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Ask Madelyn: Turned Drafts

Another terminology question. What is a turned draft? I think I have a handle on this one, but some illustrations would not go amiss.

Madelyn van der Hoogt Sep 6, 2018 - 2 min read

Ask Madelyn: Turned Drafts  Primary Image

Photo Credit: George Boe

Dear Madelyn,

Another terminology question. What is a turned draft? I think I have a handle on this one, but some illustrations would not go amiss.

Thanks,
Linda

Hi Linda!

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In most weaving literature, “turning” a draft means rotating the draft ninety degrees so that the threading becomes the treadling and vice versa. One advantage to doing this can be to turn a two-shuttle weave into a one-shuttle weave. Another can be to reduce the number of shafts or treadles, i.e., turning a six-shaft, four-treadle weave into a four-shaft, six-treadle weave.

The steps for turning a draft are:

Turned draft fig 1

a. Rotate the draft (such as in Figure 1) ninety degrees counterclockwise (Figure 2).

Turned draft fig 2

b. Change the former weft symbols in the original treadling into shaft numbers in the new threading (see the threading in Figure 3).

Turned draft fig 3

c. Change the former shaft numbers in the original threading to weft symbols in the new treadling (see the treadling in Figure 3).

d. Rewrite the tie-up to place shaft numbers in the positions that were blank, and eliminate shaft numbers in the positions that were formerly filled (compare the tie-ups in Figure 2 and Figure 3).

Note that the warp threads in the original draft become weft threads in the turned draft.

Madelyn


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