{{Short description|Type of fabric}} [[File:Cross stitch closeup.jpg|thumb|Cross-stitch on even-weave fabric, Hungary, mid-20th century.]]
A '''balanced fabric''' is one in which the ''warp'' and the ''weft'' are of the same size. In weaving, these are generally called "balanced plain weaves" or just "balanced weaves", while in embroidery the term "even-weave" is more common.
==Balanced plain weave== <!-- Balanced plain weave redirects here. --> A '''balanced plain weave''' is a fabric in which the warp threads and the weft threads are equally spaced, and are identical or similar in size.<ref name="PriStru">{{cite book | title=The Primary Structures of Fabrics: An Illustrated Classification |first=Irene |last=Emery |date=1980 |publisher=The Textile Museum }}</ref>{{rp|76}} In addition to the same sett, the yarn is the same in the warp and weft.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sutton |first1=Ann |title=The Structure of Weaving |date=1982 |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |isbn=0091495008 |page=9 }}</ref> The term can be used for a tabby weave<ref name="PriStru"/>{{rp|86}} or a basketweave.<ref name="PriStru"/>{{rp|88}}
Balanced weaves have also been called "50/50 plain webs",<ref>{{cite book |last=Black |first=Mary E. |title=New Key to Weaving: A Textbook of Hand Weaving for the Beginning Weaver |date=1957 |publisher=The Bruce Publishing Company |location=New York |pages=51–52 |lccn=57-12564}}</ref> and are a subset of plain weaves. Unbalanced weaves, in which warp and weft differ in size, may be either ''warp-dominant'' or ''weft-dominant'' fabrics.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Syne |title=Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom |date=2015 |publisher=Storey Publishing |isbn=9781603429726 |page=32 }}</ref> The primary advantage of balanced weaves is that they are potentially stronger than other basic weaves.<ref>{{cite web |title=Textile - Basic weaves |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/textile/Basic-weaves |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=20 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
==Even-weave== An even-weave fabric or canvas, a term mostly used in embroidery, is any textile where the warp and weft threads are of the same size.<ref>{{cite web |title=Even Weave|url=https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/materials/woven-and-interlocking-materials/even-weave |website=The Textile Research Center|access-date=25 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Burnham |first1=Dorothy |title=Warp and Weft: A Textile Terminology |date=1980 |publisher=Royal Ontario Museum|location=Toronto|page=1}}</ref> Even-weave fabrics include even-weave aida cloth, linen, and needlepoint canvas. These fabrics are typically required as foundations for counted-thread embroidery styles such as blackwork, cross-stitch, and needlepoint, so that a stitch of the same "count" (that is, crossing the same number of fabric threads) will be the same length whether it crosses warp or weft threads.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|author=Bath, Virginia Churchill|title=Needlework in America|publisher=Viking Press|date=1979|isbn=0-670-50575-7|url=https://archive.org/details/needleworkinamer1997bath|url-access=registration}} * {{cite book|author=Caulfield, Sophia Frances Anne|author2=Saward, Blanche C.|name-list-style=amp |title=The Dictionary of Needlework|date= 1885}} * {{cite book|publisher=Reader's Digest Association|title=Complete Guide to Needlework|date=1979|isbn=0-89577-059-8|url=https://archive.org/details/readersdigestcom00colt|url-access=registration}}
==External links== {{Commons|Cross-stitching}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.needlework-tips-and-techniques.com/embroidery-fabric.html |title=Embroidery fabric for counted thread projects|website=Needlework Tips and Techniques}}
{{Embroidery}} {{Weaving}}
Category:Weaves Category:Embroidery