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Lampas fabric has a background weft (often twill weave) with continuous supplementary weft yarns interlaced with the warp, leaving no floats on the reverse. Lampas fabric tends to have a simple colour palette as the number of colourful wefts is limited to the number of interleavings with the extra warp. The patterns found in lampas fabric tend to be smaller and more repetitive than brocade or tapestry. Like brocade, lampas fabric is thicker than other patterned silk fabrics.

Related Definitions:

Fiber: Natural (plant or animal) or synthetic material formed into a thread that is longer than it is wide.

Warp: lengthwise yarn that runs from the top to the bottom of the fabric. This yarn is typically held stationary during weaving.

Weft (or Fill or Filling Yarns): crosswise yarn that runs selvedge to selvedge, under and over the warp yarns in varying patterns to create different weave structures.

Yarn: A continuous length of interlocked fibers, which may or may not be twisted.

Plain Weave (or Tabby Weave): the most basic weave structure that consists of one warp and one weft thread intersecting at a right angle. The front and backside of the resulting fabric are the same.

Satin Weave: Four or more weft yarns intersecting with a warp yarn, or vice versa. The resulting floats, which are sections of the yarn that do not intersect, appear on the face of the fabric, producing a very glossy, smooth, and flat appearance.

Twill Weave: one weft thread passing over one or more warp threads and then under two or more warp threads creating diagonal ridges, which are the identifying feature of the resulting fabric.