overshot coverlet patterns free sample

I would like to find a pattern for a traditional coverlet. However, I would prefer to make it the size of a throw as opposed to a full bedcover. Does anyone have suggestions as to where I might find a pattern for that?

It"s a hard one to answer, though, because there are so many sources and so many patterns, and for most all of them, you"d have to know how to adjust the draft for your throw size and yarns. One pattern I really like though, and one for which all the work is done for you, is Louise Cortelyou"s Blooming Leaf Throw in Handwoven November/December 2005, pages 64-66. Blooming Leaf is an overshot pattern that was very common in traditional coverlets but Louise has redrafted it in doubleweave (on four shafts!), which means the fabric will be warmer and have a more throw-like in hand AND there are no floats to catch on anything.

Traditional coverlets were woven in doubleweave and summer-and-winter as well as in overshot, so this version is still "traditional." (Overshot patterns used for coverlets are also available in Mary Meigs Atwater"s Shuttle-Craft Book of American Hand-Weaving, Marguerite Davison"s A Handweaver"s Pattern Book and A Handweaver"s Source Book, and Carol Strickler"s A Weaver"s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns, or you could treat yourself to The Coverlet Book: Early American Handwoven Coverlets, by Helene Bress.)

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.

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 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/

The Radiating Patterns ebook shows you how the drafts are related, the Draft Archive catalog details all of the profiles for easy reference to file names, and there are more than 68 drafts in the package. Included are the Lee’s Surrender, Sunrise and Blooming Leaf coverlets drafts. These drafts are the Series IV groups a,b,c and d – radiating patterns. From Mary Atwater’s original work combined with any examples I could find in digital museum collections that had no accompanying drafts with them.

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/

Also I am doing work documenting the drafts for the early Jacquard coverlet designs and determining what designs and motifs can be woven on conventional looms. Those that can not I will be using my drawloom to complete a sample of the designs for posterity.

Overshot: The earliest coverlets were woven using an overshot weave. There is a ground cloth of plain weave linen or cotton with a supplementary pattern weft, usually of dyed wool, added to create a geometric pattern based on simple combinations of blocks. The weaver creates the pattern by raising and lowering the pattern weft with treadles to create vibrant, reversible geometric patterns. Overshot coverlets could be woven domestically by men or women on simple four-shaft looms, and the craft persists to this day.

Summer-and-Winter: This structure is a type of overshot with strict rules about supplementary pattern weft float distances. The weft yarns float over no more than two warp yarns. This creates a denser fabric with a tighter weave. Summer-and-Winter is so named because one side of the coverlet features more wool than the other, thus giving the coverlet a summer side and a winter side. This structure may be an American invention. Its origins are somewhat mysterious, but it seems to have evolved out of a British weaving tradition.

Double Cloth: Usually associated with professional weavers, double cloth is formed from two plain weave fabrics that swap places with one another, interlocking the textile and creating the pattern. Coverlet weavers initially used German, geometric, block-weaving patterns to create decorative coverlets and ingrain carpeting. These coverlets contain twice the yarn and are twice as heavy as other coverlets.

Beiderwand: Weavers in Northern Germany and Southern Denmark first used this structure in the seventeenth century to weave bed curtains and textiles for clothing. Beiderwand is an integrated structure, and the design alternates sections of warp-faced and weft-faced plain weave. Beiderwand coverlets can be either true Beiderwand or the more common tied-Beiderwand. This structure is identifiable by the ribbed appearance of the textile created by the addition of a supplementary binding warp.

Figured and Fancy: Although not a structure in its own right, Figured and Fancy coverlets can be identified by the appearance of curvilinear designs and woven inscriptions. Weavers could use a variety of technologies and structures to create them including, the cylinder loom, Jacquard mechanism, or weft-loop patterning. Figured and Fancy coverlets were the preferred style throughout much of the nineteenth century. Their manufacture was an important economic and industrial engine in rural America.

Multi-harness/Star and Diamond: This group of coverlets is characterized not by the structure but by the intricacy of patterning. Usually executed in overshot, Beiderwand, or geometric double cloth, these coverlets were made almost all made in Eastern Pennsylvania by professional weavers on looms with between twelve and twenty-six shafts.

America’s earliest coverlets were woven in New England, usually in overshot patterns and by women working collectively to produce textiles for their own homes and for sale locally. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s book, Age of Homespun examines this pre-Revolutionary economy in which women shared labor, raw materials, and textile equipment to supplement family incomes. As the nineteenth century approached and textile mills emerged first in New England, new groups of European immigrant weavers would arrive in New England before moving westward to cheaper available land and spread industrialization to America’s rural interior.

The coverlets from New York and New Jersey are among the earliest Figured and Fancy coverlets. NMAH possesses the earliest Figured and Fancy coverlet (dated 1817), made on Long Island by an unknown weaver. These coverlets are associated primarily with Scottish and Scots-Irish immigrant weavers who were recruited from Britain to provide a skilled workforce for America’s earliest woolen textile mills, and then established their own businesses. New York and New Jersey coverlets are primarily blue and white, double cloth and feature refined Neoclassical and Victorian motifs. Long Island and the Finger Lakes region of New York as well as Bergen County, New Jersey were major centers of coverlet production.

German immigrant weavers influenced the coverlets of Pennsylvania, Virginia (including West Virginia) and Maryland. Tied-Beiderwand was the structure preferred by most weavers. Horizontal color-banding, German folk motifs like the Distelfinken (thistle finch), and eight-point star and sunbursts are common. Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic coverlets tend to favor the inscribed cornerblock complete with weaver’s name, location, date, and customer. There were many regionalized woolen mills and factories throughout Pennsylvania. Most successful of these were Philip Schum and Sons in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Chatham’s Run Factory, owned by John Rich and better known today as Woolrich Woolen Mills.

Coverlet weavers were among some of the earliest European settler in the Northwest Territories. After helping to clear the land and establish agriculture, these weavers focused their attentions on establishing mills and weaving operations with local supplies, for local markets. This economic pattern helped introduce the American interior to an industrial economy. It also allowed the weaver to free himself and his family from traditional, less-favorable urban factory life. New land in Ohio and Indiana enticed weavers from the New York and Mid-Atlantic traditions to settle in the Northwest Territories. As a result, coverlets from this region hybridized, blending the fondness for color found in Pennsylvania coverlets with the refinement of design and Scottish influence of the New York coverlets.

Southern coverlets almost always tended to be woven in overshot patterns. Traditional hand-weaving also survived longest in the South. Southern Appalachian women were still weaving overshot coverlets at the turn of the twentieth century. These women and their coverlets helped in inspire a wave of Settlement Schools and mail-order cottage industries throughout the Southern Appalachian region, inspiring and contributing to Colonial Revival design and the Handicraft Revival. Before the Civil War, enslaved labor was often used in the production of Southern coverlets, both to grow and process the raw materials, and to transform those materials into a finished product.

Because so many coverlets have been passed down as family heirlooms, retaining documentation on their maker or users, they provide a visual catalog of America’s path toward and response to industrialization. Coverlet weavers have sometimes been categorized as artisan weavers fighting to keep a traditional craft alive. New research, however, is showing that many of these weavers were on the forefront of industry in rural America. Many coverlet weavers began their American odyssey as immigrants, recruited from European textile factories—along with their families—to help establish industrial mills in America. Families saved their money, bought cheaper land in America’s rural interior and took their mechanical skills and ideas about industrial organization into the American heartland. Once there, these weavers found options. They could operate as weaver-farmers, own a small workshop, partner with a local carding mill, or open their own small, regional factories. They were quick to embrace new weaving technologies, including power looms, and frequently advertised in local newspapers. Coverlet weavers created small pockets of residentiary industry that relied on a steady flow of European-trained immigrants. These small factories remained successful until after the Civil War when the railroads made mass-produced, industrial goods more readily available nationwide.

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 portion of the design. The dark square is called a table. #weaving #overshot #coverlet #history

This post is the third in a series introducing you to common weaving structures. We’ve already looked at plain weave and twill, and this time we’re going to dive into the magic of overshot weaves—a structure that’s very fun to make and creates exciting graphic patterns.

Overshot is a term commonly used to refer to a twill-based type of weaving structure. Perhaps more correctly termed "floatwork" (more on that later), these textiles have a distinctive construction made up of both a plain weave and pattern layer. Requiring two shuttles and at least four shafts, overshot textiles are built using two passes: one weaves a tabby layer and the other weaves a pattern layer, which overshoots or floats, above.

Readers in the United States and Canada may be familiar with overshot textiles through woven coverlets made by early Scottish and English settlers. Using this relatively simple technique, a local professional weaver with a four-shaft loom could easily make a near-infinite variety of equally beautiful and complex patterns. If you’d like to learn more about overshot coverlets and some of the traditions that settlers brought with them, please see my reading list at the bottom of this article!

As it is twill-based, overshot will be very familiar to 4 shaft weavers. It’s made up of a sequence of 2-thread repeats: 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 1-4. These sequences can be repeated any number of times to elongate and create lines, curves, and shapes. These 2-thread repeats are often referred to as blocks or threading repeats, IE: 1-2 = block 1/A, 2-3 = block 2/B.

There are three ways weft appears on the face of an overshot cloth: as a solid, half-tone, or blank. In the draft image I’ve shared here, you can see an example of each—the solid is in circled in blue, the half-tone in red, and the blank yellow. Pressing down the first treadle (shafts 1 and 2), for example, creates solid tones everywhere there are threads on shafts 1 and 2, half-tones where there is a 1 or 2 paired with 3 or 4, and nothing on the opposite block, shafts 3 and 4. Of course, there’s not really nothing—the thread is simply traveling on the back of the cloth, creating a reverse of what’s on the face.

Because overshot sequences are always made up of alternating shafts, plain weave can be woven by tying two treadles to lift or lower shafts 1-3 and 2-4. When I weave two-shuttle weaves like overshot, I generally put my tabby treadles to the right and treadle my pattern picks with my left foot and my tabby with my right. In the draft image I’ve shared above, I’ve omitted the tabby picks to make the overarching pattern clearer and easier to read. Below is a draft image that includes the tabby picks to show the structure of the fabric.

Traditional overshot coverlets used cotton or linen for warp and plain weave wefts, and wool pattern wefts—but there’s no rule saying you have to stick to that! In the two overshot patterns I’ve written for Gist, I used both Mallo and Beam as my pattern wefts.

In the Tidal Towels, a very simple overshot threading creates an undulating wave motif across the project. It’s easy and repetitive to thread, and since the overshot section is relatively short, it’s an easy way to get a feel for the technique.

The Bloom Table Squares are designed to introduce you to a slightly more complex threading—but in a short, easy-to-read motif. When I was a new weaver, one of the most challenging things was reading and keeping track of overshot threading and treadling—but I’ve tried to make it easy to practice through this narrow and quick project.

Overshot works best with a pattern weft that 2-4 times larger than your plain weave ground, but I haven’t always followed that rule, and I encourage you to sample and test your own wefts to see how they look! In the samples I wove for this article, I used 8/2 Un-Mercerized Cotton weaving yarn in Beige for my plain weave, and Duet in Rust, Mallo in Brick, and Beam in Blush for my pattern wefts.

The Bloom Table Squares are an excellent example of what weavers usually mean when they talk about traditional overshot or colonial overshot, but I prefer to use the term "floatwork" when talking about overshot. I learned this from the fantastic weaver and textile historian Deborah Livingston-Lowe of Upper Canada Weaving. Having researched the technique thoroughly for her MA thesis, Deborah found that the term "overshot" originated sometime in the 1930s and that historical records variably called these weaves "single coverlets’ or ‘shotover designs.’ Deborah settled on the term "floatwork" to speak about these textiles since it provides a more accurate description of what’s happening in the cloth, and it’s one that I’ve since adopted.

This book contains the collected drafts and work of Frances L. Goodrich, whose interest in coverlets was sparked when a neighbor gifted her one in the 1890s. Full of charming hand-painted drafts, this book offers a glimpse into North Carolina’s weaving traditions.

Amanda Ratajis an artist and weaver living and working in Hamilton, Ontario. She studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design University and has developed her contemporary craft practice through research-based projects, artist residencies, professional exhibitions, and lectures. Subscribe to herstudio newsletteror follow her onInstagramto learn about new weaving patterns, exhibitions, projects, and more.

The origin of the technique itself may have started in Persia and spread to other parts of the world, according to the author, Hans E. Wulff, of The Traditional Crafts of Persia. However, it is all relatively obscured by history. In The Key to Weavingby Mary E. Black, she mentioned that one weaver, who was unable to find a legitimate definition of the technique thought that the name “overshot” was a derivative of the idea that “the last thread of one pattern block overshoots the first thread of the next pattern block.” I personally think it is because the pattern weft overshoots the ground warp and weft webbing.

Overshot gained popularity and a place in history during the turn of the 19th century in North America for coverlets. Coverlets are woven bedcovers, often placed as the topmost covering on the bed. A quote that I feel strengthens the craftsmanship and labor that goes into weaving an overshot coverlet is from The National Museum of the American Coverlet:

Though, popular in many states during the early to mid 19th centuries, the extensive development of overshot weaving as a form of design and expression was fostered in rural southern Appalachia. It remained a staple of hand-weavers in the region until the early 20th century. In New England, around 1875, the invention of the Jacquard loom, the success of chemical dyes and the evolution of creating milled yarns, changed the look of coverlets entirely. The designs woven in New England textile mills were predominantly pictorial and curvilinear. So, while the weavers of New England set down their shuttles in favor of complex imagery in their textiles, the weavers of Southern Appalachia continued to weave for at least another hundred years using single strand, hand spun, irregular wool yarn that was dyed with vegetable matter, by choice.

Designs were focused on repeating geometric patterns that were created by using a supplementary weft that was typically a dyed woolen yarn over a cotton plain weave background. The designs expressed were often handed down through family members and shared within communities like a good recipe. And each weaver was able to develop their own voice by adjusting the color ways and the treadling arrangements. Predominately, the homestead weavers that gave life and variations to these feats of excellent craftsmanship were women. However, not every home could afford a loom, so the yarn that was spun would have been sent out to be woven by the professional weavers, who were mostly men.

And, due to the nature of design, overshot can be woven on simpler four harness looms. This was a means for many weavers to explore this technique who may not have the financial means to a more complicated loom. With this type of patterning a blanket could be woven in narrower strips and then hand sewn together to cover larger beds. This allowed weavers to create complex patterns that spanned the entirety of the bed.

What makes overshot so incredibly interesting that it was fundamentally a development of American weavers looking to express themselves. Many of the traditional patterns have mysterious names such as “Maltese Cross”, “Liley of the West”, “Blooming Leaf of Mexico” and “Lee’s Surrender”. Although the names are curious, the patterns that were developed from the variations of four simple blocks are incredibly intricate and luxurious.

This is only the tip of the iceberg with regard to the history of this woven structure. If you are interested in learning more about the culture and meaning of overshot, check out these resources!

The National Museum of the American Coverlet- a museum located in Bedford, Pennsylvania that has an extensive collection of traditional and jacquard overshot coverlets. Great information online and they have a “Coverlet College” which is a weekend series of lectures to learn everything about the American coverlet. Check out their website - coverletmuseum.org

Textile Art of Southern Appalachia: The Quiet Work of Women – This was an exhibit that traveled from Lowell, Massachusetts, Morehead, Kentucky, Knoxville, Tennessee, Raleigh, North Carolina, and ended at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. The exhibit contained a large number of overshot coverlets and the personal histories of those who wove them. I learned of this exhibit through an article written by Kathryn Liebowitz for the 2001, June/July edition of the magazine “Art New England”. The book that accompanied the exhibit, written by Kathleen Curtis Wilson, contains some of the rich history of these weavers and the cloth they created. I have not personally read the book, but it is now on the top of my wish list, so when I do, you will be the first to know about it! The book is called Textile Art of Southern Appalachia: The Quiet Work of Women and I look forward to reading it.

German linen weavers, who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th century, brought their linen patterns with them. They enlarged the patterns to create their handwoven coverlets that they originally used to weave Hin und Wieder Arbeit (back and forth work). 19th century extant coverlets and handwritten pattern manuscripts have been the basis of Gay McGeary’s research and weaving of these star work beauties. She will share the coverlets and drafts that she has found and how they have been inspiration for her coverlet weaving.

Gay McGeary’s handwoven coverlets are inspired by the works of early Pennsylvania Germans. By studying early coverlets and pattern manuscripts from the nineteenth century, she has learned about the design elements used by the early master weavers to create this early art form. She incorporates color, texture and pattern within her finely woven coverlets, combining art with function.

Gay will share her design process for weaving her coverlets. While she often weaves star work and star point twill coverlets using her Toika computer assist loom, she also has explored weaving star work coverlets on 6-8 shafts.

Experience the art of early-American coverlet pattern weaving, while learning about the simplicity of planning with weaving software. Students will learn how the 19th century coverlet weavers used block designs to create their patterns with different weave structures and how to interpret and prepare drawdowns from handwritten manuscript drafts for many different weave structures. The student will learn how to take the profile draft/drawdown of a double weave pattern that would require

Interpreting 19thCentury SouthernEarly southern counterpanes, woven with fine weight cotton, provided a lightweight bedcovering for hot summer months. While the patterns may be subtle, they were often combined with elaborate fringes. Unfortunately, few examples have survived. However, Gay has found two collections of 19th century counterpane drafts attributed to weavers from the western counties of Virginia. Come join her in an exploration of the counterpane drafts that were handwritten on narrow strips of paper. Interpretation of the threading drafts can be challenging. Usually only the draft is given and, if lucky, the weave structure will also be included. The weave structures used for the counterpanes included dimity, honeycomb, huckaback, Ms & Os, satin, and twill. The weaver often combined two of these weave structures to form an interesting block design. Come and get a taste of the beautiful, but subtle southern counterpanes. Not only will this class include the interpretation of 19th century drafts, but it will include examination of woven samples of many of the drafts, woven by Gay or members of the Early American Coverlet

Gay will share with you her exploration of 19th century coverlet fringes. Some are very plain while others are fancy. Each enhances the beauty of a coverlet. Her presentation will include examination of fringes on early coverlets as well as information on how to weave the early fringes. Students attending the virtual class will need to warp their own loom before the class, while students attending Red Stone Glen will use a pre-warped loom. All students will get to weave several fancy fringes and a couple of plain ones using one warp.

In this online lecture series, Gay will share her research of early American nineteenth century handwoven coverlets. She has learned from the master weavers how to design, draft and weave coverlets by studying the extant coverlets, handwritten pattern drafts and account manuscripts from the period. After all it takes a weaver to truly understand the work of the master coverlet weavers.

Come and learn how to weave a wide variety of fancy fringes used by the early coverlet weavers. The 19th century weavers did not leave instructions for their fringes. Thankfully, we do have their extant coverlets to analyze and decipher. Gay has done the analytical work, so you can learn how to weave these intriguing fringes for your own weaving. You will learn how to take stripes of warp separated by spaces and manipulate the weft to form unusual fringe. In addition, you will learn how to downsize several of the trimmings to use for smaller weaving. You will also weave tape fringe and fringe for your overshot projects. Join Gay to explore the world of fabulous fringe.

While we can no longer sign up as a novice weaver and work with a 19th century master weavers, we can study the extant coverlets they wove and the handwritten manuscripts they wrote as novice weavers.

Early coverlet weaver designed their decorative bed coverings by combining the use of pattern, texture, and color. Each element was utilized for eye appeal as well as function. Once the door is opened to the exploration of this early art form, we will discover the variety of weave structures used with basic block designs. We will learn how to decipher the early handwritten drafts and tie-ups that were recorded by hand in their manuscripts. Each early coverlet and manuscript draft is a mystery waiting for us to solve and use as inspiration for our weaving.

Learn how to identify the basic weave structures used in geometric coverlets. Defining characteristics will be presented along with hands-on examination of coverlets woven with the various weave structures. For more info go to

When German linen weavers immigrated to Pennsylvania, they brought their seventeenth and eighteen century weaving books with linen patterns. They used these patterns to weave handwoven bedcoverings called coverlets. Gay will explore the rich heritage of 19th century Pennsylvania German coverlet weaving through extant coverlets and handwritten pattern and account manuscripts. She will connect the migration of the Pennsylvania German weavers and German weavers to Maryland.

Christian Frey, a nineteenth century Pennsylvania German weaver, classified coverlets into three groups: Double, Half Double, and Single "Coverletz" This presentation focuses on the third and less known group, "singles" coverlet, aptly named since they are woven with one layer of cloth . It includes the following weave structures: Turned Twill, Combination Weave, Point Twill Diamond & Star, and Gebrochen. Extant coverlets and early drafts will be explored to show provenance, as well as the distinct characteristics of this unique group of coverlets.

During this one-and-a-half-day workshop you will learn about the theory of block design and the use of profile drawdowns to plan your work for summer & winter weave. You will warp your loom with a two block, four shaft pattern in the summer and winter before the workshop. You will weave the three basic treadling for summer and winter weave for pairs, singles and Dukagang. You will also have the opportunity to learn how to use block substitution for the profile drafts found on one of the pages of the Gutelius manuscript. The patterns can be woven on 7 shafts for summer & winter weave.

Gay will describe the naming, patterns and provenance for Cat Track, Dog Paw, Eagle and Turtle Shell coverlets which are also currently on exhibit at the National Museum of the American Coverlet, Bedford, Pennsylvania. See Coverlet Presentation for Gay"s PowerPoint Presentation

Experience the art of early pattern weaving while learning the beauty of planning with computer software. It takes at least two blocks to create a pattern motif such as a star or rose and three blocks to create a snowball and its variation, the tree. Come learn how the 19th century coverlet weavers used block design to create their patterns with different weave structures such as overshot, summer & winter, star work, tied

Beiderwand, double weave and turned twill. Students will weave a runner in one of these weave structures while gaining experience treadling in woven as drawn in, rose fashion and by manipulating the block design to create border patterns. Students will also have hands-on experience determining a draft of an early pattern through fabric analysis and will utilize tools from the 21st century to plan apattern design in Fiberworks PCW or WeavePoint.

us about the art of coverlet weaving. We can learn about the patterns, weave structure and yarns that they use. We will examine the tools for analysis including contemporary weaving software such as Fiberworks and WeavePoint. The theory of block design along with fabric analysis will be discussed. Work sheets will be provided to show the steps to perform analysis. Major emphasis will be placed on analysis of overshot coverlets, but the same techniques can be used to examine other weave structures such as double weave, summer and winter, turned twill, star work and the many varieties of point twill coverlets.

Afternoon Lecture: Design Elements of Early American Coverlets - Early coverlet weavers designed their decorative bed coverings by combining the use of pattern, texture and color. Each element was utilized for eye appeal as well as function. Once the door is opened to the exploration of this early art form, we will discovered the variety of weave structures used with basic block designs such as what Gay calls the "Whig Rose" form.

Gay sees each coverlet as a mystery to be solved. What is the early weaver telling us. What are the important features of their work. She dissects each piece and then shows how the pieces contribute the whole. She will share her journey of research and weaving by examining the elements of design in coverlets in her collection and ones she has photographed from museum collections such as the National Museum of the American Coverlet, the Alling Coverlet Museum, and The State Museum of Pennsylvania as well as coverlets in private collections. Once the ground work has been laid, she will demonstrate how we can use the legacy of the early master weavers as inspiration for our own work.

Workshop: Weaving Coverlet Fringes - This is a master"s class in the weaving of coverlets fringes. While we will be examining the fringes used on nineteenth century coverlets, the same techniques can be used for other types of weaving. We will explore both simple and elaborate fringes techniques. Some are woven with the coverlet, while other are woven separately and sewn on. One simple technique allows us to have the colorful wool fringe on the bottom of the coverlet as well as the two sides

for float work coverlets in order to create an artful framing of our work. We will be weaving tape fringe, weft fringe, leno lace fringe, parallel and diagonal tied fringe as well as bands of plain weave fringe to name a few. Gay is always finding new techniques used on this early art form and welcomes the opportunity to share what she has

found. Since different types of warp will be required, this is a round robin class. The only requirements are a desire to explore the myriad of fringe techniques used as an important design element by the early coverlet weavers. Plus your four shaft loom must be warped and ready to go by class time so we can jump in to the land

Nineteenth Century Coverlet Fringes: Plain & FancyWhile nineteenth century weavers recorded their coverlet drafts in handwritten manuscripts or published books, there is little written about the beautiful fringes which frame this early art form. However, by studying the extant coverlets Gay has documented the simple and elaborate fringes which the weavers applied to enhance their work. During Gay’s presentation she will share many of the early coverlets in her collections and explain why and how the fringes were created.

Pennsylvania German weavers enlarged and modified the German Hin und Weider Arbeit star motifs in order to create interesting coverlet designs. This talk will focus on the point twill related patterns and weave structures found in extent coverlets and early manuscripts. By connecting a pattern from an early coverlet to a pattern in a manuscript, it is possible to determine who might have been weaving certain related patterns, as well as what, where and when they were weaving them. For discussion purposes the motifs and weave structures are categorized into five groups (1) Nine Stars, (2) Large Star & Rose, (3) Stars & Flowers, (4) Window, and (5) Dog Paw.See myNotebook/Pennsylvania German Ingenuity pagefor articles I have written for the Early American Coverlet Study Group on this topic.

Designing and Drafting with Early Coverlet PatternsStarting with the theory of block design, we will examine the patterns and weave structures used by 19th Century coverlet weavers. We will explore how this early art form was produced by examining the elements of design in coverlets in the instructor"s collection and coverlets she has photographed from such museum collections as the National Museum of the American Coverlet, the Alling Coverlet Museum, and the State Museum of Pennsylvania, as well as coverlets in other private collections. Once the ground work has been laid, we will explore how we can use the legacy of the early master weavers as inspiration for our own work.

In this seminar, we will examine early coverlets to learn about the fringe techniques used by 19th Century weavers to frame their handwoven coverlets. The fringes range from simple warp and weft fringe to tape fringe and leno lace fringe. A particularly interesting one is a fringe that is woven in strips, tied into bundles as woven, and sewn onto the finished coverlet. We"ll see samples of that and several other types of coverlet fringes. All of the decorative types of fringes can be easily adapted to other forms of weaving. Instructions for weaving the fringes will be included.

Coverlet Fringe Workshop - Using photos, coverlets from her collections and her own work, Gay will show examples of different types of coverlet fringes and explain how to weave them. She will explore the fringes used by 19th century weavers to enhance their handwoven coverlets including weft and warp fringes, tape fringe, leno lace fringe, woven tied fringe and some unusual fancy fringes.

Guest Program: Traditional Coverlets - Gay is a traditional coverlet weaver who has learned her art and craft by studying the legacy of the early weavers. She has documented her research in articles in the Complex Weavers Journal and the Early American Coverlet Study Group Newsletters. It is not her goal to copy the early coverlets, but to use them as inspiration for her weaving, just as an early weaver would have done. She will discuss her explorations of the early coverlet patterns and weave structures and how she uses them for her weaving. Gay invites you to bring in geometric coverlets you own and she will use them to explain how she analyzes and identifies coverlets.

The Creativity of the Pennsylvania German Coverlet Weavers - Gay McGeary will share her research on point twill coverlets woven by Pennsylvania German weavers in the 1820s to 1860s during the peak period of coverlet weaving in the United States. The German linen weavers who immigrated to Pennsylvania used their creativity to produce many different types of coverlets. For her presentation she will explore a group of point twill coverlets, which include many of the more unique float work coverlets. She has categorized them into five groups: (1) Nine Stars, (2) Star and Rose, (3) Stars & Flowers, (4) Window, and (5) Dog Paw. Gay will also share her handwoven coverlets which have been inspired by the patterns and weave structure of these early weavers.

This book features the original sample collection and handwritten drafts of the talented, early 20th century weaver, Bertha Gray Hayes of Providence, Rhode Island. She designed and wove miniature overshot patterns for four-harness looms that are creative and unique. The book contains color reproductions of 72 original sample cards and 20 recently discovered patterns, many shown with a picture of the woven sample, and each with computer-generated drawdowns and drafting patterns.

It was these woven bed coverings—variously called coverlets, coverlids, and “kivers”—that captured the imagination of collectors in the early 20th century. Unlike humble towels, sheets, and handkerchiefs, coverlets were likely to be treasured, preserved, and passed down through the generations. They used simple color combinations (usually white and indigo blue) and geometric patterns to produce striking effects that appealed to Americans who were tired of the ornate furnishings of the Victorian era. To many collectors, the coverlets were true works of art that demonstrated the innate aesthetic sense of early American women. They also served as tangible symbols of the industry and thrift associated with the “age of homespun.”

Coverlets were made on the same four-harness loom that was used to produce other kinds of cloth. As I noted in the last blog post, in its most basic form weaving involves only two sets of elements—the warp and the weft. In plain weaving, the weft yarn goes over one warp yarn, then under the next, and so on. In float weaves, there are also two sets of elements, but the weft goes over or under more than one warp. (Twill and satin are examples of float weaves.) Coverlets use a type of weave called overshot, which also uses floats but adds a third set of yarns to create a compound weave. There is a warp and weft of white cotton or linen and then a supplementary weft of colored wool, which “floats” over and under the warp to create the pattern. Since the width of a loom was limited to the span of the weaver’s arms, coverlets were woven in two halves and then sewn together down the middle.

Weavers shared overshot coverlet patterns with friends and family as drafts, a form of notation that recorded the way that threads were to be put through the heddles of the harnesses and the sequence of the treadles that controlled the harnesses. Drafts bear a certain resemblance to musical notation, with four horizontal lines representing the harnesses and numbers or other marks representing the threads. Each weaver had her own way of recording drafts which can seem quite mysterious to non-weavers. Like quilters, weavers also gave their coverlets fanciful names—Broken Snowballs, Lafayette’s Fancy, Wandering Vine—which varied by region. In a world of mass-produced goods, the individuality of coverlets and their makers was part of their charm to collectors.

The earliest American woven coverlet that can be definitively dated is from 1771, and women continued to make them into the 19th century, though by the 1820s professional weavers were also making more elaborate jacquard coverlets. As families moved west from New England into New York, Ohio, Indiana, and beyond, they brought the tradition of weaving coverlets with them. In certain parts of the south, particularly the mountain regions of Kentucky and Tennessee, domestic textile production remained an important part of the local economy well into the 1900s. In our next posts, we’ll look at early collectors of coverlets and their relationship with the movement to preserve hand weaving in Appalachia.

Over three years ago, when my David Louet floor loom was still somewhat new to me, I wrotethis post on overshot. If you read it, you will discover that my initial relationship with overshot was not a very positive one.

The happy ending to the initial overshot sob story is that I can weave overshot now. Quite well, in fact! And I also teach it. And I happen to love it, very, very much. Don’t you love a happy ending?

I don’t think there was any particular moment where I thought to myself “I can weave overshot now!” I didn’t even weave any overshot for quite some time after that initial attempt. But slowly it tempted me back, and we started over. It was just a matter of sticking with it, employing some specific techniques and practice, practice, practice until it feels like an old friend.

My love of overshot has only increased with my more recent discovery of American Coverlets. I loved the look of the coverlets and the history behind them before I realised that so many of them were woven in the wonderfully humble 4 shaft overshot.

I’ve put a lot of research time into coverlets this year and have made it a big weaving goal of mine to weave my first coverlet, which is quite an undertaking, but I relish the thought.

Now that I have quite a lot of experience weaving overshot, I want to share my best overshot tips with you in hope that you too will fall in love with this wonderful weave structure.

To weave overshot you need a warp yarn, a tabby yarn and a pattern weft yarn. Using the same yarn for warp and tabby works perfectly. For the pattern weft, I like to use a yarn that is twice the size of the tabby/warp yarn. I have experimented with using doubled strands of tabby/warp yarn in a contrasting colour, but it just doesn’t look as good. A thicker pattern yarn is the way to go.

What will the size of your item be? A miniature overshot pattern may get lost in a blanket, but may be perfect for a scarf. As a general rule, a good way to estimate the size of one repeat of your pattern just by looking at the draft is to see how many repeats are in one threading repeat. Also consider the thickness of your yarns and the sett you intend to weave.

This is a non negotiable for overshot if you want neat edges and less headaches! You get used to using floating selvedges very quickly, so don’t stress if you have no experience with them.

There are 6 treadles needed for overshot, even though you weave on 4 shafts. The two extra treadles are for the tabby weave. I always set up my pattern treadles in the centre of the loom – two on the left and two on the right. Then I set up a “left” tabby and a “right” tabby treadle. To do this on my 8 shaft loom I leave a gap between the pattern treadles and the tabby treadles so that my feet can “see” and differentiate between a pattern and tabby treadle.

I like to advance little and often. You will find your own preference or “sweet spot” for weaving, but I find that with overshot I advance a lot more frequently at a much smaller amount than I do usually.

An example of this is that I wove an overshot sampler right before Is started my main project (the throw). It was a narrow warp (around 8″) and a different overshot threading and treadling than I’m using for the project.

I personally do not use a temple. Some weavers will say they won’t weave without one. I’ve tried using a temple on many of my projects, particularly if I’m getting broken edge warp threads (signs of tension problems and too much draw in). But I will avoid using one wherever I can get away with it, and I don’t use one for weaving overshot.

Most of the overshot coverlets displayed here were woven in the early 19th century on four-harness looms and could be woven by the home weaver. The more complicated summer and winter and double weavecoverlets required more than four shafts and were largely the domain of the professional weaver.

Inexpensive mill spun cotton yarn became available shortly after 1800 with the invention of the cotton gin. Until then farm families raised and processed flax for linen and sheep for their wool. Once home weavers could purchase cotton yarn for their warp, they stopped using their labor-intensive hand-spun linen. There was more time to weave for pleasure. Overshot coverlets quickly became a popular form of artistic expression.

Professional weavers probably produced most of the summer and wintercoverlets displayed here because of the number of blocks in the designs. The client selected a pattern from the weaver’s pattern book and often provided her own homespun wool. The coverlet became a collaborative effort between the client and weaver.

Natural dyes were used to color the wool for this coverlet. It is likely that goldenrod, with alum as the mordant, was used to produce the gold color. The green dye may have been derived by cooking the goldenrod in an iron pot. Some other sources of green dye are black-eyed susans, coneflowers, nettles, and barberry root. It is also possible that the gold wool was over-dyed with indigo to produce the green color.

This coverlet was found at the Church family homestead in Chaplin. The coverlet features repeating blocks of wheel motifs. The knotted fringe was probably added at a later date. Can you see the sun, moon and stars in this pattern?

The rust-colored wool in this coverlet may have been dyed with madder root. The Weaver’s Choice pattern features large lozenge motifs surrounding blocks of four roses. Together they form a large blossom pattern.

Wheels motifs are a common element in early coverlets. There are many variations. This pattern is known as Wheel of Fortune. This coverlet features wheel motifs joined by 8-step crosses, forming a strong diagonal pattern.