Editing Loom (section)

==Frames==
Loom frames can be roughly divided, by the orientation of the warp threads, into horizontal looms and vertical looms. There are many finer divisions. Most handloom frame designs can be constructed fairly simply.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/vita/handloom/en/handloom.htm |title=Handloom Construction: A Practical Guide for the Non-Expert |first=Joan |last=Koster |date=1978 |publisher= Volunteers in Technical Assistance, Inc. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302081647/http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/vita/handloom/en/handloom.htm |archive-date=2 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Backstrap loom===
The back-strap loom (also known as belt loom)<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kent |first=Kate P.|title=The Cultivation and Weaving of Cotton in the Prehistoric Southwestern United States |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=47|issue=3 |page=485 |date=1957 |doi=10.2307/1005732 |language=en |jstor=1005732|hdl=2027/mdp.39015017458095 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> is a simple loom with ancient roots, still used in many cultures around the world (as in the weaving of [[Andean textiles]], and in Central, East and South Asia).<ref name="worldbackstrap">{{cite web |last1=Centre |first1=ARTISANS' |title=Around the World: Backstrap and Heddle Loom Weaving |url=https://artisanscentre.com/blogs/heritage-of-handmade/around-the-world-backstrap-and-heddle-loom-weaving |website=ARTISANS' CENTER |access-date=4 December 2024 |date=21 June 2023}}</ref> It consists of two sticks or bars between which the warps are stretched. One bar is attached to a fixed object and the other to the weaver, usually by means of a strap around the weaver's back.<ref name="samnoble_backstrap">{{cite web |title=Backstrap Looms |date=7 November 2014 |url=https://samnoblemuseum.ou.edu/collections-and-research/ethnology/mayan-textiles/weaving-technology/backstrap-looms/ |publisher=Sam Noble Museum |access-date=4 December 2024}}</ref> The weaver leans back and uses their body weight to tension the loom.

Both simple and complex textiles can be woven on backstrap looms. They produce [[narrowcloth]]: width is limited to the weaver's armspan. They can readily produce [[warp-faced]] textiles, often decorated with intricate pick-up patterns woven in complementary and [[supplementary warp]] techniques, and brocading. [[Balanced weave]]s are also possible on the backstrap loom.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Weaving (8263650937).jpg|A loom made of sticks and string. The top endbar is tied to a fixed object using green rope; the lower end bar is attached to a leather strap around the weaver's back. Between, two heddle rods and several shedding rods. The sticks to one side are probably sword beaters. No shuttles or bobbins are being used.
File:T'nalak weaver at Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.jpg|[[T'boli people|T'boli]] dream weavers using two-bar bamboo backstrap looms (''legogong'') to weave [[t'nalak]] cloth from [[abacá]] fiber. One bar is attached to the ceiling of the traditional T'boli longhouse, while the other is attached to the lower back. The cloth is being patterned by [[warp ikat|dying the warp]], so the loom equipment is simple; a heddle rod, a shedding stick, and a batten. She is also using a footrest. Philippines.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lush |first1=Emily |title=Making of: T'nalak Weaving, Philippines |url=https://www.thetextileatlas.com/craft-stories/tnalak-weaving-philippines |website=The Textile Atlas |date=9 December 2017 |access-date=3 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Abaca |url=http://whitechampa.com/craft/abaca/ |website=White Champa |access-date=3 April 2019}}</ref>
File:Traditional weaveing of the Li Ethnic Group.jpg|This [[Hlai people|Hlai]] weaver tensions her traditional backstrap loom with her feet. She is using a large number of slim heddle rods, attached to only a few warp threads; these are sometimes called ''pattern rods''. [[Hainan Island]], Southern [[People's Republic of China]].
File:Vevlærer Edel Hætta Eriksen med båndgrindveving. Kautokeino 1956 - Norsk folkemuseum - NF.05535-221.jpg|A [[Sámi people|Sámi]] weaver doing [[inkle weaving]] on a backstrap loom with a rigid [[heddle]]. She seems to be using a hollow half-bone as a beater and as a race for a bobbin. Norway, 1956.
File:Spjaldvefnadur.png|An Icelandic backstrap loom, 1903. The inkle workpiece is so narrow that no beams are needed; the warp ends are simply tied as one. [[Tablet weaving|Tablet]]s are used for the shedding.
</gallery>

===Warp-weighted loom===
[[File:Warp-weighted loom twill.jpg|thumb|[[Warp-weighted loom]] with three heddle-rods for weaving [[twill]]]]
{{main|Warp-weighted loom}}
The [[warp-weighted loom]] is a vertical loom that may have originated in the [[Neolithic]] period. Its defining characteristic is hanging weights (loom weights) which keep bundles of the [[Warp (weaving)|warp]] threads taut. Frequently, extra warp thread is wound around the weights. When a weaver has woven far enough down, the completed section (fell) can be rolled around the top beam, and additional lengths of warp threads can be unwound from the weights to continue. This frees the weaver from vertical size constraint. Horizontally, breadth is limited by armspan; making [[broadwoven cloth]] requires two weavers, standing side by side at the loom.

Simple weaves, and complex weaves that need more than two different sheds, can both be woven on a warp-weighted loom. They can also be used to produce tapestries.
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===Pegged or floor loom===
In pegged looms, the beams can be simply held apart by hooking them behind pegs driven into the ground, with wedges or lashings used to adjust the tension. Pegged looms may, however, also have horizontal sidepieces holding the beams apart.

Such looms are easy to set up and dismantle, and are easy to transport, so they are popular with nomadic weavers. They are generally only used for comparatively small woven articles.<ref name="Edwards, 1952">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=A. Cecil |title=The Persian carpet : a survey of the carpet-weaving industry of Persia|date=1975|publisher=Duckworth|location=London |isbn=978-0715602560|edition=Reprinted 1952}}</ref> Urbanites are unlikely to use horizontal floor looms as they take up a lot of floor space, and full-time professional weavers are unlikely to use them as they are unergonomic. Their cheapness and portability is less valuable to urban professional weavers.<ref name=farahan>{{cite web |title=Types of carpets loom and knowledge of its components |url=https://farahancarpet.com/types-of-carpets-loom/ |website=Farahan Carpet |date=18 April 2021}}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed heights=140>
File:Historyofthe looms.jpg|A pegged loom from the Ancient Egyptian [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] showing the use of [[heddle jack]]s. 1922 model.
File:Qashqai nomad sisters weave a carpet on a floor loom near Firuzabad, Iran (14288453190).jpg|[[Qashqai people|Qashqai]] nomad sisters, weaving a carpet on a floor loom. Near Firuzabad, Iran
</gallery>
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===Treadle loom===
[[File:Warsztat.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Elements of a treadle loom:{{ordered list|Wood frame| Seat for weaver| Warp beam- let off| Warp threads| Back beam or platen| Rods – used to make a shed| Heddle frame - heald frame - harness| [[Heddle]]- heald - the eye| [[w:Shuttle (weaving)|Shuttle]] with weft yarn| Shed| Completed fabric| Breast beam| [[Beater (weaving)|Batten]] with [[reed (weaving)|reed]] comb| [[Beater (weaving)|Batten]] adjustment| Lathe| Treadles| Cloth roll- takeup}}]]

In a treadle loom, the shedding is controlled by the feet, which tread on the [[treadle]]s.

The earliest evidence of a horizontal loom is found on a pottery dish in [[ancient Egypt]], dated to 4400 BC. It was a frame loom, equipped with treadles to lift the warp threads, leaving the weaver's hands free to pass and beat the weft thread.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bruno |first1=Leonard C. |last2=Olendorf |first2=Donna |title=Science and technology firsts |date=1997 |publisher=[[Gale Research]] |isbn=9780787602567 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sciencetechnolog0000brun/page/2 2] |url=https://archive.org/details/sciencetechnolog0000brun |url-access=registration |quote=4400 B.C. Earliest evidence of the use of a horizontal loom is its depiction on a pottery dish found in Egypt and dated to this time. These first true frame looms are equipped with foot pedals to lift the warp threads, leaving the weaver's hands free to pass and beat the weft thread.}}</ref>

A pit loom has a pit for the treadles, reducing the stress transmitted through the much shorter frame.<ref name="Know Your Handlooms"/>

In a wooden vertical-shaft loom, the [[heddle]]s are fixed in place in the shaft. The warp threads pass alternately through a heddle, and through a space between the heddles (the [[shed (weaving)|shed]]), so that raising the shaft raises half the threads (those passing through the heddles), and lowering the shaft lowers the same threads — the threads passing through the spaces between the heddles remain in place.

A treadle loom for figured weaving may have a large number of harnesses or a control head. It can, for instance, have a [[Jacquard machine]] attached to it<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artless-store.com/blogs/the-artless-way/handloom-vs-powerloom|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201201174856/https://artless-store.com/blogs/the-artless-way/handloom-vs-powerloom|archive-date = 2020-12-01|title = Handloom VS Powerloom|date = 19 March 2020}}</ref> {{see above|Loom#Shedding methods}}.

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Traditional loom at Ranipauwa-Muktinath, Nepal-WLV-1197.jpg|Traditional treadle loom at Ranipauwa Muktinath, Nepal ([[:File:Loom Muktinath Nepal.jpg|another image]])
File:Japaneseweavera.jpg|Japanese treadle loom, late 1820s-early 1830s
File:Silk Loom (5453100710).jpg|Weaving at a pit loom; the frame is built shorter, but set over a pit, so that the treadles are below ground level. [[Herat]], Afghanistan.
File:Studies in primitive looms (1918) (14784096942).jpg|A simple tripod frame supports, not a heddle pulley, but a horse (a sort of teeter-totter); from each heddle frame hangs a treadle, trod alternately to form shed and countershed. West African loom, early 20th century
</gallery>

<!--====Pit looms====-->
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===Tapestry looms===
{{main|tapestry}}
[[File:Tapestry Loom-colored.svg|thumb|upright|Medieval European ''haute-lisse'' tapestry loom. Oddly, while many dangling bobbins are shown, the different colours are not.]]
Tapestry can have extremely complex wefts, as different strands of wefts of different colours are used to form the pattern. Speed is lower, and shedding and picking devices may be simpler. Looms used for weaving traditional [[tapestry]] are called not as "vertical-warp" and "horizontal-warp", but as "high-warp" or "low-warp" (the French terms ''[[Warp (weaving)|haute-lisse]]'' and {{transliteration|fr|basse-lisse}} are also used in English).<ref>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bas-lisse and the other 3 entries</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Rea-Menzies in studio.jpg|Haut-lisse tapestry loom, 2022, New Zealand
File:Loom haute lisse DSC08774.jpg|Commercial haut-lisse tapestry loom, 2004
File:Loom basse lisse DSC08828.jpg|A commercial basse-lisse tapestry loom in the same factory, 2004
File:Principaux outils de la tapisserie de basse lisse sur le métier à tisser (flûtes, grattoir, peigne, poinçon).jpg|Tapestry tools, on the loom. [[Bobbin]]s, scrapper (with short teeth), comb (double-ended), and [[wikt:awl|awl]] (tip hidden).
File:Wandtapijt Nieuwe Kerk Middelburg.webm|A power loom in the [[TextielMuseum Tilburg]] weaving a tapestry for the [[Niewe Kerk Middelburg]]; note that the threads do not vary in colour along their length.
</gallery>

===Ribbon, Band, and Inkle weaving===
{{main|Inkle weaving}}
Inkle looms are narrow looms used for [[narrow work]]. They are used to make narrow [[warp-faced]] strips such as ribbons, bands, or tape. They are often quite small; some are used on a tabletop. others are backstraps looms with a rigid [[heddle]], and very portable.

===Darning looms===
{{main|Darning loom}}
There exist very small hand-held looms known as darning looms. They are made to fit under the fabric being mended, and are often held in place by an elastic band on one side of the cloth and a groove around the loom's darning-egg portion on the other. They may have heddles made of flip-flopping rotating hooks {{see above|[[Loom#Rotating-hook heddles]]}}.<ref>On darning loom function:
*{{cite web |title=Darning Mini Wooden Loom Machine |url=https://www.miupie.com/Darning-Mini-Wooden-Loom-Machine-p3176174.html |website=Miupie |language=en}} (commercial site, but with animation showing how it works)
*{{cite web |last1=Morley |first1=Jasmin |title=Darning Loom Instructions |url=https://purlandfriends.com/blogs/news/darning-loom-instructions |website=Purl and Friends |access-date=7 January 2023 |date=8 September 2022}}, {{cite web |first1=Allison |last1=[not given] |title=Darning loom |url=https://ontheneedles.com/tag/darning-loom/ |website=On the Needles |date=27 December 2021 |access-date=7 January 2023 |language=en}}
*{{cite web |title=How To Use A 1940s "Speed weve" Darner [repost of original 1940s instruction manual]|url=https://ragandmagpie.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-a-1940s-speede-weve |website=Rag & Magpie |date=16 April 2014 |access-date=9 December 2022}}</ref> Other devices sold as darning looms are just a darning egg and a separate comb-like piece with teeth to hook the warp over; these are used for repairing knitted garments and are like a linear [[spool knitting|knitting spool]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Katrinkles Darning Loom |url=https://aroundthetableyarns.com/katrinkles-darning-loom/ |website=Around the Table Yarns |language=en}} (darning loom without heddles, just a comb, for knits).</ref> Darning looms were sold  during [[Rationing in the United Kingdom#Clothing|World War Two clothing rationing]] in the United Kingdom<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boyne |first1=Jo |title=How To Use A Speedweve Loom To Mend Clothes ⋆ A Rose Tinted World |url=https://www.arosetintedworld.co.uk/how-to-use-a-speedweve-loom-to-mend-clothes/ |website=A Rose Tinted World |access-date=9 December 2022 |date=3 October 2021}} ('''not an independent source''')</ref> and Canada,<ref>{{cite web |title=the Swift Darning Loom from Worth Mending |url=https://worthmending.com/pages/swift |website=Worth Mending |language=en}}</ref> and some are homemade.<ref>{{cite web |title=Make Your Own Darning Looms |url=https://www.instructables.com/Make-Your-Own-Darning-Looms/ |website=Instructables |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Speedweve Style Darning Loom {{!}} Glowforge |url=https://glowforge.com/discover/t/85971/speedweve-style-darning-loom |website=glowforge.com}}</ref>

===Circular handlooms===
{{distinguish|circular knitting}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Six shuttle circular loom machine.jpg|thumb|typical circular loom]] -->
Circular looms are used to create seamless tubes of fabric for products such as hosiery, sacks, clothing, fabric hoses (such as fire hoses) and the like. [[Tablet weaving]] can be used to knit tubes, including tubes that split and join.

Small jigs also used for [[circular knitting]] are also sometimes called circular looms,<ref>{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIA53WfVv04 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/XIA53WfVv04| archive-date=2021-11-14 | url-status=live|via=YouTube |title=How to: Cast on/Knit using a Circular Loom |author=Jocelyn C. |date=22 December 2008 |access-date=27 June 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> but they are used for knitting, not weaving.