Invention of the Weaving Loom

Weaving has been around since the earliest human civilizations.

Weaving is the act of interlacing fibers together to form a piece of cloth. A loom is a frame or machine on which weavers make cloth from threads. Early weavers didn't use looms but wove by hand, crossing fibers at right angles to each other. Vertical fibers are called warp threads and horizontal fibers are weft threads.

The First Weavings

Baskets woven with reeds likely pre-date woven cloth.

Early humans likely found their inspiration for weaving by observing spider webs and bird nests. Fibers strung together for fishing nets and baskets made of interlacing twigs and grasses were natural first steps toward weaving cloth. Little is left of the first woven fabrics because natural fibers biodegrade quickly, but according to Susan C. Wylly, Professor of Art at Georgia College & State University, "Human beings naturally have a strong compulsion to be creative, and our records show that this trait was prevalent in our ancestors' lives thousands of years ago."

The First Loom

A smple pattern where the warp and weft are different colors.

The very first man-made loom was likely a simple frame made of four sticks lashed together. Threads were wrapped vertically around two of the frame's four sticks, and the weaver used her fingers to pass another thread horizontally under and over the warp threads. Warp-weighted looms--vertical frames suspended from tree branches--may have been the next step in the evolution of looms. Eventually the hand-passing of the weft threads evolved into using a stick wrapped with thread; the stick evolved into a shuttle.

Ground Looms

Models of ground looms have been found in Egyptian tombs.

While no one knows for sure when the first loom was developed, archaeological digs indicate that cloth was being made between 8000 to 7000 B.C. The earliest use of looms in Egypt dates from the tomb of Meketra, circa 1950 B.C. Two ground looms placed horizontally to the floor and the weavers working them are depicted in a three-dimensional model found in the burial chamber.

Personal Looms

Backstrap looms are still used today.

As weaving moved into the domestic sphere, looms evolved from large ground models into backstrap and waist-weaving looms that could be taken with the weaver and set up when needed. Still primitive, one end of these looms could be tied around a tree or hooked to a wall, while the other end was strapped around the weaver's waist. One of the major advancements of the backstrap and waist-weaving loom was the heddle, a rigid frame holding half the warp threads which is lifted and lowered so the weft can pass between the warp threads faster than weaving up and down, over and under them.

Floor Looms

Warp threads are the vertical threads on a loom.

Wooden looms with heddles and large frames could be found in many homes by the turn of the 18th century. These floor looms used a pulley and lever system and the heddle was operated by a foot treadle, which increased the speed of weaving. By the end of the century, industrialization began in Europe and the simple wooden loom was nearing extinction.

Looms and the Industrial Revolution

Turbines powered the looms in Lowell, Mass., in the late 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution replaced individual floor looms and weavers with steam-powered looms and workers who tended machines producing more cloth than a single weaver ever could. In 1820, Great Britain had approximately 240,000 hand-weavers; by 1861, only 7,000 remained. Similar to floor looms, factory looms were heavier, faster and noisier metal looms, mechanized so an operator could tend many at one time. By 1861, over 400,000 power looms operated in England.

References

• Georgia College and State University: IDST 2310: The Art and History of Weaving
• "The Forgotten Arts & Crafts"; John Seymour; 2001
• Brainy Quote: Loom
• University College London: Textile Production and Clothing
• Cotton Times: Workers: The long agony of the handloom weaver

Resources

• The Weaving Studio: Weaving