Glossary

AJAX progress indicator
(clear)
  • The process by which a fluffy fiber such as cotton or wool is simultaneously spun and drawn out into a long thread.
  • See shuttle.

  • A resist dyeing process in which designs are made by sewing and gathering the textile before dyeing. This technique is known as tritik.

  • See resist dyeing.
  • An ethnic group or familial group.
  • Weft wrapping technique (Borneo). See supplementary weft.


  • Extra warp, in addition to ground warp, which is used for patterning. Supplementary warp usually has a contrasting color to that of the ground weft. Supplementary warps can be raised to float over several wefts to create a warp-float patterning, such as in Sumba ceremonial skirt for women, Lao Pahudu. They can also be raised to make piles, as in velvet weaving. Because the weaving take-up of the supplementary warps may differ from the ground warps, a separate warp beam or individual spools for each supplementary warp end may be required. The latter is especially true for velvet.

  • Extra weft, in addition to ground weft, which is used for patterning.  Supplementary weft usually has contrasting color to that of the ground weft. They can float over or wrapped around several warps to create patterns. Supplementary wefts can be continuous or discontinuous. Weavers may add supplementary wefts to a limited part of the fabric (discontinuous supplementary weft or inlaid supplementary weft) or they may use wefts that extend from selvedge to selvedge (continuous supplementary weft). Wefts may interlace with the warp the same way as the ground weft, or they may wrap around the warp (weft wrapping), for example in sungkit cloths made in Borneo.
  • A sword-like implement, carved from hardwood and used during weaving for beating-in the weft. See beater.

  • Dye in which the coloring agent is chemically manufactured. The first synthetic dyes were developed in the mid-19th century, and many types have been invented since then. A few of the compounds synthesized are the same as those found in natural sources (for example, indigo). Synthetic dyes are much easier to use and give the dyer more control over results than natural dyes.

  • A process for making narrow bands with warp patterning. Warp threads are passed through holes in the corners of hard tablets or cards made of bone or wood. These tablets are rotated back and forth around their centers to create different shed openings for the weft threads.

  • Modesty plate or ‘apron’ formerly worn by little girls.

  • A square or rectangular ceremonial cloth used in ritualized gift exchange.
  • Weft-faced patterned cloth based on plain weave or twill, in which the ground wefts are discontinuous, usually in different colors, and woven back and forth within their own color sections for the pattern. There are several types, defined by the ways the boundaries between adjacent color sections are connected slit tapestry (also see kesi and kilim); dovetailed tapestry, and interlocked or double-interlocked tapestry.

  • A type of weft-faced plain weave in which the weft yarns are discontinuous, turning back at the edges of each color area, instead of extending continuously from selvedge to selvedge.

  • Alternative term for tambi’, modesty plate.

  • A device in weaving, usually a stick with points at both ends, which is inserted into the woven cloth near its leading edge, providing tension across the warps and controlling the width of the finished textile.
  • See temple.
  • Cloth that is produced by interlacing yarns in various ways. The definition used in this book includes textiles that are woven on a loom, and those that are made in other ways, such as knitting.

  • The relationship of the elements in a finished textile. For example, plain weave and tapestry weave are structures found in woven textiles.