Manually Converting a Tie-Up to a Liftplan

In my blog post, Table Loom: Direct Tie-Up & Reading Drafts, I shared how I learned to use a treadle tie-up draft with my table loom. Rather than trying to follow the draft as I wove, however, I used it to write down the lifting sequence. I just found this easier to follow. Still, to keep a record of what I'm weaving, a copy of the liftplan draft would be an important addition to my weaving notebook. So, Table Looms: Understanding Liftplans came next. Now, I'm going to see if I can put the how-to of converting drafts into my own words, because that's an important step in grasping a concept!

With a standard treadle loom, we tie the treadles to the shafts we want lifted to create the pattern. One treadle can control multiple shafts, so I only need to know which treadle to push. With a direct tie-up loom, each shaft is tied to its own lever. So, we lift as many levers as are required to create the pattern.

The shafts on my table loom are permanently tied up thus . . .

So if I want to weave this . . . 

I need to rewrite the tie-up and treadling as a liftplan. From the tie-up I note that:

treadle 1 lifts shafts 1 & 2

treadle 2 lifts shafts 2 & 3

treadle 3 lifts shafts 3 & 4

treadle 4 lifts shafts 1 & 4

My task is to show which levers to lift for each pick. Where the treadling shows treadle 1, I replace it with levers 1 and 2, treadle 2 is changed to levers 2 and 3, etc. When I'm done, it looks like this

I can omit the tie-up if I want, because it's permanent and never changes.

This could be done by hand on graph paper, although in this case, I used photo editing software for jpgs to upload. Doing it by manually helps me understand the concept and process, but I think the easiest way to do convert tie-up drafts to lifeplans would be with weaving software. 

It's been 15 years since I used weaving software, so I'm curious to see what's out there nowadays. Especially what can run on Linux. So that's my next project. 

Manually Converting a Tie-Up to a Liftplan

© Aug 2023 Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts:

Table Loom: Direct Tie-Up & Reading Drafts

Table Looms: Understanding Liftplans

Table Loom Sampler: Third Set of Samples

Sample 11

II 343 A (Basket Weave on Twill) from
Helene Bress's The Weaving Book

Until this sample, I didn't consider adding floating selvedges for twill warp floats because this is only a sampler. Basket weave, however, calls for two weft picks in each shed. The treadling looks like this:

1-2

1-2

3-4

3-4

repeat

I could see myself pulling the thread out when I sent the shuttle back the other way, so I decided it would be prudent to add floating selvedges.

I used t-pins to anchor add-on warp ends for floating selvedges.

Film canisters filled with coins to weight the floating selvedges.

With a table loom, there's not much hanging room for the warp weights, unless I turn the loom to hang them off the back side of the table. Either that, or I'll just have to unwind them frequently.

I think basket weave would be fun to weave with painted or variegated yarn.

Sample 12

II 93 A (Broken Twill Treadling) from Helene Bress's The Weaving Book.

I have to say that I'm really beginning to appreciate these small repeated patterns. I'm thinking fabric for garments. Subtle color choices for yarns could add a rich depth to the fabric.

Lever lift sequence

1-2

1-4

2-3

3-4

repeat

Sample 13

Novelty Twill from Marguerite

 Porter Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book.

Lever lift sequence

4

3

4

3

2

1

4

3

2

1

2

1

4

3

2

1

The treadling sequence is a bit long, but the pattern made it fairly easy to keep track of.

Sample 14

II 359 A (Monk's Belt Effect) from Helene Bress's The Weaving Book

I've never woven Monk's Belt before, but will definitely come back to explore it soon.

Lever lift sequence

1-2 x6

3-4 x4

1-2 x6

3-4 x2

1-2 x2

3-4 x2

1-2 x2

3-4 x2

use tabby

Sample 15

Horizontal Stripes from Marguerite Porter
Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book

Lever lift sequence

4

3

2

1

2-3-4

1-3-4

1-2-4

1-2-3

repeat

And that's the end of the warp. 

The next step is to get the sampler off the loom and wash it. I'll take measurements before and after. From that, I'll have a better idea about my yarn and sett choice, plus how to plan using these next. 

When I started out with this little exercise, I lamented that the warp was so long because I wasn't sure what I'd do with it (all two yards of it!). But discovering how much variety I can weave on a simple twill threading has been fascinating. I could have easily kept going! Plus, it caused me to weave things I probably never would have chosen for a project by simply browsing photos in a book. Add to that getting used to a new loom plus some improvement in my beat consistency and selvedges. I feel ready to move onto a project.

Table Loom Sampler: Third Set of Samples 

© Aug. 2023 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts:

Table Loom Sampler: First Set of Samples

Table Loom Sampler: Second Set of Samples 

Sampler Off the Loom