A shuttle is a tool designed to neatly and compactly store a holder that carries the thread of the weft yarn while weaving with a loom. Shuttles are thrown or passed back and forth through the shed, between the yarn threads of the warp in order to weave in the weft.
The simplest shuttles, known as "stick shuttles", are made from a flat, narrow piece of wood with notches on the ends to hold the weft yarn. More complicated shuttles incorporate bobbins or pirns.
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In weaving, the shed is the temporary separation between upper and lower warp yarns through which the weft is woven. The shed is created to make it easy to interlace the weft into the warp and thus create woven fabric. Most types of looms have some sort of device which separates some of the warp threads from the others. This separation is called the shed, and allows for a shuttle carrying the weft thread to move through the shed perpendicular to the warp threads. Which threads are raised and which are lowered are changed after each pass of the shuttle.
The process of weaving can be simplified to a series of four steps: the shed is raised, the shuttle is passed through, the shed is closed, and the weft thread is beaten into place. These steps are then repeated, with a different set of threads being raised so as to interlace the warp and weft.
Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile handicrafts that involve the use of a needle. Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a hook), or tatting, (which uses a shuttle).
Similar abilities often transfer well between different varieties of needlework, such as fine motor skill and knowledge of textile fibers. Some of the same tools may be used in several different varieties of needlework.
The flying shuttle or fly shuttle is a type of weaving shuttle. It was a pivotal advancement in the mechanisation of weaving during the initial stages of the Industrial Revolution, and facilitated the weaving of considerably broader fabrics, enabling the production of wider textiles. Moreover, its mechanical implementation paved the way for the introduction of automatic machine looms.
The brainchild of John Kay, the flying shuttle received a patent in the year 1733 during the Industrial Revolution. Its implementation brought about an acceleration of the previously manual weaving process and resulted in a significant reduction in the required labour force. Formerly, a broad-cloth loom necessitated the presence of a weaver on each side, but with the advent of the flying shuttle, a solitary operator could handle the task proficiently.
"Narrow cloth" (streit, strait, narrow ware articles, narrow ware woven) is cloth of a comparatively narrow width, generally less than a human armspan; precise definitions vary.
Historically, human factors and ergonomics limited the width that could practically be woven by a single weaver on a handloom. The weaver had to be able to reach both edges of the cloth, so they could throw the shuttle through the shed. A weaver thus could not weave a bolt wider than their armspan. So cloth was typically made in narrow widths onnarrow-width handlooms.
A beater or batten, is a weaving tool designed to push the weft yarn securely into place. In small hand weaving such as Inkle weaving and tablet weaving the beater may be combined with the shuttle into a single tool. In rigid heddle looms the beater is combined with the heddles. Beaters appear both in a hand-held form, and as an integral part of a loom.
Hand beaters must have enough mass to force the weaving into place, so they come in a variety of weights and sizes. Some may have lead inserts to provide additional heft for a smaller beater, and some are made entirely from metal.