10 Weaving Terms Every Beginner Should Know

When you’re just starting out in weaving, it can sometimes feel like you’ve landed in a new country with its own language. 

Words like “warp” and “weft” might sound familiar, but others… not so much. 

Don’t worry though, you don’t need to memorise a dictionary before you sit down at a loom. But knowing the basics will help you feel more confident, follow patterns, and chat with other weavers without feeling lost. 

Here are ten weaving terms every beginner should know, with what is (hopefully) a short and easy to digest blurb about what they all mean. 

1. Warp

The vertical threads you set up on your loom before you start weaving. Think of them as the “skeleton” of your weave, they hold everything in place.

2. Weft

The horizontal threads you weave over and under your warp threads. This is the part that creates your patterns and textures.

3. Shed

The space created when you lift or separate warp threads so you can pass your weft through. Creating a good shed makes weaving smoother and faster.

4. Shuttle

A tool used to carry your weft yarn back and forth through the shed. There are many types, from simple stick shuttles to boat shuttles.

5. Heddle

A series of metal/nylon loops that lifts specific warp threads on a floor/table loom, helping you create patterns and open the shed. Frame looms have a simple heddle bar that has fixed spacing, where you lift specific warp threads individually.

6. Beat

The act of pushing your weft into place after each pass. On a table/floor loom this is done using a beater, and with a comb on a frame loom.

7. Selvedge

The neat edges of your weaving where the weft turns around at the end of each row. Good selvedges keep your fabric even and tidy.

8. Plain Weave

The simplest weaving structure: under one warp thread, over the next, and repeat. Don’t underestimate it, it’s the foundation of countless designs.

9. Tapestry Weaving

A type of weaving where you work in blocks of colour using plain weave, often building up shapes and images rather than creating cloth with a continuous, repeat pattern.

10. Pick

One pass of the weft yarn across the warp. You’ll often hear weavers talk about “picks per inch” as a way to measure density.

Now you can step into the weaving world with a little more confidence and if you forget a term or two, that’s fine. 

The best way to learn is to sit down at the loom and start weaving. 

At The Oxford Weaving Studio, we love helping beginners feel at home in the craft. 

Come and join us for a weaving workshop, and you’ll have these words rolling off your tongue in no time.

- Cass