Woven Fabric: A minimum of two separate systems of threads (warp & weft) that is interlaced.

Warp: The set of yarns that are held in tension on the loom and are perpendicular to the weft threads. These threads also determine the length of the woven cloth.

Weft: This set of yarns determines the width of the woven cloth and are perpendicular to the warp. In contrast these threads are free moving until interlaced with the warp and subsequently woven.

Knitted Fabric: One or more continuous threads that are interloped (loops within loops).

Shibori: (from Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist by Yoshiko Wada, Mary Kellogg Rice and Jane Barton): Shibori is the Japanese word for a variety of ways of embellishing textiles by shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing. The word comes from the verb root shiboru, "to wring, squeeze, press". Although shibori is used to designate a particular group of resist-dyed textiles, the verb root of the word emphasizes the action performed on cloth, the process of manipulating fabric. Rather than treating cloth as a two-dimensional surface, with shibori it is given a three-dimensional form by folding, crumpling, stitching, plaiting, or plucking and twisting. Cloth shaped by these methods is secured in a number of ways, such as binding and knotting. It is the pliancy of a textile and its potential for creating a multitude of shape-resisted designs that the Japanese concept of shibori recognizes and explores. The shibori family of techniques includes numerous resist processes practiced throughout the world. The resulting pattern is characterized by a soft or blurry outline ans a puckered surfaced.

Woven Shibori: Instead of using a stitching method to produce the binding, the threads are woven into the fabric. These waste threads are then used to make the design with a puckering effect, after dyeing the threads are removed.

Ikat: (from IkatII by Linda Van Gelder): Ikat is the process of wrapping or binding off sections of yarn to resist the dye during the dye process, before the textile is woven. This wrapping or binding may be done on yarn to be used for warp weft or both. The unwrapped areas of the yarn absorb the dye, while the wrapped sections remain undyed. The image produced after weaving is soft and blurry often referred to as a ghost image.

Warp Ikat: The warp yarns are bound to create the image.

Weft Ikat: The weft yarns are bound to create the image.

Double Ikat: Both the warp and weft yarns are bound to create the same image after weaving.

Compound Ikat: Both the warp and weft are bound to create different images after weaving.