Annie Albers’ On Weaving details the processes of weaving the 3 main weaving structures: plain weave, twill weave, and satin weave. I found this very interesting because I was only aware of how the plain weave works.
Plain weaves are noted as the strongest, most common, and most prone to variation. They are balanced, in which the weft and warp threads appear equally on both sides of the fabric. They also lend way into tapestries and pictionary based weavings. Each weft thread goes over and under every other warp thread, then reversing that order on the following row.
Twill weaves can be either balanced or unbalanced, in which case the fabric’s face would be the reverse of its back. The weft threads in a twill move over a group of warp threads, each row starting one warp thread to the left or right of the last, creating a diagonal pattern and fabric that is best suited for work clothes and suits.
A satin weave creates luxurious, smooth fabrics by intersecting its warp and weave threads as far apart as possible. It must be unbalanced. This weave confused me a little as it feels to me as though it is a variation of the twill weave, based on how I understood it.
Linah's Creative Process Journal 