ITC2004T Textile Studies II
Assignment 2
Topic: The history of weaving

Background
Weaving is not only one of the oldest craft in the world but also one of the significant production methods that sill in use in textile industry. After a thousands year of development, it also becomes the history of human being. In the following, brief information and the history of weaving, including time of Upper Paleolithic Age, Neolithic time, the Middle Ages, the industrial revolution and today, will be discussed.

Weaving is the interlacing of two lines of thread, which is known as warp and weft, on a loom at right angles to each other. The warp is the set of vertical thread while the weft means the set of horizontal threads. One warp thread is known as an end. One weft thread is known as a pick.

Weaving can be done by hands or machines, which is called as looms. Looms were made by wooden frame and is now made by electronic weaving machine. Although there were different electronic weaving machine, hand weaving is still in practice at the moment.

Upper Paleolithic age

In the Upper Paleolithic age, the first string was developed by the early man. Handfuls of plant fibers were twisted together. It developed to produce a fine string or thread. This finding leads to the first woven textiles, which varieties sizes of threads and strings knotted and laced together to produce useful items, and opens the era of weaving, spinning and sewing. It was first used to produce interlace branches and twigs.

Neolithic times

Weaving loom was developed from Neolithic times, which is about 12000 years ago. By using man made tools, the vertical warp threads were hold and insert the horizontal weft threads to make simple weaving. Horizontal, ground loom and warp weighted loom were used as the early weaving looms.

The warp weighted loom is made by tying large wooden poles