In weft-faced fabrics, the warp is all but covered by the weft. To accomplish this, you have to space the warps far enough apart that the rows of weft will pack down and cover them. There is a method which can be used as a starting point for experimentation in finding this warp spacing. Use your ruler to wind both the warp and the weft threads together. Alternate the warp and weft threads. Keep them flat. Be careful not to twist or stretch them, but still, push them together until they just barely touch. Finally, count only the warp threads in your inch to get the approximate sett. See Figures A-C. You probably will use a thicker weft yarn than a warp yarn.
Warp-faced FabricsIn warp-faced fabrics, there are so many more warp threads than weft threads that the weft is all but covered by the warp. Use Ashenhurst’s diameters or wrap the warp threads around your ruler. Then, increase or even double the number per inch you get. See figure below. 
PlaidIf you want a true plaid, then you’d want a precisely balanced sett, so that the warps and wefts are both showing equally. However, look at a machine woven plaid-the warps are denser than the wefts-for ease in weaving. Weft-emphasisIf a weave has weft emphasis, you can’t have the warp as dense as 80%. Examples are overshot and summer-and-winter fabrics. Use a plain weave sett here because plain weave is the basis for these two weaves. Then, as a starting point, take 60-70% of their maximum sett, depending on the purpose of your cloth. |
More information in Weaving for Beginners and Book #1: Winding a Warp & Using a Paddle
dear peggy-
i am an amateur weaver-mostly just a crafter-and have been experimenting using a backstrap loom. i have never been able to figure out what determines warp or weft faced weave. so, thank you so much for spelling it out for me! now that i see it, it seems so simple…as almost all truly elegant things are!
I am glad you “got it”. It’s something I play with a lot. It makes one warp so versatile, doesn’t it?
How is sett figured when the weft is a smaller yarn than the warp? For example, say that the warp is 5/2 perle, but the weft is 10/2 perle. Would the sett be tighter or looser than a 5/2 perle sett would be? Thanks!
Speaking of weft-faced texture, I have just begun a weft-faced rug that is showing an awful lot of warp threads. I am following a pattern for boundweave by Tom Knisely and trying to stick to every instruction, but it’s not looking right. The warp sett is 4 (doubled) per inch. I think I’ve done the tie up correctly. The treadling calls for a pick of plain weave after each pattern row. I’m beating down the weft as best I can, even pushing it together further with my fingers, yet the warp is not being covered. I’ve taken photos but I don’t know how to send them to you via this website. What can you suggest, Peggy?
You can always email me . peggy@peggyosterkamp.com Your warp tension has to be very tight and you must bubble a lot to get in enough weft to bend over and under the warps. That’s what comes to mind immediately. Maybe if you send photo you can also send any WRITTEN TEXT that goes with the instructions. I’m sure you can always contact Tom, too.Peggy
Hi Peggy,
Thank you for your tips for weaving. I would like to make a weft-faced table runner. This is my first time weaving weft-faced. I hope you have the time to answer a couple of questions about your instructions.
The warp I am using has 38 wpi. The weft has 19 wpi. When I use the method mentioned in your guide by wrapping alternate warp and weft threads around a ruler for 1 inch, then counting the warp threads only the answer is 14. My question is: Does this indicate that the sett is 14 or do I halve the threads per inch and use sett of 7?
A related question, with the same warp and weft yarns, if you don’t mind. When you say take 60-70% of the normal sett for plain weave do you mean the sett of the warp thread? In the case above that would be 60% of 19 = Sett 11.4. Or is this method only relevant for similar warp and weft yarns?
Mary, I sent you an email with information on sett for weft face weaving from my book Winding a Warp & Using a Paddle from pages 94 and 95. My smaller books are more reference books so deeper situations are included that aren’t in Weaving for Beginners. This is from the chapter on sett. It’s mostly about Ashenhurst but other situations and materials. All three of my little red books are available on my website. peggyosterkamp.com. Book 2, Warping Your Loom & Tying On New Warps has been out of print for years. I’m happy to say it is now back in print. It has a lot of information not in the beginner book.
Peggy