The last Technical Courses were held from 12 to 23 April (2°) and from 23 August to 3 September 2021 (1°), with reduced numbers of participants.

The next Technical Course 1° will be held from 28 March to 8 April 2022.

The next Technical Course 2° will be held from 18 to 31 August 2022.

Due to the situation caused by Covid-19, it may still be possible that courses have to be re-scheduled. For new information, please look at this website (here below) or contact the General Technical Secretary.

Since 1956, CIETA has been training specialists to analyze weave structures with a standardized method. In the Technical Courses, participants learn to understand the construction of woven textiles, to use the appropriate terminology, and to represent the construction of a fabric in a weave diagram.

A complete Technical Course comprises two sessions of two weeks each, with an interval of one year: a two-week session in April or in September in the first year, followed by another two weeks in April or September of the following year.
The first session deals with plain textiles and provides an introduction to the principles of figured weaving on the shaft loom and on the draw loom.

The second session proceeds to the more advanced study of historical figured textiles. This second part of the course can only be fully appreciated on the basis of a thorough understanding of the first, as participants need to have assimilated the method and the terminology presented at that.

Classes are in French: A good level of understanding of this language is required.

Registration:
Requests for admission to the Technical Courses should be sent to the General Technical Secretary of the CIETA. The CIETA Technical Courses are open both to members of CIETA and to suitably qualified non-members. Members and non-members are asked to submit, with their application, a CV justifying the validity of their request.

For non-members of CIETA:

•  1 000.00 € for non-member institutions (Course fee paid by an institution, a museum or a company)
• 500.00 € for non-member individuals (a special fee for individuals who will not receive a reimbursement of the fee by an institution, museum or company).

For members of CIETA:

• 715.00 € for institutional members of CIETA
• 365.00 € for individual members of CIETA and for students (upon presentation of a certificate from the teaching establishment attended).

Programme of the First Session

•  The components of a textile: material and twist, binding systems, finishing processes and
  techniques of decoration
• The different elements of the Technical Dossier
• Study of the principal basic weave structures and their components:
  The weave: definition and schematic representation
  The basic weaves: tabby, twill, satin and more complex structures derived from them
  The threads: identification and thread counts
  Hypothesis on the set-up of a loom
  Finishing processes and techniques of decoration before and after weaving
• Transitional textiles: The small figured textiles woven on a shaft loom
• Study of figured textiles: definitions and schematic representations of effects
  Representation of a set-up, assuming production on a draw loom

Programme of the Second Session

• Review of the knowledge gained during the First Session
• Study of the principal historic figured textiles:
  Figured weft-faced compound tabby
  Plain and figured weft-faced compound twill
  Lampas
  Brocatelle
  Figured fabrics with pattern wefts (bound by the warp ends taken from the foundation warp)
  Damasks
  Lampassette
  Droguet and Dauphine
  Figured velvets (documentation)
• Particular techniques and looms:
  Tablet weaving
  Pattern-rod looms

Technical Courses – Update

The next Technical Courses will be held as follows:
Technical Course n° 1 (plain weaves): 28 March − 8 April 2022
Technical Course n° 2 (figured weaves): 18 − 31 August 2022

The Technical Courses are much in demand, and registrations are currently being taken for the Sessions of 2026 and the following years.

If you wish to be registered on the waiting list for an earlier session, please contact the General Technical Secretary (general-technical-secretary@cieta.fr).