Drafting for Weaving A

A weave draft is divided into four quadrants–each one a different size. See Figure A. The bold lines are the skeleton of all drafts and divide the whole draft into separate parts. Figure B shows the quadrants of a weave draft and a description of what each quadrant represents.

Drafting for Weaving B

To interpret the drafts, read outwards from the bold lines in the directions the arrows show (Figure C). In other words, in the upper left section, read the draft from right-to-left. Read from left-to-right in the upper right section, and so on. It can be confusing, sometimes starting from the right and sometimes starting from the left. The key is to see that everything works outward from the bold lines.

Drafting for Weaving C

Each part of a weave draft can be called a draft. That is, a threading draft, a tie-up draft, a treadling draft, and a drawdown draft complete a weave draft. The threading draft shows how the strands are to be threaded in the heddles on the shafts. Once the threads have been put into the heddles, they will not normally ever be changed for the entire warp. The tie-up draft and the treadling draft tell which shafts are to be lifted and when. They can be changed anytime along the way. The drawdown area shows the results from the other parts of the draft.

The above tip is an excerpt from Book 3: “Weaving and Drafting Your Own Cloth”. It is from the extensive 40-page chapter on Drafting with 77 illustrations in the Drafting Chapter alone! The chapter contains comprehensive discussions on analyzing fabric and multi-shaft weaving.