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Fingerweaving is an art form used mostly to create belts, sashes, straps, and other similar items through a non-loom weaving process. Unlike loom-based weaving, there is no separation between weft and warp strands, with all strands playing both roles. It is used among the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and in Europe. [1]
Some patterns and color combinations were originally restricted to certain societies or clans, while others were available for general use by all. Belts, sashes, leg bands, capes, gun straps, even dresses, shirts, and pants were created by the sometimes intricate patterns and methods. Often beads or feathers were interwoven into the patterns of the articles.
The French Voyageurs (fur traders in the northern US and southern Canada) adapted the finger weaving patterns to create belts and sashes which showed which company they belonged to. The belts were the original weight belts, as they added extra support to their stomachs when they were lifting heavy canoes or packets of beaver pelts, which sometimes weighed up to 600 lbs.
The Spanish conquistadors used fingerwoven sashes to proclaim which command they were in, as well as to record their conquests over the Native Americans.
Although South American styles shared much in common with those from North America, some differences are reliably observable. In addition to many of the specific weaves from the north, additional styles were created by using multiple weft strands at a time.
Fingerweaving has been used in Scandinavia at least since the Viking age. A fingerwoven ribbon was found in the Oseberg ship. [1] Fingerwoven bands are part of the traditional costume (bundad) in several regions of Norway. [2]
The most basic weave is called a diagonal weave, as it creates a series of parallel lines running down the length of the weave at a diagonal. Whether one weaves from left to right or from right to left does not matter, as the pattern is the same; however, the direction must stay the same or the pattern will change.
As with loom weaving, one starts with an even number of warp strands, but with no weft strand. Divide the warp strands into two groups, a top and bottom row. Take the top left (or top right) strand, and run it between the top and bottom rows, turning it into a weft. Reverse the position of each warp strand (from top to bottom or bottom to top), making sure to keep all strands in the same order and placement to form a single interlocked row.
For the second row, take the new top left (or top right) warp strand, and tuck it between the top and bottom, forming a new weft strand. Again, interlink the top and bottom rows, making sure to use the old weft strand from row #1. Continue this process until the desired length is completed.
Other common but more difficult patterns include those of lightning bolts, arrowheads, and chevrons. By making slight changes to the weaving process, a wide variety of unique patterns can be created.
Bead weaving is a set of techniques for weaving sheets and objects of seed beads. Threads are strung through and/or around the beads to hold them together. It can be done either on a loom or using one of a number of off-loom stitches.
A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft, woof, or filling. The method in which these threads are interwoven affects the characteristics of the cloth. Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. A fabric band that meets this definition of cloth can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, back strap loom, or other techniques that can be done without looms.
Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics are often created on a loom, and made of many threads woven on a warp and a weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one another. Woven fabrics can be made of natural fibers, synthetic fibers, or a mixture of both, such as cotton and polyester.
Twill is a type of textile weave with a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs. It is one of three fundamental types of weave, along with plain weave and satin. It is made by passing the weft thread over one or more warp threads then under two or more warp threads and so on, with a "step", or offset, between rows to create the characteristic diagonal pattern. Because of this structure, twill generally drapes well.
Ikat is a dyeing technique from Southeast Asia used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric. In Southeast Asia, where it is the most widespread, ikat weaving traditions can be divided into two general groups of related traditions. The first is found among Daic-speaking peoples. The second, larger group is found among the Austronesian peoples and spread via the Austronesian expansion to as far as Madagascar. It is most prominently associated with the textile traditions of Indonesia in modern times, from where the term ikat originates. Similar unrelated dyeing and weaving techniques that developed independently are also present in other regions of the world, including India, Central Asia, Japan, Africa, and the Americas.
Tablet weaving is a weaving technique where tablets or cards are used to create the shed through which the weft is passed. As the materials and tools are relatively cheap and easy to obtain, tablet weaving is popular with hobbyist weavers. Most tablet weavers produce narrow work such as belts, straps, or garment trims.
In the manufacture of cloth, warp and weft are the two basic components in weaving to transform thread and yarn into textile fabrics. The vertical warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a loom (frame) while the horizontal weft is drawn through the warp thread. In the terminology of weaving, each warp thread is called a warp end ; a pick is a single weft thread that crosses the warp thread.
The ceinture fléchée or is a type of colourful sash, a traditional piece of Québécois clothing linked to at least the 17th century. The Métis also adopted and made ceintures fléchées and use them as part of their national regalia. Québécois and Métis communities share the sash as an important part of their distinct cultural heritages, nationalities, attires, histories and resistances. While the traditional view is that the ceinture fléchée is a Québécois invention, other origins have been suggested as well including the traditional fingerwoven Gaelic crios. According to Dorothy K. Burnham who prepared an exhibit on textiles at the National Gallery of Canada in 1981, and published an accompanying catalogue raisonné, this type of finger weaving was learned by residents of New France from Indigenous peoples. With European wool-materials, the syncretism and unification of Northern French and Indigenous finger-weaving techniques resulted in the making of Arrowed Sashes. Arrow Sash is the oldest known sash design; produced by Québécois artisans in XVIIIth century, and later on L'Assomption sash after 1852.
Damask is a woven, reversible patterned fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the ground with a weft-faced or sateen weave. Fabrics used to create damasks include silk, wool, linen, cotton, and synthetic fibers, but damask is best shown in cotton and linen. Over time, damask has become a broader term for woven fabrics with a reversible pattern, not just silks.
Twine is a strong thread, light string or cord composed of string two or more thinner strands twisted, and then twisted together (plied). The strands are plied in the opposite direction to that of their twist, which adds torsional strength to the cord and keeps it from unravelling. This process is sometimes called reverse wrap. The same technique used for making twine is also used to make thread, which is thinner, yarn, and rope, which is stronger and thicker, generally with three or more strands.
Pile weave is a form of textile created by weaving. This type of fabric is characterized by a pile—a looped or tufted surface that extends above the initial foundation, or 'ground' weave. The pile is formed by supplemental yarn running in the direction of the length of the fabric or the width of the fabric. Pile weaves include velvet and corduroy fabrics and machine-woven Berber carpets.
Knitted fabric is a textile that results from knitting, the process of inter-looping of yarns or inter-meshing of loops. Its properties are distinct from woven fabric in that it is more flexible and can be more readily constructed into smaller pieces, making it ideal for socks and hats.
A selvage or selvedge is a "self-finished" edge of a piece of fabric which keeps it from unraveling and fraying. The term "self-finished" means that the edge does not require additional finishing work, such as hem or bias tape, to prevent fraying.
The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns it into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.
Band weaving refers to the hand production of narrow woven fabric. This fabric may be called tape, band, inkle, strap, belt, back strap, trim, and more. It can be accomplished on a variety of types of looms, including inkle, band, tape, backstrap, and rigid heddle looms. Hole and slot heddles are also designed to weave bands. Depending on which loom is used, the material could be warp-faced or a balanced weave.
Bhutanese textiles represent a rich and complex repository of a unique art form. They are recognised for their abundance of colour, sophistication and variation of patterns, and the intricate dyeing and weaving techniques. The weavers, who are mostly women, must not be seen merely as creators of wealth but also as the innovators and owners of artistic skills developed and nurtured over centuries of time.
Balinese textiles are reflective of the historical traditions of Bali, Indonesia. Bali has been historically linked to the major courts of Java before the 10th century; and following the defeat of the Majapahit kingdom, many of the Javanese aristocracy fled to Bali and the traditions were continued. Bali therefore may be seen as a repository not only of its own arts but those of Java in the pre-Islamic 15th century. Any attempt to definitively describe Balinese textiles and their use is doomed to be incomplete. The use of textile is a living tradition and so is in constant change. It will also vary from one district to another. For the most part old cloth are not venerated for their age. New is much better. In the tropics cloth rapidly deteriorates and so virtue is generated by replacing them.
The lace curtain machine is a lace machine invented by John Livesey in Nottingham in 1846. It was an adaptation of John Heathcoat's bobbinet machine. It made the miles of curtaining which screened Victorian and later windows.
A lazy line or section line is a technical feature of weaving which describes visible diagonal joins within a woven textile. It results from interlacing wefts joining adjacent warp sections woven at different times. Successive rows of turnarounds of discontinuous wefts create a diagonal line which, in pile rugs, is best seen from the back side, and from the front side only if the pile is heavily worn. A lazy line is created when the weaver does not finish a rug line by line from one side to the other, but sequentially finishes one area after the other.
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