Editing Loom (section)

===Heddle-bar and shed-rod===
[[File:Lisses du métier à tisser.jpg|thumb|Heddle-rod, laid across the warp threads, and tied to every other thread with short lengths of string. Tapestry loom, France, 2018]]

Heddle-rods and shedding-sticks are not the fastest way to weave, but they are very simple to make, needing only sticks and yarn. They are often used on vertical<ref name="handson">{{cite web |last1=Najeeb |first1=Hana |title=Hands On Heritage - Navajo Loom and Backstrap Weaving |work=Medium |date=22 December 2023 |url=https://medium.com/@2020ug020/hands-on-heritage-8e158c08b77c |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref> and backstrap looms.<ref name="Samnoble_backstrap"/> They allow the creation of elaborate supplementary-weft [[brocade]]s.<ref name="Samnoble_backstrap"/> They are also used on modern tapestry looms; the frequent changing of weft colour in tapestry makes weaving tapestry slow, so using faster, more complex shedding systems isn't worthwhile. The same is true of looms for handmade [[knotted-pile carpet]]; hand-knotting each pile thread to the warp takes far more time than weaving a couple of weft threads to hold the pile in place.

At its simplest, a heddle-bar is simply a stick placed across the warp and tied to individual warp threads. It is not tied to ''all'' of the warp threads; for a plain [[tabby weave]], it is tied to every other thread. The little loops of string used to tie the wraps to the heddle bar are called ''heddles'' or ''leashes''. When the heddle-bar is pulled perpendicular to the warp, it pulls the warp threads it is tied to out of position, creating a shed.

{|width="25%" align="right" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5"
| align="center" style="background:#e7dac1"|{{lang|en|'''Elements of a warp-weighted loom'''}}
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|align="right" valign="top"|[[File:Métier vertical à pesons 2.jpg|400px]]
|-
|align="left" width=60%|A warp-weighted loom with a single heddle bar. See body text for labels.
|}

A [[warp-weighted loom]] (see diagram) typically uses a heddle-bar, or several. It has two upright ''posts'' (C); they support a horizontal ''beam'' (D), which is cylindrical so that the finished cloth can be rolled around it, allowing the loom to be used to weave a piece of cloth taller than the loom, and preserving an ergonomic working height. The warp threads (F, and A and B) hang from the beam and rest against the ''shed rod'' (E). The ''heddle-bar'' (G) is tied to some of the warp threads (A, but not B), using loops of string called ''leashes'' (H). So when the heddle rod is pulled out and placed in the forked sticks protruding from the posts (not lettered, no technical term given in citation), the ''shed'' (1) is replaced by the ''counter-shed'' (2). By passing the weft through the shed and the counter-shed, alternately, cloth is woven.<ref name="Pakenham"/>

Several heddle-bars can be used side-by-side; three or more can be used to weave [[twill weave]]s, for instance.

[[File:SantaMariadelRio145.webm|thumb|upright=2|Using a heddle bar (tied with black and white heddles) and a shedding stick (plain wood, just above the heddle-bar). '''See subtitles for a step-by-step.''' The wide, flat stick is a sword batten; it is inserted lengthwise into each shed, and used to ''clear'' the shed, get it wide open and smooth, and to batten.<ref name="Samnoble_backstrap">{{cite web |title=Backstrap Looms |url=https://samnoblemuseum.ou.edu/collections-and-research/ethnology/mayan-textiles/weaving-technology/backstrap-looms/ |website=Sam Noble Museum |date=7 November 2014 |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref> Weaving a silk [[rebozo]] with a dyed-warp pattern on a backstrap loom, [[Taller Escuela de Rebocería]] in [[Santa María del Río, San Luis Potosí]], Mexico.]]

There are also other ways to create counter-sheds. A shed-rod is simpler and easier to set up than a heddle-bar, and can make a counter-shed. A shed-rod (shedding stick, shed roll) is simply a stick woven through the warp threads. When pulled perpendicular to the threads (or rotated to stand on edge, for wide, flat shedding rods), it creates a counter shed. The combination of a heddle-bar and a shedding-stick can create the shed and countershed needed for a plain tabby weave, as in the video.

There are also slitted heddle-rods, which are sawn partway through, with evenly-placed slits. Each warp thread goes in a slit. The odd-numbered slits are at 90 degrees to the even slits. The rod is rotated back and forth to create the shed and countershed,<ref name="slit heddle bar">{{cite web |author=Luisa |date=29 January 2018 |title=DIY WEAVING LOOM WITH HEDDLE BAR |url=https://whydontyoumakeme.com/diy-weaving-loom-with-heddle-bar/ |website=Why Don't You Make Me? |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref>  so it is often large-diameter.<ref>{{cite web |title=HOW TO WARP A FRAME LOOM WITH A HEDDLE BAR |website=Kaliko |url=https://www.kaliko.co/blogs/articles/how-to-warp-a-frame-loom-with-a-heddle-bar |access-date=3 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

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