Hand-woven tablecloths, napkins, table mats ad table runners from KOTHEA

This short article will tell you what the warp, weft and selvage of a fabric are. Then how easily, or not, colours in each can be changed in handwoven fabrics.

The Americanism ’101′ normally means the introductory, grounding ‘lesson/lecture’ in a subject. So most interior designers already know that:

- WEFT is the crosswise thread that inter­laces with the warp threads on a woven fabric. ie it is the thread that goes from LEFT to right. (Weft and Left rhyme so that’s how you remember it)

- WARP is group of yarns placed first on a loom in weaving. These can be 100s of metres long running throughout the entire roll of fabric that you eventually buy.  Warp runs parallel to the selvage, forming the length of the fabric. The filling threads are interlaced over and under the warp threads in a pattern or weave.

- SELVAGE is the long, outer, finished edge of both sides of a woven fabric that does not ravel because the filling yarns wrap around the warp yarns. It may also be called self-edge or selvedge.

OK, so now if we take a few steps back to the design of a simple woven fabric. KOTHEA, for example, produce handwoven linens to order, often in small quantities. How do we plan to do this? One clever trick is to keep a plain, natural or white coloured yarn in the warp and then introduce colours into the weft as needed. Why? Much of the time consuming process of setting up a loom is in setting up the yarns for the warp. Yarns for the weft can be changed relatively easily without changing the warp yarn.

Simple but great for our customers who need the exclusivity and beauty of handwoven linens and who do not want the large minimum order quantities that can come with that.

KOTHEA was recently asked if we have wider fabrics available that are suitable for window treatments ie sheers and curtain material.

We have handwoven linens that can be up to 180cm wide in 15 designs and many colours as well as the ability to produce custom colours for specific schemes. (Minimum orders apply of between 5-10m). We also have standard handwoven linen ranges in 150cm widths.

Abbot and Boyd 020 7351 9985
Altfield 020 7351 5893
Alton Brooke 020 7376 7008
Borderline 020 7823 3567
Brian Yates 01524 35035
Brunswig 020 7351 5797
Bruno Triplet 020 7823 9990
Chase Erwin 020 8875 7441
Colefax 020 7244 7427
Colony Fabrics 020 7351 3232
Donghia 020 7823 3456
Gainsborough Silk 01787 372081
Henry Bertrand 020 7349 1477
Jab 020 7349 9323
Jane Churchill 020 7244 7427
Jrobertscott 020 7376 4705
KOTHEA 0870 285 4768
Kravet 020 7795 0110
Lee Jofa 020 7823 3455
Lelievre 020 7352 4798
Manuel Canovas 020 8877 6400
Nobilis 020 7351 7878
Pierre Frey 0207 376 55 99
Robert Allen 01494 474741
Sacho Hesslein 020 7352 6168
Silk Gallery 020 7351 1790
Turnell and Gigon 020 7259 7280
Watts Westminster 020 7376 4486
Zimmer and Rhode 020 7351 7115
Zoffany 08708 300 350

Many of these fabric companies sell a wide range of products including: chenille, contract fabric, faux / fake leather, mohair velvet, linen velvet, cotton velvet, wool,  hand woven products, natural silk, cashmere and damask for upholstery, curtains and cushions.

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