Rules of the Game

The platform we have developed reflects the limitations of our weaving machine. However, it is also worth learning a bit about the different kinds of weaving, the number of threads and colors that can be used and other limitations of the weaving machine. For your convenience, we have gathered together everything you need to know before you begin designing.

The Weaving Machine

This is our weaving machine:

Here are a few facts about the weaving machine and the weaving process:

  1. The strap loom uses warp threads (the lengthwise threads) and weft threads (widthwise threads).

  1. A few facts:

A 25 mm wide strap has 100 warp threads on the upper side and 100 on the under side.
A 20 mm wide strap has 80 warp threads on the upper side and 80 on the under side.
1 cm of strap has from 8 to 9 stitches along its length.
You can use warp threads in any color! You can use a maximum of 5 colors in designing a strap.

  1. When a strap is woven, the stitches are created as follows:

  1. After explaining the weaving principles, this is where we bring into play two new principles: weaving stripes and weaving a pattern (jacquard).


  1. Here are some examples of weaving stripes:



In weaving stripes, it is only possible to get the look of the continuous stripes of a "pedestrian crossing." This sounds rather restrictive, but it turns out that it is possible to create incredible designs simply by combining the right continuous "pedestrian crossing" stripes in the right colors.

  1. In pattern weaving, one needle of the weaving machine is threaded with a number of threads of different colors. Each color is threaded on a hook.

    The needle – which presents a single warp thread at a time – covers the weft thread with the color thread dictated by the weaving pattern.

In pattern weaving, the stitches over a particular weft thread do not have to be in the same color, but can be in a variety of colors.


Note: when weaving patterns, it is possible to use some of the warp threads for stripes (without changing colors) and to use only some of the warp threads for a pattern (by changing colors).

  1. Another limitation of pattern weaving (except for the “3 hooks rule”) is the total number of hooks that can be used in a pattern. Our weaving machine has only 192 hooks. As a result, the pattern can have a maximum of 192 hooks in 25 mm width strap and 150 hooks in 20 mm width strap all of the warp threads that make up the strap.


    Remember! You don’t have to use all 192 hooks in designing a strap!

Guidelines

We are interested in having as few restrictions as possible on the competition design requirements in order to encourage new ideas and unanticipated directions in the design of straps. At the same time, since we are involved in the Outdoor market and are tied to our customer base and market trends, we recommend that competition participants check out the Adventure Sandals market and visit the sites of the world’s leading sandal producers.

Comments and Recommendations

  1. Some of our sandal straps are "symmetrical": the pattern on the front of the strap is identical to the pattern on the back of the strap (the side that faces the foot). "Symmetrical" straps use woven stripes.
  2. However, for pattern weaving, one must design both the front and the back of the strap. The back side is always woven in stripes. In a large number of our models, at times the back side turns outward. In spite of this asymmetry, we recommend that the pattern and combination of colors on the back of the strap be as similar as possible to the pattern and color combination on its front.

     

  3. When designing sandal straps, we recommend that you start with the design and choose color combinations only afterwards. The pattern repetition needs to be short – its length can be a maximum of 50 columns (about 6 cm).
  4. To avoid getting too thick strap in production, you should concentrate multicolored pattern in center of a strap and use two colors at most at the edges of the strap (5 external hooks in a double column and 5 external hooks in a non-double column on both edges of the strap).
  5. We recommend that you create a 1:1 colored printout of your strap design and cut it into sections that are the width of the strap and 25 cm long. We recommend that you attach these to a foot wearing a Source sandal to get a true simulation of your design. There is a huge difference in the look of a solitary strap on white paper and the way it looks in a system of straps attached to a sole on the foot.