4 shaft overshot weaving drafts supplier

Blend three colors of yarn across the warp and weft to make a lovely scarf that gently shifts color from one edge to the other.  These scarves are designed to give you this fun color experience on either your Rigid Heddle or 4-shaft Loom!  Have fun and change color!

We had so much fun with the Discover Gradients Weave Along, that we created Napkin and Placemat instructions using the gradient lessons in the class as a launching pad for our design.  The napkins are woven with 10/2 Tubular Spectrum™ mercerized cotton yarn, and the placemats are woven with 3/2 Tubular Spectrum™ mercerized cotton yarn.  Each kit contains enough yarn for warp and weft and has multiple color options.  Both the napkin and placemats have instructions for either shaft looms or rigid heddle looms.

Elsa Krogh, Danish weaver, spinner and author, has brought together her favorite weaving patterns using four, six and eight shafts. Elsa has woven beautiful and exciting shawls, scarves, cushions, towels, table runners, placemats and fabric material, She uses a variety of techniques from twill to summer and winter and modern backed weaves and there are projects for all levels of weaving experience. Many of the patterns are sourced from archival material from local museums. Elsa brings a wonderful sense of continuity to her craft as well as elegant Scandinavian style.

Want to make Hand towels that are both functional and beautiful?  This is it!  8 colors from around our Tubular Spectrum™ Mercerized cotton plus enough white yarn to make either 2 or 4 beautiful and functional basket weave dishtowels.  Now available in Tones, Tints or Brights!

Finished towels are approximately 12.5” x 27”.  The 2-towel variations only have instructions for weaving on the rigid heddle looms.  The 4-towel variations have instructions for both rigid heddle and 4-shaft looms.  We include several treadling variations for the 4-shaft looms to mix things up!  Choose Brights, Tints or Tones yarns.

Remember secret decoder rings and writing special messages for your friends? Overshot name drafts are woven “secret messages” created by assigning each letter of a phrase to a shaft on the loom. Based on the message “Yes, it’s worth it”, this 4-shaft design is the weaver’s response to “But you can buy a runner, is it really worth all the effort?” Why yes, yes it is indeed worth it. Featuring Lunatic Fringe Yarns Tubular Spectrum™ Tints & Tones mercerized cotton yarns.

The natural color green or golden tan cottons used for the pattern get darker with washing! Warp length allows for 20″ thrum waste plus allowances for take-up, tie on. Maximum weaving length is 76″. Finished width: 13″

Weave 13 stipes into 4 Patriotic Napkins as we tip our hats (or should we say our summer bonnets…) to the original 13 colonies for Independence Day.  Reduce your carbon footprint, show your patriotism, and have fun weaving and using these quick and easy 4-shaft Napkins.

These instructions are for 2 thick and thirsty bath towels (finished size approximately 31” x 64”). Woven with soft 8/2 unmercerized cotton yarn, and a 4 or 8-shaft waffle weave structure, these towels have a delicious softness.  Treat yourself or your loved ones to some new towels.

Weave 4 spectacular pillow covers! The finished size of the pillow covers is about 18” x 17”.  Lee’s Surrender is an overshot pattern that uses 4 harnesses.  The pattern listed below comes from Marguerite Porter Davison’s book A Handweaver’s Pattern Book on page 184.

Weaving overshot is fun…you will weave with two shuttles.  One shuttle carries the pattern yarn, and the other shuttle carries the tabby or tie down yarn.

This overshot pattern is stunning! The finished size of these placemats are approximately 13.5” x 18.5”.  Lee’s Surrender is an overshot pattern that uses 4 harnesses.  The pattern listed comes from Marguerite Porter Davison’s book A Handweaver’s Pattern Book on page 184.

Weaving overshot is fun…you will weave with two shuttles.  One shuttle carries the pattern yarn, and the other shuttle carries the tabby or tie-down yarn.

We have paired our luscious American Maid™ Natural White Cotton yarn with a carefully curated collection of 4 colors of Maurice Brassard cotton yarns.  With each kit, you can create 4 stunning towels.  These towels will bring a burst of color to your kitchen or bath!

Welcome to Baja Mexico where the desert meets the Sea of Cortez! Cliffs of volcanic rock tower over gorgeous beaches in quiet coves where the water changes from brilliant turquoise in the shallows to deep blue in the depths. The pattern reflects the patterns of Mexican textiles. The pattern is bands of Summer and Winter, woven in Dukagang style.  Kit makes 4 placemats, approximately 13″ x 18″.  Choose either the Sand or Sea version.

Who wouldn’t want to reach for a fluffy, handwoven bath towel when you step out of the shower or bath?  These towels make great gifts, sure to impress even the most discerning of newlyweds! And, for the best part…they weave up quickly.   The towels come in either brown or green and are made from our own American Maid 100% Naturally Colored Cotton Yarn.   The kit makes 2 thick and thirsty bath towels (finished size approximately 31” x 64”). Woven with soft 8/2 unmercerized cotton yarn, and a 4 or 8-shaft waffle weave structure, these towels have a delicious softness.  Treat yourself or your loved ones to some new towels!

It is truly luxurious to wrap up in a fluffy, handwoven bath towel when you step out of the shower or bath.  These towels make great gifts, sure to impress even the most discerning of newlyweds! The towels come with soft natural white for the body of the towel, and you choose your favorite accent color from 10 Maurice Brassard colors to customize these towels!  And, for the best part…they weave up quickly.   The kit makes 2 thick and thirsty bath towels (finished size approximately 31” x 64”). Woven with soft 8/2 unmercerized cotton yarn, and a 4 or 8-shaft waffle weave structure, these towels have a delicious softness.  Treat yourself or your loved ones to some new towels!

Woven by Rachel SnackWeave two overshot patterns with the same threading using this downloadable weave draft to guide you. This pattern features the original draft along with one pattern variation. Some yarns shown in the draft are available to purchase in our shop: 8/2 cotton, wool singles, 8/4 cotton (comparable to the 8/4 linen shown).

please note: this .pdf does not explain how to read a weaving draft, how to interpret the draft onto the loom, or the nuances of the overshot structure.

The term overshot brings to mind coverlets woven on Early American barn frame looms dating back to the 1700s. It is believed Europeans brought the weave structure to North America and fortunately weaving materials such as wool and cotton were readily sourced and available.

Susan invites you to spend two insightful days exploring one of her favorite weave structures. Her workshop creates multiple overshot samples serving as a ‘snapshot’ of overshot threading sequences. This approach provides the groundwork for wider weaving projects once concepts are mastered.

Utilizing an 8/2 cotton warp and tabby weft along with Borgs Faro 6/1 for pattern weft. Looms will be dressed prior to the workshop with the 4-shaft 8 1/4″ wide warp.

Our study will delve into understanding block weaves and treadling the overshot weave structure. Overshot treadlings such as Star, Rose, Italian, Flame-Point Fashion will be explored in addition to Echo, On-Opposites, Petit Point, Lace weave, Spetsväv, and Honeycomb to name a few.

Susan’s workshop examines and let weavers explore this fascinating structure and provides a comprehensive understanding for future weaving projects. Both days include lectures, power point demonstrations, and short videos with ample time for questions.

Participants will receive a draft for a special project which can be completed after the workshop.  It is a complete Overshot Pillows Draft which is 16” wide on the loom and could include up to ten pillow tops. Sampling first, as we will do in the workshop, will enable you to enjoy your new-found knowledge for such a project.

Our wide range of 4-shaft weaving patterns are perfect for beginner, intermediate and advanced weavers—we have something for everyone. Learn how to create woven kitchen towels, scarves, table runners, cowls, tops, ponchos, cloth, and rugs—all suitable for a table loom or floor loom with four shafts.

Every 4-shaft weaving pattern comes with a weaving draft, which is shown in the PDF pattern, and also delivered as a .wif file for people who use weaving draft software.

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.

Long out of print, this fabulous book covers the Burnham’s extensive collection of early settler textiles from across Canada, including basic threading drafts and valuable information about professional weavers, tools, and history.

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.

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.

When doing the treadle tie-up I used 3 and 8 for my plain weave and started weaving from the left, treadle 3 - so you always know which treadle you are up to - shuttle on the left - treadle 3, shuttle on the right treadle 8. I then tied up the pattern on treadles 4,5,6 and 7. You can work in that order by repeating the sequence or you can mix it up and go from 4 to 7 and back to 4 again etc. You will easily see what the pattern is doing.

I never really thought of using different colors for overshot before, but after feeling inspired by a group discussion, I decided to try it! I like it a lot and will probably do it again. The warp is pink, yellow, and blue. The tabby weft is the same rotation of pink, yellow, and blue, while…

Pattern is designed to use our Organic cottolin (Cotolin) to weave 4 placemats- finished size 14"X20", 4 napkins 14"X14" and a runner with a finished size 14"X38". Requires an 8 shaft loom, 24 epi, 15" wide. 1 tube each of our 4 Ruby Anniversary colors Vendor item: HYPattern

Related items:15 3/4" 8 shaft loom, 12 dent reed double sleyed, shuttles, 4 bobbins. Pattern gauge: 12 dpi Yarn weight: Lace Yardage needed:1 tube each of 4 colors. We used 2 reds 5096 & 5116, and 2 purples 8264 & 5153.

Ask most people what “overshot,” and most weavers think of American colonial weavers and their coverlets. While coverlets are represented here, this collection also includes projects that dazzle with color, drape with luscious softness, and take overshot in new directions. Scarves and shawls, runners (for table and floor), tablecloths and clothing—all appear in this comprehensive collection. Overshot, even in its colonial interpretation, was a miracle weave, allowing unbelievable patterning on only four shafts. Add to pattern the use of color and fine and luxurious yarns, and you’ll start your own love affair with overshot. This is the second eBook on overshot (see also A Baker"s Dozen: Top Projects in Overshot eBook)

Drafts are used to describe how to set up and weave a pattern. A weaving draft contains a tie-up (how to connect the shafts/harnesses to the treadles). The order of placing the threads into the heddles on the shafts, and the order in which the treadles are pressed in order to weave the desired pattern. These drafts are only a sampling of what is available. In many cases, by following the link you may be able to download a WIF format file of the draft (if you have computer weaving software you will be able to import this file and adjust it to fit your particular weaving loom and project design.)

There were ten of us in the class, and we rotated, weaving a new sample at each loom. Marjie shared her knowledge of the patterns we sampled, and I came away with an even greater interest in this subject in addition to a binder filled with samples. There really is no greater way to learn than a hands-on workshop. I am already preparing to wind a warp for a dimity project. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

One interesting piece of information I learned is that overshot is a fairly modern term. Originally this type of weaving would have been referred to as floats or floatwork. It seems that many people are returning to this original terminology, though the weaving world has thus far shown little interest in making the change back. Personally, I like it. Floatwork sounds a bit less frenetic than overshot – as though I’m peacefully hitting my mark rather than missing it in a wild fashion.

When I first considered writing this article, I wasn’t confident enough with my weaving vocabulary to write something that a true beginner might actually understand. The information out there assumed, and still assumes, a certain level of weaving knowledge. I learn best by seeing something demonstrated, not by trying to translate written instructions. So how does one write an article for people like me? Let’s start with some basic terminology.

Floatwork, formerly known as overshot which was originally known as floatwork, is a block design traditionally woven on four shafts where a heavier pattern yarn floats above a plain weave ground cloth and creates a raised pattern. Your plain weave background cloth is woven using a finer yarn in your warp and in every other weft pick (these weft picks being the ‘use tabby’ part of your pattern.)

This finer yarn is hidden in places by the thicker yarn floats, blended in places with the thicker yarn (as plain weave) creating areas that are shaded (referred to as halftone), and woven across itself to create delicate areas of plain weave. Most of us think of antique coverlets when we hear ‘overshot.’

For some reason the term tabby has always annoyed me. It made me think of cats (I’ve got two – one of whom decided to take my seat when I got up to get a quick snack – and I love them both dearly) not weaving until I looked up the origin of the word on etymonline.com.

Back to business. Tabby is a plain weave pick that anchors your pattern pick in place. When weaving floatwork, every other weft pick is tabby. Your pattern pick needs the tabby pick to stabilize the cloth and keep the pattern picks from becoming distorted. This also means that you are working with two shuttles, one holding your tabby yarn and one holding your pattern yarn. This two-shuttle thing can be a bit awward at first, but you’ll get the hang of it with a little practice.

Here is the thing about floatwork that really helped it to make sense for me. It is basically a twill weave. As Mary Black puts it, “An examination of an overshot draft shows it to be made up of a repetitive sequence of the 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and 4 and 1 twill blocks”.

Let’s look at the pattern picks only. When weaving, your pattern blocks should overlap by one thread. This creates a pattern that flows from unit to unit instead of making a sharp step. It also means that the last thread of a given block is the first thread of the next block, and as you are initially threading your loom, your threads will move from odd shaft to even shaft.

Probably the trickier part of treadling is keeping track of where you are in the sequence. Like many traditional floatwork patterns, the pattern I used is meant to be woven tromp as writ or as drawn in. This means that your treadling is the same as your threading. So if your threading is 1-2-1-2-3-2-3-4, then your pattern picks are treadled 1-2-1-2-3-2-3-4. You will be throwing tabby picks after each pattern pick, so your actual treadling looks like (inthis example let’s consider your tabby picks to be ‘a’ and ‘b’) 1-a-2-b-1-a-2-b-3-a-2-b-3-a-4-b. If this looks a bit intimidating, don’t fret. At first it might feel that way, but the pattern really does start to make sense after you get going.

In the case of my draft, the threading sequence is 134 threads long. This is a lot to remember, but I used an index card to write out the sequence. I marked my place by sliding a second card down the pattern as I progressed, keeping it in place with a paperclip.

You can find it listed in the chapter or sub-chapter entitled ‘Notes on the Overshot Drafts.’ As someone who generally cheers on the underdog, I was drawn to this pattern without a name.

Atwater’s patterns are written for a sinking shed loom. For a rising shed loom, like the Baby Wolf I used, simply tie up the shafts left blank in the draft instead of the shafts she tells you to tie up. For all of her traditional floatwork patterns, including the pattern I used, this tie-up would be 3-4, 1-4, 1-2, 2-3. Your tabby tie up should be 1-3 and 2-4.

Here is a list of books and magazines that might be of interest if you’d like to learn more about floatwork/overshot. Many of these references include patterns in addition to thorough instructions.

Atwater, Mary Meigs. The Shuttle-Craft Book of American Handweaving. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1928. Just scored a first edition on ebay for $9! I now have three copies and am seriously in love with this book (taken with a grain of salt as she is rather traditional.)

If you can find this issue anywhere, I’d recommend picking it up. It’s full of great information on historic weaving, but also has a super article on understanding and writing drafts by Debbie Redding (aka Deborah Chandler).

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Skill level:  This is for Advanced Beginners or Intermediate level.  Student MUST know how to warp a loom, read a draft and have their loom ready for weaving.

Workshop Description:Want to play with color and find some great new combinations?  Want to try weaving with multiple threadings and structures?  Not only will you see how your colors interact with each other, BUT you’ll also see how different treadlings work with the other threadings.  You’ll learn how to thread once, then weave different pieces on the same warp by changing your colors or treadlings (OR both!)  You’ll weave a sampler in class to use as a very colorful runner, but it will also be a great resource for choosing future projects.

Participants should bring:Bring a warped shaft loom (sampler is aprox 18” wide), yarns to use for weft – (same as your warp), and normal weaving tools and supplies. Threading information and directions sent upon registration.  Rigid heddle weavers would be able to weave a color gamp in plain weave.Contact barb@weaversloft.com with any questions.