The character of woven textiles is dependent on both the materials and the loom technology used. While digitally-controlled jacquard looms are a major development in weaving technology, they have mostly been used in developing representational and pictorial weaving. Such three-dimensional weaving as exists, utilises materials in predictably similar ways. Here, through systematic experimentation, three shrinking and two resisting yarns have been combined in multi-layer weaves in order to explore their potential for form-generating behaviour. Three-dimensional form occurs when the shrinking yarn/s place the resisting yarn/s under tension. To relieve this tension, the resisting yarn moves within the weave, creating waves or folds. The resulting form is highly sensitive to variation, demonstrating emergent behaviour, and identifying the woven textile as a complex system. Demonstrating the variety of form possible from a limited number of materials, the results represent a small body of work aiming to re-form weaving. The exploration of synergistic material combinations is therefore shown to be an exercise of value to fields from art textiles through to industry. It demonstrates that there is great development potential in woven textiles. Understanding the behaviour of materials is fundamental to furthering form-based weaving.

Technological developments in digital Jacquard weaving, as well as material research, have a strong influence on today‘s possibilities of textile production. These advancements enable to shift the perspective of textile as a flat surface to textile as a three-dimensional form and push two-dimensional weaving into the third dimension. Utilizing recent technologies in the form of applying multi-layering weaving techniques and embedding heat-reactive shrinking material, the research of Woven Forms aims to explore the forming method of construction through weaving to create abstract forms transformed from flat and to investigate its textile-form properties of shape, texture, color, and scale. The developed method of Embedded Form Weaving is set within experimental design research and structures a systematical approach to generate three-dimensional forms activated from flat surfaces. The outcome in form of abstract, self-supporting textile-forms showcases the multitude of form expressions and variety of formal variables within two construction-form-thinking families. This research contributes to the field of 3D weaving, demonstrates the potential for further research and application possibilities in other disciplines and fields, and evaluates the potential of seeing the weaving loom as a forming tool. While the fundamental base is the interlacement of warp and weft, technology, material science, and textile engineering shift the perception of woven textiles: from a rectangular piece of cloth to the opportunity to construct textile-forms.