Repp Weave

Other types of weave

Plain
Oxford
Lace
Twill
Grenadine
Herringbone
Houndstooth
Jacquard
Moire
Repp
Ribbed
Satin
Barathea
Self-On-Self
End-On-End

Warp and Weft

All weaves are made up from Warp and Weft ‘yarns’. Warp ‘yarns’ run along the length of the material, whilst weft ‘yarns’ run across the width of the material. It is the different methods of interlacing the warp and weft ‘yarns’ that create a particular type of weave. Many of the most common weaves have acquired names that come down to us over the centuries.

Repp Weave

A Repp weave is usually applied to a heavy or medium fabric and produces prominent and pronounced ribs (or ridges) in the finished cloth. A true Repp, which is no longer commonly made, is a plain weave fabric made with two warps, one fine and one coarse, the yarns arranged alternately and the fine warp more heavily tensioned than the coarse. Two wefts are used, one fine, one coarse alternately and the weave arranged so that the coarse warp is always lifted over the coarse weft. This creates very prominent ribs. More usually the term repp is given to almost every fabric of the plain weave type having prominent ribs, made on the plain weave fine warp and thicker weft principle and of a coarser and heavier construction than faille and poult.

Float
A float is created when a warp or weft ‘yarn’ is passed over two or more threads.
Shed
A shed is the opening created on a loom where the weft passes between the warp ‘yarn’.
Pick
A pick (also referred to as a shot) is a single pass of the weft through the ‘shed’.
Ends
Individual warp threads.
Yarn
Yarn is the generic term for a thin, long, continuous strand of textile fibre, filament, or material in a form suitable for knitting, weaving, or otherwise intertwining (or interlacing) to form a textile fabric.