A workbook designed to accompany weaving lessons on the Backstrap Loom The techniques covered in this book are based on the tradition of backstrap loom weaving found in the Andean highlands of Cusco, Peru.
The drawings, diagrams and explanations
are intended to assist the weaving beginner to visualize the process of creating a warp faced textile.
Backstrap weaving is best learned
through observation and practice. Demonstration and guidance from a master weaver is the most effective method for acquiring the physical agility and unique skills necessary for weaving on a backstrap loom.
TOOLS FOR WEAVING ON A LARGE LOOM
HERRAMIENTAS PARA TEJER EN TELAR GRANDE ERRUMIENTUNAC CANAN JATUCUNA The large looms are used for weaving larger textiles for Ponchos and Shawls. These looms are only as wide as can be comfortably strapped to the body of the weaver.
1. Warp Threads / Ordidos / Alluisca
vertical yarn that is both the structure and design of the textile
2. Top stick / Parti Arriba / Awaqaspi
pole at the top of the loom around which the warps are wrapped
3. Bottom Heddle / Herramienta Abajo / Toqoro
thick pole separating the top and bottom layers of warp threads
4. Top Heddle / Herramienta Arriba / Illawa
stick around which threads are interlaced to separate warp layers
5. Sword/ Herramienta / Khallwa
flat stick used to beat the weft threads in place
6. Weft Threads / Herramienta / Mini
horizontal threads that determine the structure of the textile
7. Shuttle / Baticola / Khuma
stick around which weft is wrapped to aid in passing through warp
8. Bottom Piece / Parti Abajo / Awa Caspi
pole at the bottom of the loom around which warps are wrapped 9. Backstrap/ Herramienta / Awa Watana
belt that wraps around body to secure loom to body
10. Pick up Stick / Herramienta / Pallana
small pointed stick used for picking and dropping warp threads 11. Beater / Herramienta / Ruqi
bone used to beat weft into place
2 3
4 10 5
7 8
11 9
TOOLS FOR WEAVING ON A SMALL LOOM
HERRAMIENTAS PARA TEJER EN TELAR PEQUENO ERRUMIENTUNAC CANAN JACHUICUNA The smaller loom is for making narrow bands of weaving used for textile trim and belts. It doesnt require all of the tools of the larger loom and is easily constructed with some yarn and a few sticks. Your hands and body are the main tools for this loom, but many of the components are identified with similar names.
1. Warp Threads / Ordidos / Alluisca
vertical yarn that is both the structure and design of the textile
2. Bottom Heddle / Herramienta Abajo / Toqoro
loop of thread separating top and bottom layers of warp threads
3. Top Heddle / Herramienta Arriba / Illawa
loops of threads interlaced into warp separating warp layers
4. Weft Threads / Herramienta / Mini
horizontal threads that determine the structure of the textile
5. Shuttle / Baticola / Khuma
ball of weft to aid in passing through warp
6. Bottom Piece / Parti Abajo / Awa Caspi
pole or thread at bottom of loom around which warp is wrapped 7. Backstrap/ Herramienta / Awa Watana
belt that wraps around body to secure loom to body
1 2
4 6 5
ALL WEAVING IS AN INTERLACING
OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL THREADS TEJIDO ES UN ENRELAZADO DE HILOS HORIZONTALES Y VERTICALS
HORIZONTAL THREADS ARE CALLED THE WEFT
VERTICAL THREADS ARE CALLED THE WARP
WHEN WOVEN
TOGETHER
A RANGE OF
PATTERNS
CAN BE
CREATED
THE BACKSTRAP WEAVING
OF THE PERUVIAN ANDES IS CALLED WARP-FACED WHICH MEANS THAT ONLY THE WARP (VERTICAL) THREADS ARE VISIBLE IN THE COMPLETED TEXTILE. THESE THREADS ARE PACKED TOGETHER SO TIGHTLY THAT THE WEFT (HORIZONTAL) THREADS ARE COMPLETELY COVERED BY THE WARP (VERTICAL) THREADS. .
THE WARP IS THE BODY OF THE LOOM
EL ORDID ES EL CUERPO DE LA TELAR TO CREATE THE LOOM, WARP THREADS ARE WRAPPED AROUND TWO VERTICAL POLES IN A FIGURE 8 PATTERN.
WHEN REMOVED FROM THESE POLES, THE WARP THREADS
FORM THE BODY OF THE LOOM. THEIR FIGURE 8 FORMATION ESTABLISHES THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE TEXTILE.
THE WARP THREADS INTERSECT AT THE MIDPOINT
OF THE FIGURE 8 TO OCCUPY BOTH THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE LOOM.
THE LOOM IS THE STRUCTURE OF THE CLOTH
LA TELAR CREA LA STRUCTURA DE LA TELA WE WILL DISTINGUISH THESE TWO LAYERS OF WARP BY THE NAMES OF THE TOOLS THAT KEEP THEM SEPARATED DURING WEAVING. . (see diagram pages 3 and 5)
tcoro
illawa
DURING THE COURSE OF WEAVING,
THE WARP LAYERS OF ILLAWA AND TCORO ALTERNATE POSITIONS AS THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE TEXTILE.
WRAPPING OVER AND UNDER ONE ANOTHER.
IN ORDER TO MAKE A PARTICULAR DESIGN, INDIVIDUAL
THREADS ARE ISOLATED DURING THE WEAVING PROCESS. ONE AT A TIME THESE WARPS ARE PICKED UP (ARRIBA) . AND BROUGHT TO THE FRONT OF THE LOOM, OR DROPPED (ABAJO) AND PUSHED TO THE BACK. THE DESIGNS THAT THIS CREATES ARE CALLED THE PALLAY. 10
AS THE LAYERS OF ILLAWA AND TCORO WARPS ARE INTERCHANGED, THE PALLAY PATTERN EMERGES
11
WHAT IS PALLAY? A PALLAY IS THE ICONOGRAPHIC PATTERN THAT IS WOVEN IN THE VERTICAL BANDS OF THE ANDEAN TEXTILES
THERE ARE COUNTLESS VARIETIES OF PALLAY,
EACH WITH A UNIQUE MEANING
12
THE BASIC VOCABULARY OF PALLAY
PEBBLES
HORIZONTAL
X SOLID SHAPES
SPIRALS
DIAGONALS
13
DIAMONDS
THESE FORMS ARE THEN COMBINED
IN A RANGE OF PATTERNS AND MOTIFS
SPIRALS & SOLIDS
SPIRALS & DIAGONALS
XS & DIAGONALS
PEBBLES & SOLIDS
14
ALL CREATED FROM
A FEW SIMPLE SHAPES DIAMONDS & DIAGONALS
15
VISUALIZING THE PROCESS
OF CREATING A WARP FACED WEAVING
16
DIAGRAMMING PALLAY PATTERNS IN UNITS
DIAGRAMACION EN LAS UNIDADES
THIS IS A SINGLE PICKUP OF
WARP THREAD
THIS IS A ROW OF SINGLE
PICKUPS OF WARP THREAD
WHEN PICKED UP OR DROPPED, A WARP THREAD CAN EXTEND VERTICALLY ACROSS MULTIPLE HORIZONTAL ROWS
17
READING THE DIAGRAMS
LEER EL DIAGRAMA In order to understand how a textile was constructed, we read the grid of a weave horizontally and vertically. Horizontally Each horizontal row represents one pass of either the TCoro or Illawa warp threads. ILLAWA TCORO
Vertically Each vertical row represents one warp thread as it passes from the front (visible in the diagram) to the back (not visible in the diagram) of the loom.
18
FILLING OUT THE DIAGRAMS
DIBUJAR EN EL DIAGRAMA Each diagram in the back of the book is partially completed. Using a pen or pencil, you can complete the diagram. .
TOP fill in the patterns
of the Illawa and TCoro MIDDLE: fill in the design of the pallay - raised warp BOTTOM: use this as a guide
In the top section, fill in the repeating pattern of single
warp threads from the alternating Illawa and Tcoro. In the middle section, fill in only the warp threads that have been picked up. The bottom section illustrates the completed pallay. Use this as your guide.
19
PALLAY #1: MAR
20
DIAGRAM
PALLAY #1
21
MAR
SETTING UP FOR PALLAY #1 MAR
When tying up the Loom for the MAR pallay, 4 colors are used One color for the border on either side & Three for the interior pattern
Notice how the 3 colors of the warp threads
alternate in a repeating pattern Count how many of each color are in each row. ON THE FACING PAGE: FIRST USE A PENCIL TO FILL OUT THIS ALTERNATING PATTERN AT THE TOP OF THE DIAGRAM NEXT USE A BLACK MARKER TO FILL OUT THE PALLAY PATTERN THAT IS CREATED BY THE WARP THREADS THAT EXTEND VERTICALLY ACROSS MULTIPLE ROWS. Notice how these expanses of thread begin and end at single units of the same color warp. Use the diagram on the previous page as a guide. 22
GRAPHING
PALLAY #1
23
MAR
PALLAY #2: RYUDA
24
DIAGRAM
PALLAY #2
25
RYUDA
SETTING UP FOR PALLAY #2 RYUDA
When tying up the Loom for the RYUDA pallay, 4 colors are used One color for the border on either side & Three for the interior pattern
Notice how the 3 colors of the warp threads
alternate in a repeating pattern Count how many of each color are in each row. ON THE FACING PAGE: FIRST USE A PENCIL TO FILL OUT THIS ALTERNATING PATTERN AT THE TOP OF THE DIAGRAM NEXT USE A BLACK MARKER TO FILL OUT THE PALLAY PATTERN THAT IS CREATED BY THE WARP THREADS THAT EXTEND VERTICALLY ACROSS MULTIPLE ROWS. Notice how these expanses of thread begin and end at single units of the same color warp. Use the diagram on the previous page as a guide. 26
GRAPHING
PALLAY #2
27
RYUDA
PALLAY #3: CHAKA LIGI
28
DIAGRAM
PALLAY #3
29
CHAKA LIGI
SETTING UP FOR PALLAY #3 CHAKA LIGI
When tying up the Loom for the CHAKA LIGI pallay, 4 colors are used One color for the border on either side & Three for the interior pattern
Notice how the 3 colors of the warp threads
alternate in a repeating pattern Count how many of each color are in each row. ON THE FACING PAGE: FIRST USE A PENCIL TO FILL OUT THIS ALTERNATING PATTERN AT THE TOP OF THE DIAGRAM NEXT USE A BLACK MARKER TO FILL OUT THE PALLAY PATTERN THAT IS CREATED BY THE WARP THREADS THAT EXTEND VERTICALLY ACROSS MULTIPLE ROWS. Notice how these expanses of thread begin and end at single units of the same color warp. Use the diagram on the previous page as a guide. 30
GRAPHING
PALLAY #3
31
CHAKA LIGI
PALLAY #4: NAWI CHAKA
32
DRAWING
PALLAY #4 NAWI CHAKA
33
SETTING UP FOR PALLAY #4
NAWI CHAKA
When tying up the Loom for the NAWI CHAKA pallay,
4 colors are used One color for the border on either side & Three for the interior pattern
Notice how the 3 colors of the warp threads
alternate in a repeating pattern Count how many of each color are in each row. ON THE FACING PAGE: FIRST USE A PENCIL TO FILL OUT THIS ALTERNATING PATTERN AT THE TOP OF THE DIAGRAM NEXT USE A BLACK MARKER TO FILL OUT THE PALLAY PATTERN THAT IS CREATED BY THE WARP THREADS THAT EXTEND VERTICALLY ACROSS MULTIPLE ROWS. Notice how these expanses of thread begin and end at single units of the same color warp. Use the diagram on the previous page as a guide. 34
GRAPHING
PALLAY #4
35
NAWI CHAKA
GLOSSARY / GLOSSARIO ENGLISH
SPANISH
QUECHUA
LOOM TELAR AWA WEAVER TEJADORA AWAY TO WEAVE TEJER AWAY TEXTILE/WEAVING TEJIDO AWASCARANA THREAD HILO QAITU YARN/WOOL LANA MILLMA WARP ORDIDO ALLWISKA WEFT MEDIO MINI KNOT KNUDO QIPU TEAR ARRANCAR WITUR TANGLE ENREDAR QUYUY PICK UP RECOGER PALLAY DROP SOLTAR CACHARI ABOVE ARRIBA ALTU BELOW ABAJO PAMPA COUNT CONTAR YUPAR SMALL STICK PALITO QIASPI TO WARP ORDIR AWLLIY WARP PARTNER AYUDANTE DE ORDIR AWLLIMASI SPINDLE ROEKA PUSKA SPINNING ILLAR PUSKAR TO TEACH ENSENAR YACHACHEY TO LEARN APRENDER YACHAY TO SHOW MOSTRAR KAWACHI TO UNDERSTAND COMPRENDER ULLARIY PLEASE POR FAVOR AMANINA KAUCHU THANK YOU GRACIAS SULPAYKU 36
Manufacture of Narrow Woven Fabrics - Ribbons, Trimmings, Edgings, Etc. - Giving Description of the Various Yarns Used, the Construction of Weaves and Novelties in Fabrics Structures, also Desriptive Matter as to Looms, Etc.
Manufacture of Narrow Woven Fabrics - Ribbons, Trimmings, Edgings, Etc. - Giving Description of the Various Yarns Used, the Construction of Weaves and Novelties in Fabrics Structures, also Desriptive Matter as to Looms, Etc.
