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    Carpet Weaving Elements

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    Anca Iscru
    Carpet weaving involves three fiber elements - the warp, weft, and pile. The warp are the vertical yarns fixed to the loom, the weft are the horizontal yarns that interlace and hold the fabric together, and the pile are yarns knotted onto the warp to form the surface. Traditionally wool was used for all elements, though today cotton is also common for the warp and weft, while wool remains standard for the pile. Carpets are woven on various looms, with horizontal ground looms used by nomads and vertical frame looms more common among settled groups. The plush pile surface is produced through knotting wool or silk around warp yarns, with

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    Carpet Weaving Elements

    Uploaded by

    Anca Iscru
    646 views7 pages
    Carpet weaving involves three fiber elements - the warp, weft, and pile. The warp are the vertical yarns fixed to the loom, the weft are the horizontal yarns that interlace and hold the fabric together, and the pile are yarns knotted onto the warp to form the surface. Traditionally wool was used for all elements, though today cotton is also common for the warp and weft, while wool remains standard for the pile. Carpets are woven on various looms, with horizontal ground looms used by nomads and vertical frame looms more common among settled groups. The plush pile surface is produced through knotting wool or silk around warp yarns, with

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    Carpet weaving involves three fiber elements - the warp, weft, and pile. The warp are the vertical yarns fixed to the loom, the weft are the horizontal yarns that interlace and hold the fabric together, and the pile are yarns knotted onto the warp to form the surface. Traditionally wool was used for all elements, though today cotton is also common for the warp and weft, while wool remains standard for the pile. Carpets are woven on various looms, with horizontal ground looms used by nomads and vertical frame looms more common among settled groups. The plush pile surface is produced through knotting wool or silk around warp yarns, with

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    646 views7 pages

    Carpet Weaving Elements

    Uploaded by

    Anca Iscru
    Carpet weaving involves three fiber elements - the warp, weft, and pile. The warp are the vertical yarns fixed to the loom, the weft are the horizontal yarns that interlace and hold the fabric together, and the pile are yarns knotted onto the warp to form the surface. Traditionally wool was used for all elements, though today cotton is also common for the warp and weft, while wool remains standard for the pile. Carpets are woven on various looms, with horizontal ground looms used by nomads and vertical frame looms more common among settled groups. The plush pile surface is produced through knotting wool or silk around warp yarns, with

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 7

    Carpet Weaving: Elements

    Pile weaving consists of three fibre elements.


    The warp are the longitudinal yarns fixed to
    the loom). The weft are the horizontal yarns
    that interlace with the warp and hold the fabric
    together. The pile are yarns knotted onto the
    warp threads, beaten together, and cut off so
    as to form a dense, velvety surface.
    Traditionally speaking, hand spun wool was
    used for the warp, weft, and pile elements. Silk
    warps are occasionally used for the finest carpets
    as it facilitates great density. Today, cotton is
    widely used for the warp and occasionally the
    weft, especially in East Asia. The pile is almost
    universally wool although cotton, silk, and even
    gold or silver wrapped threads may be used for
    part or all of the pile.
    Carpet Weaving: the Loom
    Carpets are woven on a variety of looms.
    Amongst nomadic tribal weavers, horizontal
    looms, spread out over the ground are common.
    Among settled communities, vertical frame
    looms are more common. The loom pictured
    here is a basic type of loom with a fixed-length
    warp. It has two horizontal bars, the heddle
    rod and shed stick, which facilitate creating
    the shed or warp opening needed to pass the
    weft.
    Carpet Weaving: Knots
    The characteristic plush surface of carpets is
    produced by knotting wool or occasionally silk
    threads around different combinations of warp
    yarns. Once knotted, they are cut and beaten
    with a comb-like implement to form a dense
    pile. There are two main knot types, the Turkish
    Knot (aka symmetric knot) and the Persian
    Knot (aka asymmetric knot). Turkish knots are,
    as the name suggests, most prevalent in Turkey,
    parts of the Caucasus as well as among certain
    Tribal groups in Iran and Central Asia. Turkish
    knots involve a length of yarn wrapped around
    a pair of warp threads; the two ends are pulled
    between the warp threads and cut off with a
    knife.

    Turkish knot illustration


    Carpet Weaving: Knots
    The Persian knot is common in Iran, Afghanistan
    and Turkestan. It involves a length of yarn
    slipped under one warp and wrapped around
    an adjacent warp so that an end projects from
    between each pair of warps. Depending upon
    the direction of the wrapped warp, the Persian
    knot is said to be open to the left or right, a
    distinction that may influence the feel and
    appearance of the finished carpet surface.

    Persian open left knot illustration

    Persian open right knot illustration


    Carpet Weaving: Knots
    Another important technique used for making
    rugs is tapestry weave. It is typically used
    to produced the flat-woven kilims woven
    throughout Turkey, the Caucasus and Iran.
    Because it is much faster to produce and
    requires less wool, kilims were traditionally
    used in the home. Pile carpets, because they
    are so labour intensive and costly to produce,
    were more often produced for sale or for tribute
    (e.g. to a mosque). Tapestry weave is also
    frequently used to finish the ends of pile woven
    carpets. The Erikson kilims will be featured in
    a subsequent exhibition.

    Tapestry weave illustration


    Carpet Weaving: Knots
    Soumak is a technique that involves wrapping
    warp yarns with a supplementary weft. It produces
    a dense, flat surface that offers the weaver
    much freedom of design. Soumak is widely
    used across rug producing Asia, particularly in
    the Caucasus and among tribal groups in north
    western Iran. The Erikson Collection contains
    a number of fine soumak bags and bagfaces

    Soumak illustration
    Carpet Weaving:
    Terms of Reference

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