Day 10 of 21
Craft of Cloth · Pattern in the weave · How a loom remembers
Jacquard & Dobby
Day 10 of 21. How does a loom remember a flower or a paisley? Two answers — dobby for small repeats, jacquard for big, detailed designs.
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Today's Lesson Begins
How a loom remembers a pattern — small repeats vs full designs
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PATTERN, WOVEN IN
Day 10 · Week 2
Jacquard & Dobby
The loom learns the pattern, then weaves it thread by thread.
The Idea
Jacquard and dobby are how a loom weaves a pattern instead of plain cloth.
On a plain loom, every length-thread lifts together. To weave a pattern you must lift different threads at different times. A dobby lifts small groups — good for small repeating designs like dots, checks, and little buti. A jacquard lifts every single thread on its own, using a long chain of punched cards — so it can weave big, detailed designs: a full paisley, a peacock, a temple border. The jacquard loom of 1804 stored its pattern in punched cards — the same idea that later ran the first computers.
Quick test: a small, simple repeat (dots, checks, tiny buti) is dobby. A big, detailed design woven into the cloth (paisley, peacock, full pallu) is jacquard.
The depth ladder
How detailed the woven pattern can be
More threads lifted on their own means a more detailed design the loom can weave.
Pattern detail
Flat cloth, no design
None
Dots, checks, small buti
Small repeat
Single flower or booti
Detailed
Paisley, peacock, full pallu
Picture
More separate thread-lifts · more detailed the woven design
Side by side
How a loom weaves a design
Two ways a loom holds a pattern, plus the two things that prove a design was woven, not printed.
🔘
Dobby
Mark
Small repeats
Dots, checks, small buti
Simple
🦚
Jacquard
Mark
Big detailed design
Paisley, peacock, pallu
Detailed
🗃️
Punched card
Mark
The loom's memory
1804 — first programmable machine
History
🔁
Front and back
Mark
Woven shows on both
Print shows only on front
The tell
In a customer DM
How to explain it
When she asks "is this design printed or woven?"
Send her to the back of the cloth. Woven and printed look the same from the front — the back tells the truth.
"Turn the saree over, ma'am. If the design also shows on the back — in reverse — it was woven in on the loom, thread by thread. A printed design sits only on the front. Woven takes far more time, which is why a woven jacquard saree holds its value."
Today's anchor: Dobby weaves small repeats. Jacquard weaves big, detailed designs using punched cards — the first programmable machine. To tell woven from printed, check the back: a woven design shows on both sides.
Day 10 Quiz · 3 Questions
Answer to mark your attendance
Pattern in the weave. Get all three right and you stay in the running for the top-3 craft gift.
Question 1
Which loom uses punched cards to weave a big, detailed design?
A
Dobby
B
Plain loom
C
Jacquard
D
Powerloom plain
Question 2
How can you tell a woven design from a printed one?
A
The woven design shows on the back too, in reverse
B
Printed is always more expensive
C
Woven cloth smells different
D
You cannot tell them apart
Question 3
A customer asks "why is this woven saree double the price of that printed one?"
A
"On the woven one the design was made on the loom thread by thread — you can see it on the back too. The printed one is stamped on the front only. Woven takes many more days on the loom, so it costs more."
B
"They just charge more for it."
C
"It is imported."
D
"The colour is brighter."
WhatsApp Number
+91
Same number you used on Day 1 — your ranking and Craft Depth certificate go here.
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