weaving overshot redesigning the tradition factory

Currently enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts Program at the University of Missouri at Columbia, Donna Lee Sullivan is a recipient of the Master Level Certificate of Excellence in Weaving, awarded by the Handweavers guild of America. Besides serving as a graduate assistant, she continues to teach and exhibit throughout the US and Canada, as well as finding time to explore the possibilities of various weave structures. Donna Lee"s other books include more than one hundred articles, two other books ("Summer and Winter: A Weave for all Seasons" and "Pique: Plain and Patterned"), and a videp )Colour Interaction for Handweavers)

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Weaving rag rugs is an immensely satisfying process that enables you to use cast-off remnants of fabric - and a favorite old shirt or two - to make something beautiful and functional for your home. In this book, you"ll explore the fascinating history of rag weaving, learn how to weave a basic rag rug, master some of the most popular traditional designs, and experiment with contemporary techniques for weaving and embellishing rugs. Filled with scores of colour photographs of rugs by more than 40 artists from around the world, this book is a delight for weavers and non-weavers alike.

Weaving with rags developed out of genuine necessity centuries ago, when cloth was so highly treasured that it was often unwoven in order to reuse the thread. Although fabric is now commonly available at very low cost, weaving rag rugs remains an especially satisfying process. Transforming fabric remnants and old articles of clothing into beautiful, functional rugs yields a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, and it instills a sense of connection with history and tradition.

The basics of rag rug weaving have remained the same over the years, but the materials, designs, weave patterns, and color combinations have changed significantly. Today"s weavers have access to an abundant array of warp and weft materials, with a wide variety of fiber content, color, and pattern. There are few-if any-limitations on what you might incorporate into your design: plastic shopping bags, bread wrappers, nylon stockings, and industrial castoffs have all been included.

In this book, you"ll find the old and the new, traditional designs and contemporary approaches. Starting with a basic, plain-weave rug, it describes the materials and tools you"ll need, how to prepare your warp and weft, how to dress the loom, and how to weave with a rag weft. Then you"ll learn how to make more complex designs: stripes and plaids, block patterns, reversible designs, inlay motifs, tufted weaves, and many other variations. Applications of surface design techniques, such as immersion dyeing, screen printing, and painting with textile inks, are also explored. In the chapter on design, you"ll be guided through the process of choosing colors and deciding upon compositions for your rugs. You"ll also find several options for finishing your rug, from traditional braided fringe to a crisp, clean Damascus edge.

Once you feel comfortable with the basic techniques, you"ll want to sample the rag rug projects. There are a dozen in total, ranging in style from a subtle gradation of stripes to a vibrant tapestry inlay. You"ll find seaside motifs and square blocks, pale pastels and brilliant jewel tones. There is even a double weaving project chenille "caterpillars" are woven first, and these become the weft in a wonderfully textured chair pad. Each project is described in complete detail and accompanied by a weaving draft.

Throughout the book are full-color photographs of works by more than 40 artists from a dozen countries around the world. These images, together with how-to photography and detailed illustrations, will instruct you and inspire you to sample new directions in your weaving. A fascinating history of rag weaving complements this glorious collection of contemporary rugs.

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Why are all first-time students—even experienced weavers—encouraged to take Foundations? In short, because the historic equipment and methods we use are not taught anywhere else. This class is centered around engaging with our antique looms and the techniques they’re designed for. Each student will take their own project through from start to finish. Class begins with an introduction to project planning including yarn sizes and calculating setts, followed by multiple end warping (making a warp using multiple yarns at once) and forming a lease using a skarne and warping bars. Next, students beam on their warp with a raddle using solo or assisted methods, learn how to construct the loom harness, draw-in (thread the heddles), sley the reed, tie on the warp, build a counterbalance shedding mechanism, and tie up the treadles in walking fashion. In weaving, students are introduced to the finer points of shuttle handling, pirn winding, and proper use of a temple. If time allows, the webs will be wet finished, otherwise students will receive instruction on how to carry this out at home. Unlike a class focused on creating a collection of woven samples, this class is an in-depth look at the entire weaving process with a strong emphasis on technique.

These week long classes are designed for the students who have taken our Foundations class or are long term alumni. For the Foundations students the warping and loom set up process with be gone over again in detail and the project choices in this class will include rag or weft faced rugs, simple overshot, checked fabric in cotton or linen and wool blanketing. For our long term alumni their projects choices can include fine silk, warp faced carpeting, fine worsted fabric and singles linen - to name a few options. This class is a great way to take the techniques learned in Foundations to a new level.

Back in the 1970s and "80s the main class option at MSW was a 6 week intensive where the students arrived and were handed a raw sheeps fleece and proceeded to go through all the steps of sorting, washing, picking, carding, spinning and eventually to weaving a fully handspun wool blanket. It was a most unforgettable experience and helped to shape an inspire many a student. We are pleased to once again offer this unique opportunity to come and start at the beginning and go through all the processes that were once a mainstay in the act of making clothing and household textiles. There is no previous spinning, dyeing or weaving experience needed for this class and we will be limiting the class to 4 students at a time and hopefully offer this twice a year. The class will be taught by Norman’s former students who took this class in the "70s & "80s and those of the next generation who have learned from these alumni. Hopefully Norman will also be on hand to give his advice and tell stories while the wheels spin away!

Imagine a warm, soft rug with strong squares of color... that you made! This class, centered on a simple technique for making reversible weft-faced rugs, is suitable for beginner and more experienced weavers alike. Receiving guidance through the entire process, students will weave a rug in either a checkerboard or windowpane pattern. We"ll unlock creative design possibilities that expand this structure, showcasing the power of color and pickup work. By the end of the week, you"ll have an understanding of profile drafts, ski shuttle usage, rug finishing, as well as a beautiful usable textile.

2023 dates TBAw/Anne FernwehJoin Anne Fernweh and the growing death-positive and green burial movements by weaving your own burial shroud, a piece meant to accompany you in life as well as in death. Weaving your own shroud offers a countercultural opportunity to explore and reconnect with grief, mortality, and your innate wisdom therein. Not only for those nearing death, a handwoven shroud is designed to travel with you through life. It is meant to be filled with memories, stories and your unique vitality, all of which it then carries with you in death. 
 This week-long class begins with an introduction to burial shroud traditions from around the world and their reemerging relevance today. Students then workshop the design of their shroud, with guidance provided on the corresponding symbolism of colors, fibers, and structures. Students are encouraged to consider how these elements intersect with their interests, values, aesthetic and/or heritage, and are free to incorporate personalized design elements and/orephemera to create a deeply personal piece. Individualized guidance and consultation are provided throughout the design, creation, and finishing processes.

In this class, students will learn to make their own yarn by hand with a hand spindle. Using a kit supplied by the instructor, including a custom-made spindle and locally-raised wool from her flock of sheep in Danby, Vermont, students will work as a group to understand the foundations of hand spinning. This class is designed as an introduction to handspinning for absolute beginners, but people with prior spinning experience who wish to improve their spindle skills are also welcome. For students interested in the Great Wheel workshop on June 27, who do not have prior spinning experience, this class will prepare you for working with the Great Wheel. By the end of class, students will have grounding in the fundamental concepts of hand spinning: an understanding the functions of draft and twist in fiber for the creation of a structurally-sound yarn. Participants will be ready to continue their exploration of this ancient craft using spindles, or to progress to learning the use of a spinning wheel.

The great wheel, also known as the walking wheel, spindle wheel, or wool wheel, was a common textile tool in New England prior to the industrial revolution and into the 19th century, but few hand spinners know how to use them today. In this daylong workshop, we will learn how to use a great wheel, and experiment with different fiber selections and preparations for great wheel spinning. We will look at examples of different great wheel designs, learn how to adjust, maintain and make simple repairs to great wheels, and will learn how to recognize a great wheel that could still be used for spinning when one encounters it ‘in the wild.’

This workshop is aimed at people who already have a basic understanding of handspinning, but may also be of interest to new spinners. If you do not have prior spinning experience, we suggest you also sign up for the Introduction to Handspinning workshop on June 25 & 26.

This two day class will help weavers understand how to identify blocks in historic textiles and to write drafts for any weave structure in block form. The first day will explain and identify blocks and allow students to create drafts in any of the block weave structures. The structures we will include will be -M’s and O’s, traditional spot weave, twill blocks, double cloth blocks, summer and winter blocks, float work (overshot) blocks and damask blocks plus the ability to combine blocks and structures. Students will have the opportunity to weave on several of these structures on small sample looms so that the correlation between theory and practice is clear. Students will also be encouraged to design using block theory for their own future work. Day two we will examine historic textiles and identify weave structures and blocks and write drafts fromhistoric textiles.

In this five day class students will be exploring some of the many possible ways to use the simple rag rug concept to weave amazing rugs. Each day the student will work on a pre-warped loom to weave a useable sized rug and then move on to another style the next day. We will work with cotton, wool, linen and even silk fabrics to show how each different fabric creates a very different rug.

Join Anne and Trish Fernweh for a two day workshop covering introductory hand-carving techniques, indigo vat dyeing, warp winding, and band weaving. 
 Day one focuses on simple woodworking techniques for designing and hand carving a small rigid heddle and shuttle, with instructions for whittling decorative or personalized motifs. The day concludes with a cursory introduction to indigo vat dyeing, after which completed heddles can be hand-dyed with indigo if desired. 
 Day two focuses on weaving with the hand-carved heddles and shuttles. Students learn the basics of rigid heddle weaving, including pattern design and color theory, as well as how to wind a warp using warping bars in addition to items easily found at home. Students then assemble a simple back-strap weaving set up and weave a narrow band of their own design.

In this two day workshop students will explore a myriad of natural color from woody plants. The abundance of woody plant material can lend itself to a more sustainable approach for acquiring large quantities of natural dyes.

Our journey will begin with a plant walk to identify and gather choice species then to the best techniques to extract the dyes. We will cover fiber preparation and use of mordants to obtain multiple tints and shades from a single extraction. Time permitting we hope to cover and process a dozen or more dyebaths. Materials and sample books provided.

Mastery of tools is essential to any craftsman or artist, and weaving is no exception. In this workshop students will gain in-depth knowledge of the factors at play in four-post looms, how those attributes affect the woven goods, and how to select and manipulate the loom to produce the desired results. We will discuss shedding mechanisms and make hands on comparisons weaving the same warp counterbalanced and countermarched. Shuttles, temples, warp lines, harness, ratchets and everything else we use to weave will be addressed, so bring your questions! Some time will be dedicated to learning how dobby, draw, and jacquard looms operate as well. Whether a novice or seasoned weaver this class will offer an opportunity to get better acquainted with in nuts and bolts (literally) of weaving.

In this two day workshop, we will explore all aspects of traditional flax production, from seed selection and cultivation, to harvesting, dew-retting and water-retting, and flax dressing using hand tools. Students will have opportunities to do hands-on processing work with raw and retted flax straw, using a flax brake, scutching board and hackles to dress flax into tow and line ready for spinning into linen. We will discuss sourcing seed and tools, and will take a look at work being undertaken today to revive textile flax production in North America. Students will have plenty of samples to take home at the end of the workshop, and a packet of textile flax seed to plant in their own gardens next spring.

In this weekend workshop, we will learn to spin flax in various forms; tow, commercially-processed sliver and tow roving, and hand-processed line. Working with both hand spindles and spinning wheels, we will learn how to dress a distaff and use it in spinning line flax. Students will have an opportunity to make a distaff of their own to take home, along with samples of all the fibers used in the class, and a packet of textile flax seed to plant in their own gardens next spring. This workshop is aimed at students who already have a working knowledge of spinning. Students are welcome to bring their own wheel to the workshop, and we will have access to Marshfield"s flax wheels as well as wheels brought by the instructor.

Come join us for an afternoon of spinning linen and to celebrate all things flax to linen at a community spin-in. Bring your wheel, distaff and flax and spin with others at the beautiful Marshfield School of Weaving. Please RSVP by August 5. We will gather for a potluck after!

In this two-week class, students will weave (week 1), cut, and sew (week 2) a garment from their own fabric. Students can choose from a provided shirt, skirt, or apron pattern, which can be modified and adjusted based on experience, ambition and desired fit. We will consider the form and function of a final garment and how that should influence choices with regard to material & weave structure. In addition to winding a warp, dressing a four-post loom, weaving, and apparel construction - students will learn project planning, fabric finishing and tricks for cutting pattern pieces out of handwoven cloth. The class will provide each student with an end-to-end understanding of creating a piece of clothing, from yarn to fabric to garment.

In this 5 day session students will warp, paint, and weave silk yardage in the style of French Chiné à la branche or Chiné à la chaîne. Striped warps will be wound, then painted under tension on frames with careful attention to produce delicate floral and flame motifs among the stripes. Time will be spent exploring how to design and achieve control in the final outcome. Yardage will be woven plain weave, but this is still an intermediate class because of the set up time. Previous experience with four-post looms and multiple end warping are a big plus. Day one will be spent designing, warping, and treating the fabric for the paint. Day two the patterns will be applied to the warps and cured. Day three-five are for beaming on and weaving the cloth. Space is limited to 4 students so sign up early!

A two day workshop exploring the wide world of fungi in central Vermont suitable for putting color onto fiber. Joann has been experimenting with mushroom dyeing for the past five years and has accumulated a wide variety of colors and receipts. Mordanting of the yarn will also be covered. There will be an optional half day of foraging in the Marshfield Town Forrest on Friday from 1 - 4 pm.

The Jewish prayer shawl, or tallit, is the traditional garment worn by Jews during religious observance. The only specifications given in the Torah for this garment is that it should have four corners to hold the “tzitzit” or fringes. This gives the Jewish weaver a broad range of artistic options when designing a tallit. In this class each student will design and weave their own tallit, atarah and corners. We will wind up the class by tying the tzitzit together, and discuss how we can express our own vision of Jewish observance through the mitzvah of crafting and wearing tzitzit.

In this five day workshop, students will learn about the Acadian cotton textile tradition in Louisiana. We will work with different colors of natural cotton and learn to card and spin, on both the great wheel and low wheel, as it has been done in Louisiana for 250 years. Students will also weave a sampler covering the variety of Acadian textiles from cotonnade fabrics and household linens to the ubiquitous Acadian brown cotton blanket.

Coverlets! Blankets! Sheets! In this two-week course students will have the opportunity to weave classic bedding textiles composed of two panels that are seamed down the middle. Summer blanket/winter sheets, woolen blankets, linen sheets, or linen pillowcases are all potential projects. Methods for joining woven panels, hemming, and blanket stitching will be covered and may be completed by students as time allows. If you don"t have regular access to a large loom, or just want a little encouragement along the way, this workshop is the one for you.

In this workshop, we will use warp-weighted looms to weave a project inspired by a Sami Grene (a wool, weft-faced blanket in plain weave). The warp-weighted loom is a simple weaving tool dating to the neolithic era; as long as 9,000 years ago! Warp-weighted looms were used in ancient Greece, across Europe, and remained in use in some parts of Scandinavia into the modern era. This type of loom is unique in its use of weights (typically ceramic or stone) to tension the warp for weaving. In addition to our weaving project, we will take a look at documentary films of warp-weighted weaving in Norway, and will discuss ways that students can construct a warp-weighted loom of their own.

Some prior weaving experience will be helpful for this class, but is not essential. Students who are interested in spinning their own yarn for the project before our class should contact the instructor for yarn samples and suggested quantities.

You may remember that I recently returned from a visit to The Philippines. It may not surprise you that I am always on the lookout for interesting textiles, and especially handwoven fabrics. I don’t mean to do that; it just happens… Well, when I met sweet Beth at the Sunday market, I felt like I hit the jackpot! Beth and I had a common language – Handweaving! (She speaks fine English, too, of course; but you know what I mean.)

If you don’t have time to look at all the textile pictures today, at least scroll down and see my little granddaughter carrying her big umbrella on the way to the market. Umbrellas are always in season in Metropolitan Manila. For the rain in the rainy season (our visit), and for shielding your skin from the sun all the rest of the time. (You can always come back later and finish looking at the rest of the pictures. Smile.)

Is it old Colonial blankets, usually white background with blue, black or red wool pattern and large, large designs? A corner box with the weaver"s initials and a date.They bring to mind an image of early residents of colonial America and also the British Colonies, later to be called Upper and Lower Canada.

They were functional, practical and pretty. They could also be made entirely in the colonies with materials to hand. We use cotton for warp today but some early coverlets had a fine grist plied

It mainly covers the American colonies, but shows the importance of textile manufacturing to the colonists and the value of their tools and equipment. They were listed in household estate accounts as assets No new bride could be married without her dowry of spinning wheel, loom, shuttles and such. These tools were passed down from one woman to another, but always listed as belonging to the husband or the master of the house.

It is thought that overshot was brought over from Europe with the early arrivals to the New Land. Settlers brought many ideas and tools with them and adapted them to the new life here. With a colder climate and long winters, overshot blankets meant you had a thick stable cloth, woven on four shafts, that kept the sleeper warm and also served as a decorative bed covering.

I bought my (heavy) two book set some years ago and have enjoyed reading through and will be for sometime! The writing is like reading a conversation. (Helene is also known for her other work:Another classic!)

I have seen some stunning coverlets quietly doing their job in movies: "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger. I had to watch it again and freeze frame the movie to get a good look! It was a natural setting for a colonial coverlet. The coverlet that was wrapped around Dakota Fanning in "War of the Worlds", featuring Tom Cruise was a pleasant surprise! Are you one of those weavers who"s eye scans movie scenes for textiles and gets excited when you spot something handwoven ?

Lets get back to our weaving with overshot and some of the basics with the four shaft variety. I need to point out here that these are simple guidelines and by no means complete. Just a small primer to pique your interest. I will post reading / study material list at the end. These notes are based on an overshot study I undertook some years ago.

Most new weavers are introduced to overshot at an early newbie weaver stage and usually start with a draft from Marguerite Davison"s classic: A Handweaver"s Pattern Book.Itsstill available to purchase after all these years. The drafts in this book are for sinking shaft looms such as counterbalance looms. You can flip the tie up for jack looms. If you don"t, it means you will be weaving the pattern upside down, which isn"t a problem but it would be nice to see the front as you weave. This little detail would make it confusing for new weavers starting on overshot for the first time, in addition to handling two shuttles!

Overshot is a twill derivative using two threads to create a unit block. This means you can have four blocks on four shafts. One thread in each block, is shared by the next block. This one thread in common creates half units in between blocks of either all pattern or all tabby. (This can be expanded through to eight shafts but we"ll stick with four shafts for this post) See what I mean by this in the picture below:

Overshot is actually two pieces of cloth, being woven simultaneously; one is a tabby or plain weave cloth, the second is the pattern that "over-shoots" the plain weave. You throw one shuttle for the plain weave and a second shuttle for the pattern weft, beating *very* firmly between each shot. If you were to take away the pattern weft, you would find a perfectly balanced 50/50 plain weave cloth. The pattern weft should compact well but be "lofty" to cover and produce blocks of solid colour with no plain weave peeking through. Normally the pattern weft is twice the size of the tabby yarn. Traditionally, cotton for tabby and with wool for pattern.

If the pattern weft is beaten properly into place, the circles are true circles (no ovals), twill lines are a true 45 degrees, and if there are three blocks of the same unit in the threading then it should make a square little box when three repeats of the treadling are complete (which equals 3 shots of tabby and thee shots of pattern weft, so beat well!)

I keep the "odd" tabbies of treadles one and three to enter from the left hand side, and the "even" tabbies of treadles two and four from the right hand side. Also I work with both shuttles, tabby and weft, on one side of the warp. If you end up with divided shuttles then you have a treadling error to find!. The shuttles can be awkward to coordinate at first but you soon develop a rhythm. Be aware that many overshot drafts may say "use tabby" but don"t show it in the treadling. Then there are some that don"t mention the tabby at all. They are assuming you know to insert it.

The tie up is a normal twill tie up { 1,2 2,3 3, 4 and 4, 1} Tabby treadles being 1, 3 and 2,4. You are working with six treadles. You can tie up the tabbies on the far left and far right, or side by side at the end of the run. What ever works best for you. I placed broccoli rubber bands on the two tabby treadles so my bare or socked foot could feel which one I was using. One band for tabby A and two bands for tabby B.

The majority of overshot is woven "as drawn in" which means you repeat the exact threading as your treadling. Old drafts say "tromp as writ" which is the same thing.

Twill fashion is where you treadle a block over again to produce exact squares. This may be more repeats than is in the threading. You can also follow twill treadlings such as: rosepath ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1), point twill (1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1) , or broken twill (1, 2, 4, 3). Its then called overshot treadled as rosepath, or treadled as summer and winter. There are many other ways to vary the treadling and these all make very pretty borders! The following examples are from my first level of the Guild of Canadian Weavers Test. I took portions of the treadling and created these border patterns. They had to have a purpose for being woven. Click to enlarge...

You can also treadle "on opposites" which means you would use treadles 1, 2 versus treadles 3, 4 or 2,3 versus 4,1. There are no tabby shots in between. When you try it, what you get looks like this:

This sample is 8/2 cotton with equivalent 8/2 orlec woven in blocks of "on opposite" treadling and no tabby. There is a border sample above woven on opposites you can go back and look at again.... I"ll wait :)

Rose fashion (threaded the same as Star but treadled differently. The treadling order is inverted to B, A, B, A, B. You substitute blocks such as where there is an A, you use B, and where there is a C, you use a D. The results look rounded.)

Then there is Rose Fashion. See how the pattern is reversed and forms a flower in the center? Yea, its hard to see as I used a boucle yarn. Lesson learned? Use smooth yarns for pattern weft!

Back view again with half units and you can see the reverse of the roses better here. It also looks like I was beating hard as my circles are now squares!

When designing overshot patterns you can place many identical units together and then continue through to other blocks but the turning point block in your design will have an uneven number of threads. When treadling, the turning blocks are treadled one extra repeat.

So besides bed coverlets, what else can you make with overshot? I have seen beautiful modern looking table runners, scarves, overshot style borders on placemats and towels. I saw a beautiful (apparently) plain weave table cloth that had inlaid overshot motifs scattered like stars! They looked like snowflakes on the royal blue cloth.

I always thought it would be a neat challenge to weave overshot and have it look totally modern and comfortable in today"s home. ( Its on my "to-do" list..)

So if you have followed me through to this point and are now thinking it might be nice to try some overshot study yourself. Perhaps try inventing some borders for towels? Here are a few books on overshot that are on my library shelf: