Types of Looms Used in Weaving

The Lady of Shallot weaving at a loom in a painting by John W. Waterhouse

The art of weaving has been around for thousands of years. Different cultures all over the world have developed their own types of loom. A loom is used to make fabric from individual fibers. The horizontal and vertical threads are called the warp and woof threads. A loom creates tension on the threads which helps facilitate the weaving process. Depending on the types of fiber used, the weaver can make many kinds of fabric, from delicate silks to heavy woolen carpet.

Hand Looms

Probably the first type of loom, the hand loom has many variations. The vertical warp threads are suspended from a branch or board, and weighted at the bottom with rocks or by affixing the threads to the earth. Warp threads are separated by a stick or shuttle, so the weft threads can be threaded through.

Ground Looms

Ground looms are another of the oldest types of loom. As the name suggests, ground looms lie flat. The warp threads are attached to a boards or dowels that provide the necessary tension. To use this loom requires a lot of bending over, so sometimes weavers made trenches into which they could slip their legs, making weaving easier. A frame loom is a portable variation of the ground loom.

Floor Looms

Floor looms are much more complex machines with multiple moving parts. They can be used to create longer and more elaborate fabrics. Many types of floor looms have been developed, including counterbalance looms, jack looms, and countermarch looms. Floor looms come in variations that can be used for everything from hand weaving to industrial weaving. Specialized looms have been created to make textile patterns, notably, jacquard.

Table Looms

Table looms are basically smaller, more portable versions of the floor looms. They can create a lot of the same fabrics as the floor loom and come in similar variations -- most often the jack loom -- but the fabric created is on a much smaller scale. Table looms are desirable for their portability and are great for those who wish to learn to weave but don't want to spring for a full floor loom.

References

• Textiles in Depth: Overview of Looms
• The Woolery: Looms by Type
• Fiber Arts: Types of Looms