Drawloom Mechanics 101: Damask

Curious about how a double-harness loom works to create complex woven patterns? This video considers the mechanics of damask-weaving on a pattern-shaft drawloom, using 4-shaft broken twill to illustrate the process. Warp-effect and weft-effect faces of the cloth are discussed, together with tie-ups; a detailed examination of the loom's damask shed; and a short weaving demo.
Filmed and edited by Amy Blair

[@reneelaffey5429]

I was having a problem with my shed and watching this short video helped tremendously!

[@DuellingRabbits]

I'm delighted to hear it. Thank you so much for letting me know. You may also be interested in the video I posted earlier this month, 'Perfecting the Drawloom Shed'. Long overdue and hopefully even more helpful!

[@dominiquemichaud7945]

Amazing content! I heard about draw looms before, but never saw one in action.

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you very much! Please check out my other videos and let me know when you get a drawloom of your own 😉

[@averylee2805]

Your videos are very well done. Clear and precise. I now have a general understanding of damask. You must be a teacher.

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you Avery! I appreciate that very much and am glad you are finding my little vids helpful. And it's true - they are a great outlet for my pontificating nature 🤣

[@Sasha-go4ur]

Fantastic video and explanation, thank you so much!!

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you Sasha!

[@faziarizvi]

Thank you SO MUCH for making these videos. They're clear and easy to follow and I'm feeling a lot less overwhelmed and intimidated by my new drawloom. I'm looking forward to more.

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you for the wonderful feedback: I am so happy to hear the videos are helpful. Drawlooms can be great mysterious beasts - but remember, you are the boss! You might want to watch for the series I'll be starting in a few weeks: I'll be taking a project from the planning stages all the way through to weaving with lots of setup details for pattern shafts and the Myrehed combo attachment.

[@faziarizvi]

@@DuellingRabbits Yay! I was hoping you would be. :)

[@bennett3200]

Excellent explanation of what appears to be a very complicated system! Thank you so much! Now I want a drawloom 😁

[@DuellingRabbits]

You want a drawloom? Awesome. My work here is done 🤣

[@jenniferekwong498]

wow! your video was so informative and so well done! i loved everything about it. the pacing, the script, the filming, the diagrams, bits of humour, and of course the kitty content! thank you so much!!! :)

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you so much! I so happy it struck a chord and appreciate your taking the time to comment. And yes, kitty content is what it is all about - Jenson is my loyal companion in the loom room and extremely adept at video-bombing.

[@anubhatia6695]

Very informative video! Nicely explained. Thank you.

[@annelow389]

thank you for such a clear and straightforward video!

[@DuellingRabbits]

It's my pleasure! I'm glad it was helpful.

[@all4thedogs]

Excellent video! You are a great teacher as well as weaver. Thank you!

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you so much! I'm having a ball making like Scorsese at the loom and am happy to hear the vids are actually useful ;-)

[@swilkin4325]

This is good information. Thankyou!

[@DuellingRabbits]

It's my absolute pleasure - I am glad it is useful info.

[@janetgiardina8603]

Your videos are fantastic and your teaching style is so beneficial. Thank you!

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you so much - I am glad you are finding them useful. I am totally open to any suggestions you might have about future topics ...

[@janetgiardina8603]

I am very curious on how you can incorporate two different structures on the same warp as you mentioned for a future topic. You really are very clear and I can completely follow and understand your explanations.

[@DuellingRabbits]

@@janetgiardina8603 I'm on it! That video is planned for early in the new year - I've got all the samples woven and just need to put it all together. Please keep an eye out.

[@janetgiardina8603]

Perfect, just the project I’ll need for after the holidays. Thank you again for the great videos.

[@MK-ih6wp]

No idea how I ended up here but this was so cool!!!

[@DuellingRabbits]

Well, that is awesome to hear! Come back any time ;-)

[@CarolineNH]

I *love* your videos, hoping for a drawloom within the next couple of years. I am also intrigued by the bookshelf behind the loom! Just added Interface to my Audible queue. (Loved Snowcrash, Seveneves, and one other Stephenson book.)

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you so much for your nice comment - and yes, there is not a whole lot of mystery about the household's literary tastes. That crazy loom is completely shoe-horned into the library. I think Stephenson is a mad genius. Have you read 'Quicksilver'? It's my desert island book. Also 'Anathem'. But 'Interface' is also truly excellent. Enjoy! Getting into drawloom-weaving is a big decision. I hope you'll jump on in - the water's fine!

[@CarolineNH]

Yes, Anathem was the other one! Snow Crash had me hooked; also Cory Doctorow's Little Brother & Homeland; Max Barry's Lexicon; Marcus Sakey's Brilliance trilogy (and of course the incomparable Ready Player One, with audiobook read by Wil Wheaton). My husband is having a garage built, with a full loft above for a weaving studio. Right now I have a 40" 10H 12T Macomber, 40" AVL FDL 16H mechanical dobby, 8H Baby Mac, and 8H Voyageur table loom. Should be room up in the loft studio for at least one more loom!

[@skullzandbonez100]

Great video! I’m looking forward to your video on multiple structures on same cloth. Have you done any projects with supplementary weft/brocading? Drawloom seems perfect for it

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you! Funnily enough, supplementary weft is the subject of my next video, which will be about Opphämta woven on the same warp as this demo.

[@Verdantrising]

I absolutely love your videos. Thank you for taking so much time and care to show how the drawloom works! Can I ask how the selvedges work? Is it not like a twill where you need to account for skips at the edges?

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you so much for your kind comment! I am so glad you are enjoying the channel. Your question is an interesting one and answers vary depending who you talk to. You are absolutely right about the selvedge skips - depending on the ground structure, there might be as many as seven rows between catches of a particular warp end. Honestly? I don't worry about it - I don't even double the outermost ends because I dislike the bulk they add. And with fine threads even a 7-thread skip is not much in terms of actual measured float length. But some drawloom weavers use floating selvedges, others thread PW borders - the usual twill-related solutions you are probably aware of. Personal preference, really. The one thing I am always sure to do is add pattern blocks close to the edges (as stripes or whatever) to combat the inevitable damask curl.

[@Verdantrising]

@@DuellingRabbits I appreciate your explanation! This makes a lot of sense. I'm just starting out on my 4 harness and haven't gone very fine with it, but already looking dreamily at drawloom structures.

[@DuellingRabbits]

@@Verdantrising I'm glad it makes sense! My goal is to demystify drawlooms and show how possible they can be. They are more like simple shaft looms than is commonly supposed. And yes - for a certain kind of weaver, there's nothing like the awesomeness of figurative designs. Let me know when you decide to take the plunge 😉

[@winnieyuensm]

just wow...

[@outrageousacres]

This may be a stupid question but I'm known for odd questions, is the large distance between the two sets of shafts needed? In other words could it possibly be done on a, say, 12 shaft loom using shafts 1-4 as the ground shafts and the rear most as pattern shafts? My reasoning is to know if it would even be worth trying. I've noticed on most drawlooms that there's a noticeable gap between the ground shafts and pattern shafts.

[@DuellingRabbits]

This is a way more complicated question than you might think! It all depends on the kind of loom we are talking about. Drawloom mechanics require a countershed action - so if it is a jack loom or a table loom it won't really work regardless of how many shafts there are. The shed also requires that the warp travel in a straight line from the breast beam to the back beam - so even some countermarch looms aren't very suitable. What we need is a traditional, Swedish or Northern-European kind of loom with shaft bars rather than frames and, ideally, a hanging beater just because. Now, if the loom in question has all of these things it is definitely suitable for double-harness weaving without the bother of a drawbridge. Smålandsväv uses the kind of setup you are talking about, with the ground shafts and pattern shafts sitting inside the basic loom frame: often four pattern shafts and two ground shafts (please see my vid). But a full-blown damask setup? You'd be better off with a weaving sword and half-heddle sticks (also vid), where the relative shallowness of the loom isn't an issue. Hope that answers your question - if not, let me know and we'll revisit!

[@outrageousacres]

@@DuellingRabbits I'm actually building to my own design 'ish'. It is a countermarch, I will definitely keep your tips in mind. I really don't want to come across as disbelieving, would it matter truly if the beater was hanging verses hinged at the bottom? I'm merely trying my best to learn from your experience, i learn too often the hard way, I'm hoping to learn another way sometimes. Haha thank you very much for the quick and very informative response!

[@DuellingRabbits]

@@outrageousacres Ha! Question everything. That was a bit of editorializing on my part. I love hanging beaters but can't think of any reason why they would be necessary for the mechanics of the thing to work. They do have one undeniable advantage I can think of, though: they usually allow more adjustment to the height of the reed, which can be useful when messing with double-harness sheds. Also, since we often use fine threads and dense setts with this kind of weaving, a hanging beater can be beneficial for giving the weft a good thwack. This is a really exciting project you are undertaking - I hope you will keep me posted on your progress.

[@mfli2925]

你这个织机的装造其实不用这么麻烦，这个正反两色缎的装造其实就只涉及到一种组织，只是组织起始顺序不一样，所以使用起综织地，伏综压花部间丝，然后分出几个综框用来提织花纹就可以实现了，可以大大节省综框

[@DuellingRabbits]

Thank you very much for your comment. I am not sure it got translated correctly and I would like to understand. It is true that a drawloom is not the only way to weave this pattern - I was using it as an example to demonstrate how a drawloom works. And the great advantage of the drawloom is that the pattern can be changed without having to rethread the warp or count out new arrangements for pickup.

[@mfli2925]

@@DuellingRabbits 是的，提花织机更适合织造纹样，不过，采用伏综织纹组织，用地综织地组织，以及用综丝管理提花花形的思路是多数织造工艺的模式，织机的关键在于如何最大化利用针数。

[@anubhatia6695]

Very informative video. Nicely explained. Thanks!