The plain weaving is literally a way of weaving using the simple technique. The weft threads (horizontal threads) pass over and under the warp (vertical threads) alternately and on the return go under where before it was over. The weft will completely cover the warp.

In Illustration 1, you can see how the weft threads travel through the warp threads.

The actual result is that the weft threads completely cover the warp as shown in Illustration 2.

In the tapestry weaving, each unit of the pattern is woven with weft (horizontal threads) of the required color, that is inserted back and forth only over the section where that color appears in the design.
Plain weaving is basically used as the technique.

Let’s use the plain weaving and tapestry weaving techniques to weave a pattern of a tulip as a sample.

In this sample, when weaving, the tulip appears horizontal as shown in Illustration 1. The finished piece will look like Photo 1.

I will introduce how to weave the sample along with tips and basic rules for weaving such as:

1. Tailing
2. Bubbling in the weft
3. Meet and separate weaving
4. Bottom to top weaving
5. Splicing the weft
6. Connecting and weaving without tailing
7. Irregular design

See photos 1-3 for tailing of the first pick.

In the sample, split the tail at the left end in two as shown in photo 2, one passing in front of the second warp from the left and then flowing backward, and the other passing in front of the third warp from the left and then flowing backward as shown in photo 3.

Lower the tail with a fork, and the first pick is complete. Continue to lay the weft on the second pick using plain weaving technique.

FYI: See the following article for more information on tailing processes:

Introduction to Various Tailing Techniques

From 1st to 10th pick, weave the green weft using plain weaving technique.

When laying the weft, leave an extra length, not the same length as the warp end to end.
The weft travels in and out of the warp, so the weft must be longer than the width of the warp.

Photo 1: Make sure the weft is attached to the rightmost warp.

Photo 2: Grab the weft diagonally up on the left and bring it down directly at the point of grasp.

Photos 3: Using a fork or your finger, make dents to shape small mountains. In the photo, one dent is made to shape two small mountains.

Photos 4 and 5: Using a fork, beater or your fingers, place the weft firmly.

Photo 6: Plain weaving is completed up to the 10th pick.

The blue weft starts at the 11th pick to make the pattern in the sample.
There is a technique called meet-and-separate used when weaving multiple weft threads in the same shed to create a pattern.

In the 11th pick, the green weft thread on the left enters from left to right, folds over at the 23rd warp, and enters the 12th pick. For the blue weft thread, after tailing it at the 24th warp, weave over one warp to the left, folds back immediately, and enters the 12th pick.

Thus, the meet-and-separate technique is a weaving method in which the weft threads meet and separate at the border of the pattern. The points where the weft threads fold over are always next to each other at the border of the pattern.

When considering the order in which to weave each unit of the pattern, remember the concept of bottom to top weaving.

For example, in the bottom part of the sample, the order of weaving is blocks (1) > (2) > (3)…, with the lower block being woven first.
Photos are showing each block woven in this order.

For block (9), it can be woven as in the illustration of Method A. In the sample, it is woven diagonally as in the illustration of Method B.

The top part is also woven in the bottom and top weaving concept.
See the next section below for the top part.

The top part is woven in the same way, in the order of blocks (10) > (11) > (12) … in the bottom to top weaving concept.

Photos are showing each block woven in this order.

After weaving to the last pick, split the weft end into two and wrap only one tail around the leftmost warp.

We have now finished weaving to the last block.

In the following sections below, I will introduce some more basic techniques.

A certain amount of weft is wound onto a bobbin and weaved through the warp, but sometimes the amount wound onto the bobbin does not last until the end.
In such cases, there is a way to splice the weft threads as if they were connected.

As shown in photo 1, overlap the end of the weft that have been woven with the end of the weft that will be joined together.

In photo 2, divide each weft end into two tails, and one tail on the ended side and one tail on the beginning side are passed through the front side of one warp thread. The other tails of each end are threaded behind the warp.

In photo 3, they appear as if they are connected.

In the sample, the ends of the weft are cut off in several places for tailing, but in practice, they are often connected at the back and woven continuously.

For example, in blocks (7), (10) and (11), there are places where the weft ends are cut without connecting by design in order to follow the meet and separate rule.

In fact, as shown in photos 1 to 3, the weft is not cut at the left end, but is turned once to the back, brought out to the right side, connected and woven.

Basically, weaving follows the meet-and-separate rule, but there are cases where this rule cannot be applied due to design.

For example, the bottom of block (11) is not following meet-and-separate. You can see that the weft is woven in a slightly irregular manner.

Even in such cases, there is no design impact as long as the front side is correctly plain weaved.

In the plain weaving, the weft threads (horizontal threads) pass over and under the warp (vertical threads) alternately and on the return go under where before it was over.

Once completed, let’s move on to the finishing process.
See the following article for more details on the finishing.

Finishing the Weaving Project

Thank you for reading to the end!

Sample PDFs are attached so that you can enlarge them. Please feel free to download and view them.

Tulip weaving sample

Tulip weaving sample (grid)