Creating Plaids in Photoshop

Blue tonal plaid with red accent Green buffalo plaid with black accents Beige plaid with sky accent Traditional Buffalo Plaid

Building the Plaid

Woven fabrics are made by interlacing two sets of yarns at right angles to each other. The lengthwise or yarns that run vertically are called warp yarns, or ends. The yarns that run across or horizontally are called weft yarns or picks.

They are woven on a loom. The image below shows a simplified diagram of a basic two harness loom.

Simplified diagram of a basic two harness loom.

Creating the Picks and Ends - Warp and Weft Threads

As we have stated, the stripes or threads that run vertically are called "warp" threads. The threads that run horizontally are called "weft" threads. They way that they are interwoven defines the look of the plaid. The illustrations below show a very basic plaid and its constituent parts;

Weft strip/thread configuration

Weft thread configuration

Warp strip/thread configuration

Warp thread configuration

The resulting plaid using this configuration

The resulting plaid using this configuration

Basic basket interlacing

Basic basket interlacing

Video Instructions

Using Adobe Photoshop to Create our Warp and Weft Threads/Stripes

This section should take us about 15 minutes to complete

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