B
Band
A horizontal line, created by weft threads of different colour or thckness or density to the main weft. Lise Bender Jørgensen (2011) differentiates between pin bands/stripes (1-4 threads wide), bar bands/stripes (>4 threads wide), and composite bands/stripes, made up of multiple lines.
Basket weave
Basket weave (also known as 2/2 tabby, panama weave, extended tabby) is a plain weave with paired warp threads and weft threads.
C
Check
A checked design, created by the crossing of stripes in the warp and bands in the weft.
Closing border
The finished edge that binds off a textile at the end of weaving and prevents unraveling. See also corded edge.
Closing cord
See corded edge.
Corded edge
When weaving is finished, the loose warp ends can be twisted into a closing cord to prevent fraying.
Croisage
Crossing of adjacent warp threads. Roman weavers often re-arranged the warp to create weft bands.
D
Damask
Damask is a reversible patterned textile with one warp and one weft.
F
Felt
Felt is a type of fabric, made by rubbing, matting, and compressing fibres together. It is one of the oldest types of cloth, and is typically made of wool and other animal hair.
Fustian
Fustian is a fabric made from a blend of cotton and linen or sometimes cotton and wool. It is typically a heavy, coarse cloth with a twilled or ribbed weave, often used for making durable work clothes or furnishings.
H
Half-basket weave
Half-basket weave (also known as 2/1 tabby, extended tabby) is a plain weave in which the yarns in one system, the wrap or the weft, are paired and in the other are single.
K
Knitting
Knitting is a technique for constructing cloth by interlocking loops of yarn using needles. There is no evidence of knitting in the Roman period. The technique was developed in the Middle Ages.
L
Looping
Looping is a textile technique where thread is passed through previous loops to build up fabric.
M
Meroitic openwork
Meroitic openwork refers to complex lattice borders, made of cotton, which decorated the ends of clothing and furnishings. A traditional weaving technique of the Meroitic kingdom.
N
Nap
Nap is the fluffy surface of woollen cloth, raised by rubbing it with a rough instrument (a teasel) to make the fabric softer.
Netting
A fabric made by knotting or looping threads into an open-mesh structure.
P
Plain selvedge
Plain selvedge or simple selvedge is a straightforward, finished side edge of a woven textile, formed as the weft threads turn at each side to prevent fraying.
R
Reinforced selvedge
Reinforced selvedge is a strengthened side edge of a textile, often using extra warp threads or tighter weaving, to keep the sides straight and to add durability.
Resist-dyeing
A dyeing technique, in which areas of the cloth are reserved from the dye, to prevent them from taking colour.
S
Satin
Satin is a type of woven textile, in which a single weft thread passes under one warp thread, then floats over several, then under one again, and so on, or vice versa (a single warp floats over multiple wefts), resulting in a smooth and lustrous cloth. Originally, satin cloth was made of silk. There are many complex variations of the weaving technique.
Self band
Self bands are decorative elements created by pairing or grouping weft yarns in a textile, resulting in a subtle pattern.
Shadow band
A weft band, incorporating several blending tones of colour.
Spliced yarn
Splicing is a way of making plant-fibre yarn by joining together by overlapping and twisting the ends of individual fibres, rather than spinning them continuously. Spliced yarn needs to be plied to prevent unravelling. Splicing was the main way of producing linen yarn in Europe and the Mediterranean until the middle of the first millennium BC, when it was supplanted by spinning.
Starting border
The initial edge of a woven textile that secures the warp threads to the loom before weaving begins.
Stripe
A vertical line, created by warp threads of different colour or thickness or density to the main warp.
System 1 and 2
A woven textile is made of two systems of crossing threads: the warp and weft. The terms System 1 and System 2 are used instead of warp and weft respectively, when the warp and weft cannot be identified.
T
Tabby
Tabby is the oldest and simplest type of woven textile. In a plain tabby each weft thread crosses under one warp yarn, then over the next, under and over, etc. resulting in a checkerboard pattern. This basic structure allows many variations.
Tablet weaving
Tablet weaving is a method of weaving narrow, decorative bands using tablets or cards to control warp thread rotation. It was used widely in Iron Age Italy and central Europe.
Tapestry
Tapestry is a variation of weft-faced tabby weave, in which the weaver combines different yarns, often beaten densely, to form figures and patterns.
Taqueté
Taqueté is a weft-faced compound weave creating tightly packed, colorful geometric patterns. It has one warp and two or more series of weft threads. The warp threads hold some of the wefts back, while others are visible on the face of the cloth.
Thread count
The number of threads in warp or weft per cm. An indication of the density of the textile.
Twill
Twill is a weaving technique in which each weft thread passes under one or more warp thread, then over two or more warp threads, etc. with an offset from one row to the next, resulting in a diagonal pattern. There are many variations of twill patterns, depending on the pattern in which the threads interlace (2/1 twill, 2/2 twill, 3/1 twill) and the shapes they form: chevron twill, diamond twill, diagonal twill, broken twill.
Twining
Twining is a technique for making cloth as well as mats and baskets, in which pairs of weft elements twist around the warp elements to build up the structure.
Twist direction
When single yarns are spun clockwise, this results in an s twist. Yarns spun counter-clockwise have a 'z' twist. This is noted as 's' and 'z' in the database. Plied yarns are noted S2z for 'S-plied of two single z threads', Z2s for 'Z-plied from two single s threads', and so on.
U
Union fabric
A textile in which the warp and weft are made of different fibres. Often found in Egypt.
W
Warp
The longitudinal threads in a textile, held taut by the loom.
Warp-faced tabby
Warp-faced tabby is a plain weave in which the warp yarns are twice as dense as the wefts and may cover them.
Weft
The transverse threads in a textile, which weave behind and in front of the warp.
Weft-faced tabby
Weft-faced tabby is a plain weave in which the weft yarns are twice as dense as the warp yarns, and may cover them completely.
Y
Yarn structure
Yarn can be made of continuous untwisted fibres (e.g., silk) or multiple fibres twisted together to form a single thread. Single threads can then be plied, and plied threads can be corded together to form ever thicker strands.