At the end of each weft, tailing is performed to secure the end of the thread.
Tailing differs depending on whether the weft is on the front or back side of the warp. In this article, I will show you tailing methods in various cases.
1. Making a pigtail
The pigtail, which I briefly mentioned in the article “Loom Weaving Preparations“, I use this tailing to secure the end of the waste yarn.
If the waste yarn ends behind the rightmost or leftmost warp, turn it to the front of that warp and pass it through to the back. See the green yarn in the photos.
If the waste yarn ends on the front side of the rightmost or leftmost warp, turn it behind that warp and pass it through to the front side. See the dark purple-pink yarn in the photos.
In this way, the tail will be secured.
2. Tailing at the rightmost or leftmost warp in the body part
Next, I will introduce the tailing of the body part.
First off, I will explain the process of tailing at the right (or left) end of the warp in order with photos.
Photo 1: The green weft ends at the back side of the right-most warp. The dark purple-pink weft ends on the front side of the same warp. Each weft is split at the end and divided into two tails.
Photos 2 and 3: Tailing from the green weft. Turn one of the tails divided into two around the front side of the warp and pass it through to the back side. Using a weaving needle as shown in the photo makes it easier to thread the weft between the warps.
Photo 4: The other tail of the green weft is swept to the back without passing it anywhere, and the tailing is complete.
Photo 5: Tailing of the dark purple-pink weft. One of the tails goes around the back of the rightmost warp and out the front side.
Photos 6-9: The other tail of the dark purple-pink weft goes around the back of the second warp from the right and out the front side, then around the front of the third warp and through the back side.
Photo 10: The first tail of the dark purple-pink weft between the first end and the second warp is passed through the front side of the second warp to the back side.
Photo 11: You can see the difference in tailing between the green weft and the dark purple-pink weft.
In photos 2 through 11, the tails are threaded on the lower side of the weft. In some cases, as shown in photo 12, the tails are threaded on the upper side of the weft. For example, if you continue weaving with weft of the same color on the upper side, you can thread the tails on the upper side.
When threading the lower side, it would be difficult to thread the tails without a needle. On the other hand, when threading the upper side, it is easier to wrap the tails around the warp with your fingers without using a needle.
3. Tailing inside the body part
If you are tailing on the inside of the body part rather than the leftmost or rightmost warp, there are several possible ways to do it. Below are three different methods I usually use.
Here tailings will be done in the situation shown in photo 1. The green weft ends at the back of the warp, and the dark purple-pink weft ends at the front of the warp. Both ends are split in two and once through to the back side.
As method 1 for tailing, wrap one of the tails of the green weft around the warp next to the right, as shown in photo 2. One of the tails of the dark purple-pink weft is also wrapped around the warp next to the right.
As you can see in the enlarged version of photo 2, the orange circles show the wrapped tails. Here, the tails are wound from the lower side of the weft.
Photo 3 shows the tailing completed using this method 1.
As method 2 for tailing, wrap one tail of each weft once more around the warp that was last threaded, as shown in photo 4.
As you can see in the enlarged version of photo 4, the orange circles show the wrapped tails.
Photo 5 shows the tailing completed by this method 2.
As method 3 for tailing, after each weft is split in two, as shown in photo 6, pass one tail of each weft through the back side at the two previous warp thread, and then, as shown in photos 7-9, thread it through from the opposite side of the other tail so that it wraps around the endpoint warp.
Photo 10 shows the tailing completed by this method 3.
4. Splicing the weft
Already explained how to splice the weft in a previous article “Mastering Plain and Tapestry Weaving with a Sample“, the ends of the weft on the ending and beginning sides were each divided into two tails, and one tail of the ending weft was overlapped on top of the other tail of the beginning weft.
Here is another example which is using weft with three strands bundled together. The idea is simple, if there are three tails, just divide them into two tails and one tail (see photo 1).
Photo 2: If two tails of one weft are passed through the front side of the warp, only one tail of the other weft is passed through to the front side of the same warp. The other tails that are not passed through to the front of the warp will be passed through to the back of the warp.
In photo 3, they appear as if they are connected.
5. Three or more tailings
Here are examples with three or more tails.
If the weft ends at the back of the warp, it is easy; just wrap one of the tails around the warp (photos 1-3).
If the weft ends at the front of the warp, pass each tail through front to back, starting with the second warp from the end, the third warp and the fourth warp. See photos 4-6.
Photo 7 completes the tailing.
Photos 8-15 show an example with four tails. I do this four-tail process at the end of weaving the top header with the twining technique after the body is completed.
See also the following article for the steps in weaving the top header.
At the end of the twining weave, two warp yarn ends remain. Each is split in two for a total of four tails. Refer to the photos to see where to thread the tails. As you can see in Photo 15, each tail is swept back through the front side of the different warps.
The video shows how to split the warp thread using a weaving needle for reference. Untwist the warp thread slightly (whether to untwist to the right or left depends on the thread) and place the needle in the middle of the untwisted thread to split it.
That’s all my explanation of how I usually do the tailing.
I don’t think there is any strict rule that says you must do this as long as tails are fixed. Do it in a way that is easy for you.
Thank you for reading to the end!