Two-warp cloth weaving of Janów

Two-warp weaving, sometimes referred to as doublecloth, belongs to one of the most interesting phenomena of folk art. Until recently, it was only popular in a relatively small area of north-eastern Poland, but now it survived only around Janów. Woollen, decorative fabrics often referred to as “The carpets of Janów” have a design joining traditions and modernity. Thanks to their beauty and unique weaving technology, they raise a lot of interest of ethnographers and specialists, but also of fans of folk art in Poland and abroad. Woollen, ornamented carpets are manufactured in village huts on manual, horizontal weaving looms. Before the warp and weft threads will be placed on the loom, weavers make them from fleece on the spinning wheel, twine and dye them. After that they weave both threads of contrasting colours on the loom. Two wefts in the colour of the warp are used for weaving. While constructing the ornament, weavers use a thin slat to move threads of lower warp to the surface, while moving the threads of the upper warp downwards and joining it with the weft of the same colour. This way a plain weave fabric is being made, having two layers of different colours that could be divided using one’s fingers. The layers are interwoven along the pattern in which one side is the opposite of the other. Despite the positive-negative pattern allowing showing it from both sides, each cloth does have front and reverse sides. Ornaments’ borders are linear on the front, whereas on the reverse they are most often blurred or ‘serrated’.
Weaving workshops:
Teresa Pryzmont – Wasilówka 19, 16-130 Janów, tel. 85 721 63 64
Filomena Krupowicz – ul. Sokólska, 16-130 Janów, tel. 85 721 61 28
Alicja Kochanowska – ul. Nadrzeczna 3, 16-130 Janów, tel. 85 721 60 36
Ludgarda Sieńko – ul. Sokólska 8, 16-130 Janów, tel. 85 721 61 74
Danuta Radulska – Wasilówka 18, 16-130 Janów, tel. 85 721 60 24
Helena Gołko – Trofimówka 29, 16-130 Janów, tel. 85 712 66 04
Marta Błahuszewska – Kumiałka 24, 16-130 Janów, tel. 85 712 61 79
Kazimiera Makowska – ul. Kościelna 14, 16-315 Lipsk, tel. 87 642 37 95
Bernarda Rość – Szaciłowka 37, 16-140 Korycin, tel. 85 721 91 64

Chamber of Two-warp cloth weaving
ul. Białostocka 14a, 16-130 Janów
(practical information: Gminny Ośrodek Kultury Sportu i Turystyki w Janowie ul. Sokólska 18, 16-130 Janów, phone: 85 721 61 42, e-mail: janow@e-kultura.pl)