What is Weaving? The Craft Atlas (2024)

Soprarizzo velvet, also known as “soprariccio” or cesellato velvet, is a handwoven, opulent jacquard velvet from Italy characterised by its combination of cut and uncut pile. It is one of the most precious velvets in manual production. It’s woven with silk thread on original 18th-century looms and requires a complex manufacturing process combining cut and […]

The traditional Kutch weaving is a 600-year-old tradition. It is done by an extra-weft weaving technique, where a weft yarn is used in the warp of the loom. The weaving with extra weft creates the distinctive designs with geometric patterns. The characteristic, intricately handwoven motifs form the identity of the Kutch weaving. Shawls are woven […]

Rajan Vankar is a young master weaver in the 4th generation from the rural Kutch region of India. The 21 year old artist is fully dedicated to his craft of traditional Kutch weaving, while sharing the story and culture with the world.

Khadi is a hand-spun and hand-woven fabric from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan mainly made out of cotton. This is an artisanal heritage handloom textile,made entirely in hand crafted processes—from spinning the threads on a charkha (spinning wheel) to weaving on handloom. The cloth is usually woven from cotton and may also include silk, or wool. […]

Anuprerna is an artisanal textile trading company in West Bengal, working closely with nearly 300 artisans to produce handloom textiles in indigenous weaving techniques and materials of the region. This includes fine muslin Khadi and Jamdani in different varieties of wild and cultivated silks and cotton.

The Khasa are strip-woven wool blankets from the Fulani people in West Africa. Many of the Fulani live a nomadic life.The heavy Khasa blankets serve to protect the cattle herders (Wodaabe) from the cold in winter and the mosquitos, their weight and thickness being important for this purpose. Typically, after use by the herders, the blankets are sold to traders, repaired and resold throughout West Africa.

Nanjing Yunjinis an exquisite kind of silk brocade from Nanjing,China. “Yunjin”,meaning “beautiful as clouds at sunset”, is a more than 1500 year old craft incorporating fine materials such as silk, gold and peaco*ck feather yarn. In the Chinese tradition of weaving Nanjing Yunjin brocade, two craftspeople operate the upper (sorting threads) and lower parts (weaves) […]

Thesarapeis a long blanket-like shawl, often brightly colored and fringed at the ends, worn in Mexico, especially by men. The termsarapeis for the rectangular woven blanket, though in more recent years it can also be used to refer to a very soft rectangular blanket with an opening in the middle for one’s head, similar to […]

The traditional Li textile techniques by women of the Li ethnic group on the island of Hainan, China, were recognized by Unesco in 2009 as in Need of Urgent Safeguarding on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering are employed to make cotton, hemp and other fibres into clothing and other […]

Huipilis the most common traditional garment worn by indigenous women from centralMexicotoCentral America. It is a loose-fitting tunic, generally made from two or three rectangular pieces of fabric which are then joined together with stitching, ribbons or fabric strips, with an opening for the head and, if the sides are sewn, openings for the arms. […]

Al Sadu is a traditional weaving technique practised by the Bedouin people.

Jamdani is a type of very fine woven muslin fabric made in a supplementary weft technique.

Wadmal is an ancient technique from Northern Europe where wool is first woven, then felted.

Harris Tweed is a cloth handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.

Soumak is a tapestry technique of weaving strong and decorative textiles used as rugs and domestic bags.

Akwete cloth is a handwoven textile from Igboland, Nigeria, using sisal, hemp, raffia and cotton.

Ikat fabric is a dyeing technique used to create a distinct style of textile patterns. Ikat is done by resist dyeing sections of the yarns prior to weaving the fabric.

Kente is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to the Akan tribe in Ghana.