Warp Faced Plainweaving

Woven cloth consists of two elements: the warp and the weft. The warp is the collective noun for the long threads that the weft passes back and forth between. "Warp" can also be a verb, meaning to put threads onto a loom in preparation for weaving, The warp creates a shed when some warp threads are lifted above or dropped below others. This is the space the warp passes through. A "warp faced weave" means that the design is created by the warp threads and those are the only threads really visible. The weft threads are seen only on the very edge of the weaving, called the selvedge (see Maestro David's belt as an example. The white dots along the side are created by the weft.). 

If a weaver chooses, they can pick-up warp threads and float the weft to create different designs. Those types of weavings have lots of different names but the one thing they all have in common is that they are not considered plainweave. Plainweave is a style of weaving where two sheds are created and nothing is done to tweak the design made by the warp. When most people talk about inkle weaving, they are usually talking about a warp-faced plainwoven band. The inkle loom is at best a very late period invention but a warp-faced plainwoven band is not. This type of weaving as been around for a very, very long time. Warp-faced weaving can be done on anything, inkle looms just happen to be very convenient.  My warp-faced plainwoven bands are all done on an inkle loom. 

Most are made with wool, some with wool and linen and a couple of cotton just for something different. For this style of band, all of the design work is done upfront. Once the loom is dressed (the warp put onto the loom), the design is finished. It's just a matter of weaving from there. When I'm designing a band, I don't generally work from a pattern. I build the design as I dress the loom, using the continuous warp method (meaning that all of the warp threads are tied to each other). I generally like my designs to be balanced, meaning there is a mid-point and either side of that mid-point mirrors each other. Viking Age Scandinavians used as many vibrant colors as they could in their attire and accessories. I generally try to keep my color pallet in the realm of VA period appropriate or probable, but sometimes I just weave in the colors I want.