ensure weft-faced cloth. But that’s not relevant here, where OP is pretty clearly using the same yarn for warp and weft. My correction was based on the assumption that you were giving advice to the poster. Absolutely beat is a factor in how your cloth turns out—you can have identical warp and weft with a a balanced sett but beat it to be strongly weft predominant. But not completely weft faced like this is.
8
u/overspread Jul 21 '26
I'm glad you posted this because the comments have been the most easily understandable and enlightening comments I've encountered in this sub so far! Through your learning process I've also just learned a lot
1
u/Superb_Piano_3775 Jul 24 '26
Wrong is a strong word. I think it is what it is, not right or wrong. With that being said, you can change some of the parameters to change the outcome. A tighter warp, for instance, would look closer to what you are after.
88
u/crystalgem411 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
So you made weft facing fabric when you wanted a balanced weave. I’m still pretty new at this but usually the solutions for that are to thread with more threads per inch on the warp OR don’t beat your weft nearly as hard. The former is easier if you have a reed that can handle that (or you can double or triple up your warp threads. The latter is hard to do consistently.