This is a diagram of my woven design.  It is called a drawdown.  The center colored area shows what the fabric will look like.  The upper part shows the threading of the warp.  There are 16 rows, each standing for one of the 16 harnesses on my loom. The right side shows the sequence in which the harnesses will be raised.  Each black square is where a peg will be inserted on a bar on my dobby chain. Each black square also represents a unit of four threads on both the top and the right.  The squares in the center therefore represent eight threads. This structure is called polychrome summer and winter weave. The design (pattern and color) is my own.  The 20/2 cotton will be almost completely covered up by the chenille.

  Since setting up the loom is so time consuming, I put enough warp on to make 18- 20 garments.  Each garment will be unique because weft colors and the dobby chain can both be changed as I weave.  I figure out how many warp threads I need, and wind spools accordingly.  In this warp, I have 28 threads per inch (epi).  My loom beam has 2" sections, so I wind 56 spools.

I thread a device called a tension box.  It will keep the threads in order, and put tension on the threads. 

I set up the spool rack and tension box in perfect alignment with the beam of my loom.  I turn the warp beam crank 50 times for each 2" section.  This will be enough warp for 18-20 garments.

All 1680 threads are now beamed.  At 50 yards length each, the total warp is 84,000 yards long!

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