overshot weaving tutorial price

From heirloom coverlets to dazzling contemporary household textiles and garments, overshot is one of the most handsome of weave structures. Whether woven in miniature on a towel or large-scale in a rug, overshot is striking. In this video, Madelyn van der Hoogt teaches everything you need to know to explore the many faces of overshot.

Along with Madelyn’s video workshop, this video download gives you a printable booklet on overshot weaving, complete with planning exercises, reference materials, and overshot projects you can learn from and use. Instantly download your copy of Weaving Overshot today!

In its simplest form – overshot is a weaving technique that utilizes at least 2 different types of weft yarns and floats to create a pattern. These patterns are often heavily geometric.

Ground weft– plain weave pattern that is used between each row of your overshot pattern. This plain weave gives the textile structure and allows for large areas of overshot to be woven without creating an overly sleazy fabric. Without the use of a ground weft on an overshot pattern, the weaving would not hold together because there would not be enough warp and weft intersections to create a solid weaving.

They were most popular though in southern Appalachia and continued to be so even after textile technologies advanced. When other parts of colonial America moved to jacquard weaving, the weavers of southern Appalachia continued to weave their overshot coverlets by hand.

Since the overshot coverlets were most often woven at home on smaller looms they usually had a seam down the middle where two woven panels were sewn together.

The thing about overshot is that no matter the application, it is pretty impressive. Perhaps that is just my opinion, but due to how complex it can look, I feel that it is pretty safe to say.

Just because it was originally used for coverlets, does not mean it can only be used for coverlets. Changing aspects of the pattern like the colors used, or the way you use your ground weft can drastically change the look and feel of your weaving.

In the image below you can see the ground weft is not the same color throughout. Instead, I wove the ground weft as discontinuous so that I could add extra pattern and design into the weavings. In this case, you may be wondering how to deal with your weft yarns when they are in the middle of the weaving and not at the selvage.

The discontinuous weft yarns will float onto the back of the weaving until you are ready for them in their next pick. This does make your overshot weaving one sided since it will have vertical floats on the back. Keep this in mind if you want to try this technique out.

Also seen in the image above, the overshot yarn that I used was not all one color! This is a really simple way to get extra dimension and interest in your overshot if that is something you are looking for.

This makes it simple to be able to only weave overshot in certain parts of your weaving. If you want to do this then you can continue to weave your plain weave across the entire width of your weaving, but only weave overshot in specific areas. This creates a overshot section that functions similar to inlay.

Since the overshot pattern is strongly influenced by the weft yarns that are used it is important to choose the right yarns. Your weaving will be set up to the specification needed for a balanced plain weave. Make sure you understand EPI in order to get the right warp sett for your overshot weaving.

The ground weft used is almost always the same yarn as your warp. This allows the overshot weft to really be able to shine without contrasting warp and weft plain weave yarns.

In order to get the full effect of the overshot, it must be thick enough that when you are weaving your pattern it covers up the ground weft between each pass. If it is not thick enough to do this, it will still be overshot, but the full effect will not be seen.

What this warp thread does is serve as an all-purpose selvedge that does not correspond with your pattern. Instead, you would make sure to go around this warp thread every time to make sure that you are able to weave fully to the selvedge. Without this, your overshot weft will float awkwardly on the back of your weaving whenever the pattern does not take it to the edge.

I have mentioned this book multiple times because it really is such a great resource for any weaver looking to weave patterns of all types. It contains 23 pages of different overshot patterns (among so many other patterns) that you can set up on your floor or table loom.

Like a lot of different types of weaving, it is possible to do it on almost any type of loom that you have. The difference being that it might take you a little bit longer or require a bit more effort than if you did it on a traditional floor loom.

Weaving overshot on a frame loom or rigid heddle loom will require the use of string heddles and pick-up sticks that you have to manually use to create a shed.

This class is not for absolute beginner floor loom weavers. If you are a beginner, please start with my Introduction to Floor Loom Weaving class for all the basics.

A 4 shaft floor loom with 6 treadles. My floor loom has a 35" weaving width, but if your loom is smaller I have provided an alternative class project.

Kelly is a self taught weaver with a big passion for sharing the timeless art of weaving with others. Kelly is known for her calm and slow teaching style and she bases her classes on how she would have liked to have been taught. She designs all of her own projects and caters for levels from beginner to intermediate. Most available classes are for the rigid heddle loom, floor, table and inkle loom weaving.

Overshot is an intricate weave structure in which pattern weft “shoots over” a grounded plain weave cloth to create a huge range of patterns. From undulating waves to dashing circles, the weaver can create complex patterns on only 4 shafts. This weave structure has been used all over the world, but developed most widely in Appalachian coverlets and table linens during early colonial America. In this class, students will learn more about this beloved weave structure and weave their own overshot table runners, placemats, or samples using cotton and wool on 4 shaft floor looms. Explore blending colors, manipulating patterns, and practicing weaving this two shuttle weave structure. No weaving experience is necessary, but some experience is helpful.

Weavers-in-the-making and curious fiber artists can find loads of inspiration and technical guidance in weaving books. In addition, there are beautiful editions that will look absolutely stunning on your bookshelf!

Books on weaving are relatively easy to come across, but it is important to find an option to complement your goals and needs depending on where you are in your weaving journey.

Looking for new weaving designs to test out? Starting from scratch? Want to get a glimpse into how professional artists create textile magic? Here are our top picks for the best books on weaving!

Whether you want to hone your technique or find inspiration in fellow weavers, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of our favorite and best weaving books you can find!

If there’s a weaving book classic, this is it. A fantastic pick for beginners and experienced weavers alike, Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler combines weaving essentials and a handy set of tips to guide you as you evolve in the craft.

This 232-page book contains everything from illustrated step-by-step warping instructions, fundamental weaving techniques, basic weave structures, guidance on reading and designing drafts, and more.

On the Loom: A Modern Weaver’s Guide by Maryanne Moodie will give you an insider’s look into the ancient art of weaving through the lens of the modern-day crafter. Perfect if you’ve been searching for inspiring books on contemporary weaving!

Comprised of 144 pages brimming with impeccably photographed step-by-step tutorials, this book covers a wide variety of unique, stylish projects every home decor weaver will love. I love this option for a gift; it’s absolutely beautiful.

CrazyShot — Creative Overshot Weaving on the Heddle Loom is an introductory book to the world of rigid heddle loom weaving: one of the most popular methods learned by home crafters.

While one of the shorter weaving books listed, this 50-page beginners book includes step-by-step instructions to weave 14 designs, guidelines on the single heddle overshot technique, reading charts, and tips to achieve the best results.

Once you’ve got basic rigid heddle warping and weaving skills down, we suggest complementing your weaving book collection with the author’s comprehensive charted designs guide: Crazyshot Companion: Charted Designs for Overshot Weaving on the Rigid Heddle Loom.

Content covers everything from setup to creation, supported by step-by-step photographs. Tapestry, bead weaving, and basic and complex weaving techniques can all be found in this book — available for Kindle and paperback.

Available for Kindle, as well as in hardcover and spiral-bound editions, this classic book by Jane Patrick presents an array of patterns for the simple rigid-heddle loom and variations such as multishaft looms. Talk about books on weaving with a loom!

Throughout 240 pages, you’ll find different chapters focusing on weaving designs, demonstrated by photos of swatches to illustrate techniques. Some include leno, soumak, Brooks bouquet, and embroidery on fabric.

Released in 2020, The Art of Tapestry Weaving by Rebecca Mezoff is a comprehensive guide to mastering tapestry-making for fiber artists of all skill levels.

While many weaving books cover techniques for making images with yarn, this 320-page book revolves around enthusing fiber artists with contemporary, trendy tapestry creations with a thorough guide to everything you need to get started.

Also, Rebecca Mezoff is a renowned teacher of contemporary tapestry weaving, so you’ll be guided by someone who is not only an artist but knows how to navigate the complete beginner from the perspective of a professional instructor.

You’ll learn every part of the process, from developing color palettes and choosing yarn to warping a loom and weaving designs. This is more of a technical guide than a tutorial on weaving patterns. Hardcover editions can be purchased on Amazon (for Kindle, too) and Woolery.

Weaving by Mary Maddocks features 144 pages filled with detailed, easy-to-follow tutorials supported by lifestyle photography to teach you the fundamentals, along with 17 stunning projects to put to the test.

Recently released (2020), Weaving: Contemporary Makers on the Loom is a 224-page book anyone with a sweet spot for fiber art, weaver or not, will appreciate.

This book is by Katie Treggiden, a design expert and journalist who has beautifully documented a close-up look into professional weavers’ lives, studios, and works. It comprises in-depth essays on weaving, the history of the ancient craft, and where it’s headed today.

Unlike some of the other books on weaving listed, this edition is all about celebrating contemporary weaving and its makers and is not so much a technical reference for beginners. It is, however, filled with personal, inspiring stories that will bring you closer to the world of weaving.

Stunning photography fills the pages of this book, making it an incredible gift for anyone who collects craft books or has a love for weaving. There is only a hardcover edition of the book; you can find it on Amazon and Woolery for roughly the same price.

When searching for books on weaving with a loom, it’s always good to be as specific as possible and know how you want to approach the craft. That said, if circular weaving is your jam, this is the perfect beginner’s book!

Emily Nicolaides is the author of this 144-page book, released in 2022, and focuses on the art of circular weaving: it provides an extensive, detailed guide on techniques, project types, materials, and more. It’s ideal if you’re discovering circular weaving for the first time.

This is a fantastic pick if you’re curious about the potential of circular weaving; there are many projects to learn here. The book is also very straightforward and easy to follow, making it especially newbie-friendly. Know that besides paperback, a Kindle edition is available on Amazon.

Last up is one of my favorite books on weaving! Published in 2020, Woven Together is a wonderful take on real-life weaving stories that come from the heart.

This 224-page book features the stories and experiences of 20 DIYers, artists, designers, and craftspeople who have incorporated weaving into their work. You’ll get a privileged look into their creations, backgrounds, passion projects, and more.

You’ll get an eclectic overview of different references and inspirations, the production process, and, best of all, detailed patterns for projects. These include DIY textile weaving designs, like wall hangings and rugs, to rattan and basket weaving ventures with bamboo and grass.

That said, this book also appeals to both fiber artists and basket weavers. If you’re curious about basket weaving, we’ve written a guide on the best online basket weaving classes! You can purchase this book on Amazon, which is currently available in hardcover only.

Weave structures often have specific threading and treadling patterns that are unique to that particular weave structure and not shared with others. This book takes you out of the traditional method of weaving overshot patterns by using different treadling techniques.

This will include weaving overshot patterns as Summer/Winter, Italian manner, starburst, crackle, and petit point just to name a few. The basic image is maintained in each example, but the design takes on a whole new look!

Each chapter walks you through the setup for each method and includes projects with complete drafts and instructions so it’s easy to start weaving and watch the magic happen!

This overshot pattern is stunning.  We have included enough 10/2 mercerized cotton yarn to weave 4 pillow tops, and the instructions are included.  The full draft is included with the instructions.  Weaving overshot is fun…you will weave with two shuttles.  One shuttle carries the pattern yarn, and the other shuttle carries the tabby or tie-down yarn.

I am beginning my 30th year of handweaving, and find I am not a true “hard core” academic (I may not have that laser focus).  I love to teach and love working with people in general. I excel at small groups and one on one, solving problems as we weave together. I love to research and curate information about weaving especially in the 1700s to early 1900s. I want to be part of the solution to identify and keep handweaving history and technical information in the accessible in public domain as much as possible. But, at the same time software is not free, and web servers cost money to run. Keeping something alive will require a business model that generates supportable income in to the future after I am gone.  I know that I do not have the physical strength/endurance or the time to be a production weaver, I am a designer at heart. I love to solve problems, and then I move on to the next problem.

With COVID-19 I lost my opportunity to demonstrate handweaving to the public by letting the new weavers try the looms for themselves, and have retreated into my studio. While being in the studio, I decided that I could once again concentrate on historic research and drafting of contemporary versions of old patterns. I discovered that many of the designs I had created earlier in my career were no longer accessible because of the software going out of production, or becoming so expensive you needed to be a production weaver to be able to afford it. I have been dedicating my free time to capturing what data I could from these drafts and I will be transferring them into a more usable format for future generations to enjoy. As I complete the task I will post them to the website. I can not list them for free, because I need to cover sample production and web hosting hosting costs.

I have both 8 shaft looms, a computer-dobby  24 shaft loom, and a very large drawloom. I design for all three types of looms. In the shop I have decided to mark the number of shafts needed for a draft at the top of the description so as not to disappoint a weaver. You will know what you purchasing before you hit the download button. I also also elected to include weaving software files and manual draft files in the same draft archive packages so that people no longer have to choose one or the other.

A few more words about the work I believe I can deliver to the public. I like to design drafts and weave it before I post it to ensure accuracy, but at this point some days I do more designing than weaving. I think I would like to work out a system with a fellow weaver(s), I would like to see I if can afford to pay a weaver to weave samples of these designs that I can post on the website and give credit for the work that was done. I have no worries if you determine that you would like to weave the design for production and sell items. I am aware that drafts can not be copyrighted, and so will not chase you down if you use a my design for sale in your shop. As I have mentioned before, it is not my intent to be a production weaver. If a weaver were interested in this type of arrangement, I would ask that you email me directly with what your financial requirements might be for making samples and what type of loom (mostly number of shafts) you are using for sampling. Sample sizes should be 10″ x 10″  or larger if the draft  requires it for a full repeat. I am interested in high contrast samples so that it is clear to the weaver what is happening between the warp and weft threads.

For weavers downloading designs, please understand you are supporting my ability to create and maintain self sustaining a database of information related to weaving for access by yourself and other weavers. Downloading once and sharing widely with others defeats the business case for website sustainability. The drafts will have less value, and we all lose the resources we need to keep historic weaving documents and drafts available to the public. I also believe that I do not want to require a subscription to access the draft data or the learning that I have gathered. So this website will always have a public front end that is useful and full featured that is free.

I do not feel that I am in competition with sites like some international pattern libraries or handweaving.net. Historicweaving.com as a website predates them. I am not intending to scan books, or digitize a drafts in that way. I want to use the historic drafts to study how and why they were made, what makes them look the way they do, and how they can be modified to make new designs that reflect our time and current tastes. Understand my statement above that I am not a pure academic, who is driven to study the past and document it a completely as possible. I want to see the past, and bring it to back to life in an approachable way for today’s weavers and looms. My site will be different than others as I am different weaver.  I have had this dream for a long time, and have spent that time learning about weaving and weaving software.  I like to use Facebook as my studio blog, because Facebook can moderate comments faster and more safely. I want this expanded website for its database potential, and the ability to generate revenue to keep it self sustaining. I use Pinterest as a visual catalogue of ideas (a designer’s morgue file) to explore in the future. I’m learning how to write and present full digital content, some video, some pictorial, some e-books and stories. I believe we all learn in different ways and I want to explore ways to help other weaver’s pass on their notes/journals/drafts to the future as well. I have taken a few months to reflect on what I really want to do and how I want to spend my time. I want to research and to weave. (Ideally, I would like to travel as well, but that will take time and a vaccine.)

If I offer an handwoven item in my shop for sale it is most likely to be a one of kind – if it is not, the size of the edition will be stated. I have no desire to weave long warps of the same pattern. It slows me down once I have solved the design problem, I like to move on to the next. I like efficiency, but I am far more likely to want to achieve accuracy, especially in complex structures. I have been known to weave,  unweave and rethread multiple times until I get the loom to match the draft. I spend more time finding ways to warp and weave better. I am known to innovate. If someone asks me how long it took to weave this particular item, it is hard to answer directly because I have to determine if should I tell you about all of the samples I made before I achieved success. (Again, note, I am not a production weaver). What will make my hand woven gifts special is you can be certain that you will not find another one just like it anywhere. When I use my looms I use them as close to their full capability as possible. My personal patterns are complex on purpose, I have a special hand loom, a 100 shaft combination drawloom and I like to show what it can do. To purchase a handwoven piece from me, pricing includes the cost of overhead for maintaining full weaver’s studio, time spent learning about weaving, the cost of materials and fact the item is unique. Your purchase dollars support my research efforts directly. I reinvest my profit dollars into the website and new weaving history research opportunities.

I began with creating  an Illustrated Weaving Glossary meant for beginning weavers – https://historicweaving.com/wordpress/product/illustrated-weaving-glossary/ – never get confused about when a word is used and what it is referring to.

I have been researching extensively for the past couple of yearsMary Meigs Atwater’s Shuttle Craft Guild – Lessons and her American Handweaving Book. Many of the documents I am working from are now in the public domain because their initial publication was 100 years ago, and are even more significant because they are her attempts to record information that was sent to her from other hand weavers throughout the United States. These items are truly meant to be preserved for the public because they came from the public. Since their initial publication, draft notation standards for these structures and patterns have changed significantly, usually it requires a bit of detailed reading to learn how to read the drafts from the manuscript.

I have taken the time to record some of the larger coverlet radiating overshot pattern drafts in profile draft form making them more accessible to weavers who use drafting software. From the profile you can try different structures, colors and layouts to find a design that is pleasing to you. I have built instructions that show you how the draft is composed and how it can be modified. I would like to think of it as giving you design components more than a formal project plan. If you want the formal project plan approach use the Woven as Drawn in instructions. My goal in my presentation is to increase your understanding so that you can design your own projects and not not to restrict you to copying standardized patterns.

I added an eBook/PDF and draft package for Radiating Overshot Patterns  – Sunrise, Blooming Leaf, Bow Knot and the Double Bow Knot. These designs include full drafts, profile drafts and woven as drawn-in drafts. This is the link to purchase the draft archive and the instruction ebook: https://historicweaving.com/wordpress/product/radiating-patterns-for-historic-overshot/

Another bonus item from the American Handweaving Book, when published Mary Atwater made use of black and white photographs of historic coverlets she located in musuems. I have tracked the coverlets down and found color digital images from the current holding Museum’s digital collections. Use this link to download a copy of the original book manuscript and the link overlay to view the color images. https://historicweaving.com/wordpress/product/the-shuttle-craft-book-of-american-handweaving-updated-photo-links-in-pdf-format/

From the Mary Meigs Atwater’s Shuttle Craft Guild – Lessons, lesson 2 which concerns the Honeysuckle draft, I completed a copy of the Sampler Project that she requested as part of the lesson. That lesson encouraged me to create more than 50 unique treadlings to create the sampler assignment from Lesson 2,  I named “Mournin’ Max” to honor the 100th anneversary of death of her husband Maxwell Atwater in 1919, an event that marked the beginning of her full time career in weaving that lasted for the rest of her life. Click on this link for the draft Archive. https://historicweaving.com/wordpress/product/draft-package-for-mournin-max-project/

Take your weaving to another level! Crazyshot introduces anyone who uses a rigid heddle loom to a new world of creative weaving. Explore color, design, and texture — even revisit your favorite fair isle and needlework charts.

You’ll earn this single-heddle overshot technique including how to read charts together with Myra’s tips and tricks for successful and satisfying results. All you need to start your next weaving adventure are basic skills in warping and weaving.