A series of woven products can be created by positioning yarns at 0 and 90 degree to one another and interlacing to form a series of regular geometric patterns. In a woven faric, the yarns running parallel to the direction of weaving are termed warp, also called ends. The yarns running transverse to the direction of weaving are termed weft, also termed picks, fill or woof. The three basic weaves are plain, twill and satin.
- Plain or square weave: The plain weave pattern is the simplest and most commonly used woven fabric, with each warp end passing alternately under and over each weft pick. The fabric is symmetrical, has good structural intergrity, exhibiting optimum fiber stability, with reasonable porosity. The weave is tight, providing in-plane resistance and consequently, has poor drape and is unsuitable for compound curvatures. The high level of crimp reduces the mechanical properties by about 15%. It is not used for heavy yarns due to excessive crimp.
- Basket weave: This is a modification of plain weave in which two or more ends are picks weave as one, moving one yarn for each end or pick. It is more dense than plain weave and more flexible, tends to abrade more readily and is not as strong as a plain weave. If two warp yarns pass over and under two weft yarns, this gives a 2-2 basket construction. The first number identifies the number of weft yarns over which the warp yarns float and the second number indicates the number of weft yarns which the warp yarn passes. The most common types of weaves are 2-2, 4-4, and 8-8.
- Leno weave: Warp yarns cross over each other, interlacing with one or more filling yarns thus locking them together and are commonly used for edge locking on wide fabrics.
A variant is gauze weave, which is an open mesh type with only one filling yarn, whereas leno has more than one.
- Mock leno weave: This weave is a version of plain weave in which occasional warp yarns, at regular intervals and usually several yarns apart, interlace every two or more fibers. A similar pattern occurs in the weft direction to give a fabric with increased thickness, a rougher surface and additional porosity.
- Twill weave: The number of warp ends and weft picks passing over each other determines the pattern, moving one yarn for each end or pick, high density with good drapeablity can be obtained. It gives highest retention of fiber strength and modulus and is recognized by parallel diagonal ridges, usually as 2-2, 3-3, or 3-1 constructions.
- Satin weave: Each end or pick passes N yarns and under one crossing yarn, described as N+1. The long floats do tend to snag easily. There is a warp and a weft face, both smooth. Crimp is kept to a minimum, giving good translation of strength and modulus. This weave shows the highest bidirectional strength, is very pliable with high density and consequently, high fiber volume fraction and low porosity. It has extremely good drapeability, but may be less stable than twill. The most common satin weaves are 4HS, 5HS and 8HS.
- High modulus weave: The warp and weft yarns are positioned without being interlaced. A second set of finer warp and weft yarns binds them together, but does not contribute to the mechanical performance of the fabric. The eliminates the crimp and shear factor.