---
title: "Plain weave"
description: "Plain weave is the simplest weave structure: each weft thread passes alternately over and under one warp thread, and the next row reverses."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/plain-weave
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Plain weave

*Plain weave is the simplest weave structure: each weft thread passes alternately over and under one warp thread, and the next row reverses.*

Plain weave, also called tabby, is the most basic way of interlacing threads. Each [weft](https://teazle.art/glossary/weft.md) thread goes over one [warp](https://teazle.art/glossary/warp.md) thread and under the next; the following row does the opposite. The result is a firm, balanced cloth that looks the same on both sides.

## Which fabrics are plain weave?

A huge range, from heavy canvas to sheer [muslin](https://teazle.art/glossary/muslin.md), [batiste](https://teazle.art/glossary/batiste.md), [chiffon](https://teazle.art/glossary/chiffon.md), [organza](https://teazle.art/glossary/organza.md), [taffeta](https://teazle.art/glossary/taffeta.md) and [calico](https://teazle.art/glossary/calico.md). What changes between them is the fibre, the thickness and twist of the yarn and how closely the threads are packed, not the structure.


## Sources

1. [Plain weave (AAT 300312167)](http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300312167). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
2. [Plain weave (Q1153946)](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1153946). Wikidata

Canonical: https://teazle.art/glossary/plain-weave