Editing Warp and weft (section)

==Warp==
[[File:Loom (PSF).png|thumb|upright=2|Warped loom. Warp is wrapped onto the warp beam; as the cloth is made, the fell (woven part) is wrapped onto the breast beam next to the weaver.]]
[[File:Raiyani muharramah- Wanita suku badui luar DSCF2861.jpg|thumb|Wrapping the warp threads around the warp beam of a loom in preparation for weaving.]]
[[File:Tablet-weaving.svg|thumb|175px|right|Warp threads in [[tablet weaving]]]]

The warp is the set of [[yarn]]s or other things stretched in place on a [[loom]] before the weft is introduced during the weaving process. It is regarded as the ''longitudinal'' set in a finished fabric with two or more sets of elements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://museum.gwu.edu/warp|title=Warp {{!}} The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum {{!}} The George Washington University|website=museum.gwu.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-08-10}}</ref>

The term is also used for a set of yarns established before the interworking of weft yarns by some other method, such as finger manipulation, yielding wrapped or twined structures.  Very simple looms use a '''spiral warp''', in which the warp is made up of a single, very long yarn wound in a [[spiral]] pattern around a pair of sticks or beams.<ref>Burnham (1980), p. 132</ref>

The warp must be strong to be held under high tension during the weaving process, unlike the weft which carries almost no tension.  This requires the yarn used for warp ends, or individual warp threads, to be made of [[Spinning (textiles)|spun]] and [[Plying|plied]] [[fibre]]. Traditionally natural fibres such as [[wool]], [[linen]], [[alpaca]], and [[silk]] were used.  However, [[Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution|improvements in spinning technology]] during the [[Industrial Revolution]] created [[cotton]] yarn of sufficient strength to be used in mechanized weaving. Later, [[synthetic fibre]]s such as [[nylon]] or [[rayon]] were employed.

While most weaving is weft-faced, warp-faced textiles are created using densely arranged warp threads. In these the design is in the warp, requiring all colors to be decided upon and placed during the first part of the weaving process, which cannot be changed. Such limitations of color placement create weavings defined by length-wise stripes and vertical designs. Many South American cultures, including the ancient Incas and Aymaras, employed ''backstrap weaving'', which uses the weight of the weaver's body to control the tension of the loom.<ref>''Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands'', [[Nilda Callanaupa Alvarez]]</ref>