overshot weaving technique price

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We’ve come to know overshot as a timeless, elegant weave structure with endless design possibilities, even on just four shafts. With this eBook, you get 14 of the best overshot projects ever published in Handwoven all in one place. Some of the projects included are Color Gamp in Overshot by Vicki Tardy, Overshot Made Easy for Potholders by Jean Korus, Ribbons of Overshot for a Soft Spring Shawl by Rita Hagenbruch, and so many more! Weave up table linens, towels, a vest, a shawl, and even a coverlet! Projects are for every level of weaver, from those looking for their first overshot project to more experienced weavers who have already fallen in love with this versatile weave. So if you’re ready for a fresh and exciting overshot eBook, this is a must-read.

While it looks like it would be a very time-intensive and difficult technique to weave – it really isn’t! You just have to understand how and why it works the way it does. (We will get to that.)

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.

Imagine being able to weave overshot along the length of your cloth with just one shuttle or being able to weave terry cloth towels for your bath. All this and more is possible on just four shafts by using a supplementary warp. Back by popular demand, this sought-after book hasn"t been available for a long time. The revised and expanded edition features nearly twice as many projects as the original book, with five all-new projects and a new weaving structure. Handweavers will learn weaving expert Deb Essen"s easy warping method, how to turn drafts for one-shuttle weaving, and Deb"s tips and techniques for warping a supplementary draft successfully. Once you have the warping down, weave any of the projects using the weave structures Deb teaches you. Each project explores a different supplemental warp structure, from turned overshot and monk"s belt to Bedford cord and even velvet. And no second back beam is required for your loom!

After weaving the project samples for my book, I had a bit of an 8/4 cotton warp remaining on the loom. I perused my stack of Handwoven magazines and saved project files for some inspiration and decided upon weaving a little overshot on this remnant.

For the Non-Weavers - Overshot is a weaving technique. If you are familiar with Colonial coverlets, they were traditionally woven in overshot patterns. Here is a link with great photos Woven American Coverlets.

Unlike Krokbragd, a wealth of information exists on how to weave overshot. Just about any weaving book will contain at least a chapter on the topic, as well as there are videos, articles and countless published drafts.

Back to my little overshot project, I found my inspiration in the November/December 2017 issue of Handwovenin an article by Inga Marie Carmel entitled ‘Exploring Overshot’. The author chose a draft called Blossom, a Bertha Gray Hayes miniature overshot pattern.

Bertha Gray Hayes was an early 20th century weaver known for her miniature overshot and name draft designs. Miniature overshot pares down an established overshot pattern to its bare minimum while still maintaining the integrity of the pattern’s character. For more on the subject, check out Weaving Designs By Bertha Gray Hayes: Miniature Overshot Patterns by Norma Smayda, Gretchen White, Jody Brown, and Katharine Schelleng.

In Ms. Carmel’s sampler, she explored six different treadlings of the Blossom pattern. Since I had a much smaller warp, I had to do a bit of reworking in Weaveit (the weaving software program I use). I was only able to weave three of the six variations; the star and rose which are two of the basic overshot treadlings, and a variation referred to as “in the Scandinavian manner”.

Typical of overshot samplers and coverlets, the motifs are framed by a complementary border. If you compare my left selvedge with the right, you will notice that I did not quite work out the correct border. Although I’m not keen to sample, this certainly is a good example where sampling would be beneficial before committing to weaving the edited draft on a much larger project.

An interesting feature of overshot is that the reverse side is generally also equally attractive. I actually chose this reverse side as the “front” of my project.

Overshot is perhaps the most iconic weaving technique--think antique coverlets and fancy table runners--yet many weavers are intimidated by its complex-looking structure.

But it doesn"t have to be difficult! In this book, Susan Kesler-Simpson makes overshot approachable by breaking it down piece by piece so that the weaver understand how it works, and then she puts it all back together so that weavers will have the confidence to make their own overshot patterns or to try any of the 38 overshot projects she has designed for the book.

I wove some samples and decided to make this for my scroll. The warp was handspun singles from Bouton. I wanted to see if I could use this fragile cotton for a warp. I used a sizing for the first time in my weaving life. The pattern weft is silk and shows up nicely against the matt cotton.

This illustration and quote are in The Weaving Book by Helen Bress and is the only place I’ve seen this addressed. “Inadvertently, the tabby does another thing. It makes some pattern threads pair together and separates others. On the draw-down [draft], all pattern threads look equidistant from each other. Actually, within any block, the floats will often look more like this: [see illustration]. With some yarns and setts, this pairing is hardly noticeable. If you don’t like the way the floats are pairing, try changing the order of the tabby shots. …and be consistent when treadling mirror-imaged blocks.”

Supplementary-weft weaving has been around for a very long time. There’s evidence of it in some of the earliest weavings from India and Egypt including in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The idea of creating a decorative fabric by weaving a simple tabby cloth simultaneously with a contrasting, superimposed pattern has shown up in cultures worldwide; Latin American brocades, Branoe or branded folk weaving from Russia, Smalandsvav in Sweden and Skillbragd in Norway inlay/overshot techniques, Sanga and Songket from Southeast Asia, Saga Nashiki from Japan, traditional Slavic weaves often used for belts, and American overshot coverlets from the 18th century all create a similar fabric structure using variations of decorative supplementary weft over a plain, tabby background. Many of these techniques even have motifs in common, despite being separated by great distance and time, most likely due to human migration. As is the tradition with many crafts, each province, prefecture, county and clan typically used a specific weaving designs to distinguish the area where it was made.

There are techniques that use a more freeform approach, like the figurative works from Peru, Mexico, and Guatemala, as well as many from India called weft-float patterns. These fabrics usually include individual figures or animals and are woven with a discontinuous supplementary weft. A distinction can be made for color changes across a row, between continuous supplementary wefts, where the pattern weft continues from selvedge to selvedge, and discontinuous supplementary wefts, where the pattern weft only travels across a portion of the row. Most discontinuous styles use different colors traveling partially across the same rows similar to tapestry weaving, to create different figures.

One night, while browsing weaving videos on Youtube, as I often do, I stumbled on the little known technique called Branoe weaving from Russia. I love the rigid heddle for it’s ease and portability and especially for the small commitment with speedy dressing that gets me weaving in a very short time. I quickly realized while watching all of Kelly Casanova’s fascinating videos on Branoe weaving that something about it was very familiar. I also love to do Fair Isle, stranded and mosaic knitting. Each is done by following a simple gridded chart and working one stitch at a time across a row to create a beautifully patterned fabric. I tried the Branoe technique from the video and ventured off into a rabbit hole that I still haven’t emerged from that resulted in a book called “Crazyshot!- Creative Overshot Weaving for the Rigid Heddle Loom," - a deep dive into combining traditional charts from various fiber arts and the Branoe/overshot styles of weaving.

Simply put the cloth is woven by alternating picks of tabby weave that match the warp in weight and color with a heavier yarn that follows a chart for a patterned relief that sits on the surface of the fabric. One of the coolest things about this method is that the fabric is entirely reversible since the pattern sits over both the front and the back. While it’s definitely a labor of love to sit and pick every other row individually, I find it very meditative and rewarding. Most forms of overshot weaving on the rigid heddle loom, where the fabric and decoration are woven together with different thicknesses of thread or yarn, usually entail a laborious preset of multiple warps and or heddle rods with string heddles mimicking a four shaft loom. Because rigid heddle looms typically only accommodate one or two heddles, additional pick-up sticks or heddle rods with string heddles are often employed. There are even some methods where three heddles are employed and used in various combinations to duplicate all four shafts. In this case the overall design is predetermined and warping through each heddle follows a very specific route based on the pattern chosen. One mistake in warping can cost you the entire outcome of the fabric.

What makes Branoe and the simple supplementary-weft techniques so exciting and accessible to anyone who can weave a plain cloth is that it uses only one heddle and one pick-up stick to create complex-looking patterns with endless variations. A multitude of patterns can be created including some which would be impossible to weave on a multi shaft loom. It’s also very easy to correct mistakes by watching each row as you weave, much like knitting, and unweaving incorrect rows before you progress.

Because fabrics made with a supplementary-weft techniques tend to be thicker and firmer than plain weaves, most are used for decorative home goods and accessories. These fabrics may not be suitable for clothing, where drape is a concern, but can be used as beautiful borders. I’m currently experimenting with weaving different weights of thread and yarn to see if I can produce a more wearable fabric. The adventure continues! More info about Crazyshot with lots of photos can be seen at: myrawood.com/crazyshot

Overshot is perhaps the most iconic weaving technique--think antique coverlets and fancy table runners--yet many weavers are intimidated by its complex-looking structure. But it doesn"t have to be difficult! In this book, Susan Kesler-Simpson makes overshot approachable by breaking it down piece by piece so that the weaver understands how it works, and then she puts it all back together so that weavers will have the confidence to make their own overshot patterns or to try any of the 38 overshot projects she has designed for the book.

Overshot is perhaps the most iconic weaving technique--think antique coverlets and fancy table runners--yet many weavers are intimidated by its complex-looking structure. But it doesn"t have to be difficult In this book, Susan Kesler-Simpson makes overshot approachable by breaking it down piece by piece so that the weaver understands how it works, and then she puts it all back together so that weavers will have the confidence to make their own overshot patterns or to try any of the 38 overshot projects she has designed for the book. Weavers will learn: -to understand overshot as a derivative of twill -to understand the tie-up, placement of tabby in the tie-up, threading, and treadling -how to choose threads for overshot -how to use borders in your designs -how to set up the loom for overshot -how to work an overshot gamp Projects include: -Blankets -Shawls -Scarves -Christmas ornaments -Table runners -Placemats -Napkins -Others "Susan"s explanations are to the point and easy to understand. When you read through the chapters, it"s as if Susan is sitting there with you, telling you in a friendly voice how to weave overshot step by step."--excerpt from the Foreword by Tom Knisely.

Susan Kesler-Simpson is passionate about fiber arts and breaking down weaving techniques so that even beginners can learn the basic concepts. She has a B.S. and M.A. in Clothing, Textiles, and Design from the University of Nebraska, and enjoys teaching weaving and working in other crafts such as knitting, spinning, and crocheting. She resides in Danville, Pennsylvania.

An old pattern in overshot weaving that has had many names over time: Muscadine Hills, Hickory Leaf, Blooming Leaf. The Double Bow Knot name comes from the leaf like square that forms the larger …