The primary materials utilized by Coptic weavers are linen and wool.
Linen was made from the flax plant which was grown along the Nile Valley for centuries. It could be spun and woven into a fine gauze-like fabric or manufactured more coarsely to produce a sturdy and durable cloth. Linen yarns were bleached or used in its natural color.
Wool yarns were added to the basic linen ground to create the decorative elements of garments and furnishings because wool fibers receive natural dyes beautifully.
Two types of weave structures predominate:
Plain weave was used for the body of the garment or furnishing. Plain weave is the simplest weave--one weft passes over one warp and under the next, yielding a visual balance of warp and weft on the fabric surface.
Tapestry weave is used to create the decorative elements of Coptic textiles. Tapestry weave is a weft-faced plain weave where the dyed weft threads entirely obscure the warp, creating color areas of pattern and design only where needed. These wefts do not extend from edge to edge of the cloth, so changes in color often result in small gaps or slits in the fabric. Combinations of brightly colored wools result in the illustration of detailed scenes and embellishments for garments and furnishings.
Additional effects were added by flying-shuttle technique in which thin supplemental threads in a contrasting color float over the surface of the patterned areas in techniques to draw attention to the outlines of the human figure, naturalistic motifs, and borders; weft threads could also be pulled to the surface creating a looped-pile or tufted surface; and soumak, a technique where a supplemental weft thread is used to encircle a single warp or group of warp threads creating a raised outline.
Color is an important part of Coptic textile ornament, and dyeing must have been a significant part of their textile technology. The vibrant colors found on Coptic textiles were produced primarily from vegetal dyes. Special color effects could be created by blending two colors of fibers together before spinning, by plying two differently colored yarns together, or using them side by side in the weaving process. Many of the dull browns of surviving textiles were once deep purples when newly dyed.
Red -- the root of the madder plant (Rubia tinctorium) resulted in a range of colors from pink to a dark purplish-brown, depending on the mordant and strength of the dye. Crushed dried bodies of the female kermes insect (kermes vermilio) spawned a truer, though more costly, red.
Blue -- the leaves of the indigo plant (Indigofera argentea) yielded all shades of blue were the most important dye substance in ancient times.
Purple -- the most common method of concocting purple was to blend unspun woolen fibers dyed in madder and indigo, though a finer purple was obtained from a shellfish
Yellow
-- the easiest color to obtain, and yet the most fugitive, yellow could be created from a variety of plant sources such as rhamnus berries, weld, saffron, and pomegranate flowers.