overshot coverlet patterns factory

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.

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.

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.

The Storrar Coverlet, which has the date 1729 woven into the border, is thought to have been handed from generation to generation, from first daughter to first daughter and is a remarkable survivor of a once common domestic textile. It is a two-colour wool double cloth in red and yellow green and woven in one piece, composed of two layers of cloth which interchange with each other to create the pattern and to provide thickness and warmth.

A weaver in Kilmarnock named John Murchland was awarded a Premium by the Board of Trustees for Fisheries, Manufactures and Improvements in 1736, for setting up a "Manufacture of Coverlets or Paislim Coverings for Floors which will ...Improve the Manufacture of Searges there, the Coarsest of the Wooll being very good for this ..." These more homely bed covers rarely survive and it is remarkable that The Storrar Coverlet is in such good condition with little sign of wear or fading.

In Scandinavia, patterned coverlets woven in double cloth, often with one warp and weft of linen and the second of wool were a prized part of family celebrations. A curious feature of this coverlet is the incomplete repeat at both sides, although there are no raw edges. Perhaps the pattern for this piece had been originally designed for a larger woollen hanging. Although long in the Storrar family, the origin of the coverlet is unknown. Described as the Storrars of Orphat (Nether Urquhart, Cupar, Fife) the family was long associated with Fife. But the county itself had strong trading links with continental Europe and Scandinavia. Many Scottish merchants were based abroad dealing in both wool and linen cloth. Experts from Holland, France and England came to Scotland bringing new fashions and manufacturing techniques with them.

In the century between the departure of James VI for London and the Union of 1707 there were opportunities for the development of wool manufacturing at home which were encouraged by Royal patronage and statute. Patterns of birds in a flowering tree or in a dovecot are often found on textiles, seen for example in several coverlets in the collections of the Nordiska museet in Stockholm, of a later date. Paired birds on The Storrar Coverlet suggest the marking of a betrothal or a birth in 1729. Family research records the marriage of Richard Storrar of Orphat to Margaret Paterson in 1787 and it may be that the coverlet came into the family through the previous generation.

Over a century later, commemorative Jacquard woven quilts and coverlets continued to feature birds, frequently emblematic birds such as eagles in the United States. In Scotland, The Storrar Coverlet reminds us of the skills of handloom weaving wool and worsted cloths which are now largely lost. Yet it has survived despite state encouragement for the linen trade and the subsequent onslaught of the cotton industry.

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.

Forty to 45 woven bed coverlets and a small number of quilts made by approximately 30 different weavers are displayed, many of them hung in full-sized splendor. Exhibition objects were selected by guest curator Kathleen Curtis Wilson on the basis of their artistic excellence, superior design, use of color, and quality of execution.

Unlike the worn and faded, dark blue and red, pieces commonly identified with mountain weaving, these textiles include a wide variety of patterns in an incredible array of bright greens, reds, oranges, light blue, magenta, purple, and combinations of colors not usually associated with coverlet weaving. In superb condition, these large graphic art objects make a dramatic and powerfully engaging exhibition. In addition, the exhibition includes handwoven clothing and household linens, weaving drafts, and photographs related to specific weavers, to provide a contextual interpretation of the work of these Appalachian women.

The work of Callie Hedrick reflects that weaver’s special facility in the creation and use of color. In one coverlet, Callie chose to wind green and red wool on separate bobbins rather than plying the two yarns together. She then wove the coverlet using the separate yarns together, visually transforming two bold colors into a soft, heathery hue.

Appalachia is a region that has long enjoyed a distinctive artistic tradition developed from a unique combination of cultural, social, and geographical circumstances. This exhibition focuses on the beautiful work of women who continued the weaving traditions of their foremothers long after people in other parts of the country had put away spinning wheels and looms in favor of factory-made materials. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Appalachia is changing rapidly. People are moving in and out of the region, weakening the bonds of family and community memory and removing the objects themselves from their cultural context. Textile Art from Appalachia: The Quiet Work of Women brings together these textiles and their stories, stimulating a new respect and appreciation for the artistic excellence and heritage of mountain coverlet handweaving.

Two East Tennessee museums have joined hands to showcase the legacy of Appalachian women and their craft in the exhibit Textile Art from Southern Appalachia: The Quiet work of Women. The decorative coverlets and other textiles are on exhibit not only at the McClung Museum, but also at the East Tennessee Historical Society Museum, also in Knoxville.

Tennessee pieces in the exhibit are on view at the East Tennessee Historical Society Museum. That venue also has on display some cards (for carding wool or cotton) and some pattern drafts that accompany the coverlets on exhibit there.

This project was really popular when I posted it on Instagram, so I thought I would share it here also. It is a simple overshot pattern - with a twist. Also a great way to show off some special yarn. The yarn I used for my pattern was a skein of hand spun camel/silk blend. I wove the fabric on my Jack loom but you could also use your four or eight shaft loom.

Overshot is a weave structure where the weft threads jump over several warp threads at once, a supplementary weft creating patterns over a plain weave base. Overshot gained popularity in the turn of the 19th century (although its origins are a few hundred years earlier than that!). Coverlets (bed covers) were woven in Overshot with a cotton (or linen) plain weave base and a wool supplementary weft for the pattern. The plain weave base gave structure and durability and the woollen pattern thread gave warmth and colour/design. Designs were basic geometric designs that were handed down in families and as it was woven on a four shaft loom the Overshot patterns were accessible to many. In theory if you removed all the pattern threads form your Overshot you would have a structurally sound piece of plain weave fabric.

I was first drawn to Overshot many years ago when I saw what looked to me like "fragments" of Overshot in Sharon Aldermans "Mastering Weave Structures".

I wanted to use my handspun - but I only had a 100gms skein, I wanted to maximise the amount of fabric I could get using the 100gms. I thought about all the drafts I could use that would show off the weft and settled on overshot because this showcases the pattern yarn very nicely. I decided to weave it “fragmented” so I could make my handspun yarn go further. I chose a honeysuckle draft.

RM2DM7FE9–Coverlet fragment, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: plain compound weave (overshot), Fragment showing traditional geometric design in brown wool and undyed cotton., USA, 18th–19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RM2DMBEGX–Coverlet fragment, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: double cloth, Border fragment showing traditional linear geometric border. In very dark blue indigo-dyed wool with unbleached, undyed cotton., USA, 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RMPA9KA0–Coverlet. Culture: American. Dimensions: 99 1/2 x 102 in. (252.7 x 259.1 cm). Date: ca. 1825. This overshot coverlet is woven of undyed cotton and blue and orange wool in two panels and seamed at the center. There is an applied woven fringe along each side and along the bottom edge. The piece is T-shaped to accommodate bedposts. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

RM2DMGGCF–Coverlet fragment, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: compound weave, Coverley fragment of dark indigo blue wool and undyed cotton showing abstract “Cross of Tennessee” pattern., USA, late 18th–early 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RM2DMBRFK–Coverlet fragment, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: plain weave with supplementary weft patterning (overshot), Fragment of traditional woven coverlet, with undyed cotton ground and bands of supplementary weft patterns in dark blue, sage green, and rust-red., USA, 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RM2BF2YE5–Coverlet fragment. Border fragment showing traditional linear geometric border. In very dark blue indigo-dyed wool with unbleached, undyed cotton.

RM2HJ15T2–Coverlet ca. 1825 American This overshot coverlet is woven of undyed cotton and blue and orange wool in two panels and seamed at the center. There is an applied woven fringe along each side and along the bottom edge. The piece is T-shaped to accommodate bedposts.. Coverlet 13635

RMPAN0RW–Coverlet, Agriculture & Manufactures pattern. Culture: American. Dimensions: 103 3/4 x 79 3/4 in. (263.5 x 202.6 cm). Date: 1837. This double cloth coverlet is woven in one wide panel of undyed cotton and dark blue wool. The central field has large floral medallions, and the borders are decorated with images of eagles with outspread wings alternating with Masonic symbols. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

RMKNG0WG–Coverlet, Saint Ann´s Robe or Governor´s Garden pattern. Date: ca. 1825; Culture: American; Medium: Wool and cotton, woven; Dimensions: 92 1/2 x 91

RM2BF2YD3–Coverlet fragment. Squares with various geometric fillings formed by dark blue pattern wefts on a cloth ground of undyed cotton. Reversible.

RM2BF21A8–Coverlet fragment. Fragment of traditional woven coverlet, with undyed cotton ground and bands of supplementary weft patterns in dark blue, sage green, and rust-red.

RMKNEWAE–Coverlet. Maker: Absalom Klinger; Date: 1846; Geography: Made in Millersburg, Pennsylvania, United States; Culture: American; Medium: Cotton warp,

RM2BF2YDC–Coverlet. Traditional geometric design in bands of black and tan wool pattern wefts on undyed cotton ground. One plain edge continuous with field. Reversible.

RMKNG0W2–Coverlet. Date: 1844; Geography: Made in Dutchess County, Washington Hollow, New York, United States; Culture: American; Medium: Wool, cotton, woven;

RMPAPBJE–Coverlet, Four Snowballs pattern with Pine-tree border. Culture: American. Dimensions: 77 3/4 x 65 1/4 in. (197.5 x 165.7 cm). Date: ca. 1830. This double cloth coverlet is woven in two panels from undyed cotton and dark blue, light blue, and salmon-colored wool. It is seamed at the center and hemmed at the top. The bottom edge is finished with a natural fringe. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

RM2BCW7N3–Coverlet fragment. Research in ProgressTraditional, geometric design showing combinations of small triangles in dark blue on a white, undyed cotton ground. Reversible. Coverlet fragment

RM2BF2YCN–Coverlet fragment. Fragment showing traditional design of combinations of various triangles and diamonds, slightly curving, in bands of rust red and two shades of blue wool on undyed cotton ground. Reversible.

RM2CE76R0–. Cotton . centuries of the Christian era and a few centuries previous, suchdesigns as existed being largely of a tribal or sacerdotal character,were unfitted for export. We know that the first silks transported over the old caravanroute were in narrow bolts 19 inches in width, undyed. These weretaken to the old cities of Petra and Damascus, unraveled, dyed andwoven in patterns that suited the taste of the Mediterranean markets.Design controlled the sale of silk, we know. There can be little doubtthat the lack of it at this period prevented the spread of cotton. At a later period, India excell

RMKNG0WH–Coverlet. Date: ca. 1825; Culture: American; Medium: Wool and cotton, woven; Dimensions: 99 1/2 x 102 in. (252.7 x 259.1 cm); Classification: Textiles

RMPB1C6G–Coverlet. Culture: American. Dimensions: 89 x 81 in. (226.1 x 205.7 cm). Date: ca. 1850. This double cloth coverlet is woven with undyed cotton and red and blue wool in two panels and seamed at the center. It is patterned with rows of floral clusters alternating with rows of single flowers, each within a cartouche. The piece is hemmed along the top border and has a natural fringe on the left and right sides and along the bottom edge. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

RMKNEWAM–Coverlet. Date: 1833; Geography: Made in Southport, New York, United States; Culture: American; Medium: Cotton and wool warp and weft, woven;

RM2BF629Y–Coverlet fragment. Small section of coverlet showing traditional geometric design in brown wool pattern weft on undyed cotton ground. May be walnut dye. Possibly made in Pennsylvania.

RM2BF2YDF–Coverlet fragment. Traditional geometrical decoration with squares in broad framework with various fillings. In deep blue, bright rust, and blue-green wool pattern wefts used in bands of these colors on undyed cotton ground.

RM2DMEEY0–Coverlet fragment, Medium: cotton, wool Technique: overshot, Small section of coverlet showing traditional geometric design in brown wool pattern weft on undyed cotton ground. May be walnut dye. Possibly made in Pennsylvania., USA, mid-18th–early 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RM2BF2190–Coverlet fragment. Coverlet fragment showing a pattern of medallions composed of flowers and leaves in alternating brown and dark blue horizontal stripes on undyed cotton. To the right, a border of stylized flowers. Fringe of the same material sewn to one plain selvedge.

RM2DN1783–Coverlet fragment, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: plain compound cloth (overshot), Traditional, geometric design showing combinations of small triangles in dark blue on a white, undyed cotton ground. Reversible., USA, early 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RM2DMGFPC–Coverlet, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: plain compound weave (overshot), Traditional geometric design in bands of black and tan wool pattern wefts on undyed cotton ground. One plain edge continuous with field. Reversible., USA, 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet

RMPAA7HD–Coverlet. Culture: American. Dimensions: Excluding fringe: 80 1/4 x 103 in. (203.8 x 261.6 cm). Date: 1844. This red wool and undyed cotton double cloth coverlet is woven in two panels and seamed at the center. It has a central floral medallion and four large roses in the field. The border has clusters of grapes and leaves, which alternate with single-stemmed roses on the left and right sides and with three snowflake motifs within the top and bottom borders. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

RM2DMDBJ9–Coverlet fragment, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: plain weave with supplementary weft patterning (overshot), Squares with various geometric fillings formed by dark blue pattern wefts on a cloth ground of undyed cotton. Reversible., Ohio, USA, early 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RM2DM8YKP–Coverlet fragment, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: plain compound weave (overshot), Fragment showing traditional design of combinations of various triangles and diamonds, slightly curving, in bands of rust red and two shades of blue wool on undyed cotton ground. Reversible., USA, 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RM2DMBR4R–Coverlet fragment, Medium: wool, cotton Technique: jacquard woven, Coverlet fragment showing a pattern of medallions composed of flowers and leaves in alternating brown and dark blue horizontal stripes on undyed cotton. To the right, a border of stylized flowers. Fringe of the same material sewn to one plain selvedge., USA, mid- 19th century, woven textiles, Coverlet fragment

RMKNEWAF–Coverlet. Maker: Probably Asahel Phelps; Date: 1853; Geography: Made in Delhi, New York, United States; Culture: American; Medium: Cotton and wool

RM2DMFW98–Coverlet, Medium: cotton, tussah silk Technique: chain stitch embroidery, Indo-European figural groups, plant and animal combinations, in large lobed medallions in horizontal-vertical arrangement on a ground filled with small figures, floral motives, birds and animals. In coarse yellow silk chain stitch on undyed cotton ground., Bengal, India, 17th century, embroidery & stitching, Coverlet

RM2BF1CTE–Coverlet. Indo-European figural groups, plant and animal combinations, in large lobed medallions in horizontal-vertical arrangement on a ground filled with small figures, floral motives, birds and animals. In coarse yellow silk chain stitch on undyed cotton ground.

RMPAKWFH–Coverlet. Culture: American. Dimensions: 98 1/2 x 89 3/4 in. (250.2 x 228 cm). Date: ca. 1840. This coverlet is woven in two panels and seamed at the center. It has a warp of undyed and light blue cotton and a weft of dark blue, green, and red wool and undyed cotton. The central field shows feather medallions alternating with foliate medallions. The bottom border has a stylized vine motif, and the right and left borders have roses and tulips. Peacocks adorn each of the two corner blocks. Both sides of the coverlet have natural fringe, and there is attached fringe along the bottom edge. Museum

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

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

ANSWER: Coverlets originated in Europe. Early ones, woven on a four-harness type loom, didn’t have complex patterns like those made in the mid 19th century in the United States. Their unique designs were made possible by the invention of the “Jacquard” loom.

Typically, weavers produced cotton coverlets for weddings and births. Wedding or bride coverlets or blankets were required items in a young woman’s hope chest. Starting around 1825, major towns had a resident weaver whose job it was to make blankets and accept work on commission. The weaver may have had an apprentice and the weaver’s loom was the site of his/her business dealings. Coverlets were double woven and produced with wool and imported indigo blue and madder red or brown dyes. A traditional early 19th-century woven coverlet would cost the buyer between $5 and $15. Coverlets were much more commonplace than quilts from about 1823 to the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Learn more about Jacquard coverlet and rug weaving by reading "Weaving their Way Into History" in The Antiques Almanac. This is the story of a family who has kept Jacquard coverlet weaving alive in Pennsylvania.