Finally.....we are getting to Overshot, the first weave structure I fell in love with way back in 1979. Everyone was weaving overshot in the '70's....."Keep Me Warm One Night" by Dorothy K. Burnham and Harold B. Burnham was hot off the press, filled with wonderful drafts and inspiring history of early handweaving in eastern Canada. I wove my first coverlet in 1979.....it was woven without tabby picks between pattern picks. The draft was from Marguerite Porter Davison's "A Handweavers Pattern Book" and when I looked at the draft it said 'use tabby' up at the beginning of the treadling, so I did. I started and ended each coverlet panel with 6 picks of tabby. It was one of the worst coverlets ever woven, but after multiple fullings it finally stopped moving all over the place and I gave it to my boss as a wedding present. I hope she has laid it in its final resting place.....lol.
Overshot is having a resurgence. I see it all over Instagram and FB. Weavers, young, in the middle and old, are interpreting the old patterns in new ways. It makes me weepy when I think of the connection this provides us, to all the weavers who have gone before. We owe so much to those brilliant weavers.
I could have spent an entire year on this subject. Alas.....we have to keep moving or I'll never finish this curriculum with you. This little episode is a good introduction. It will help you navigate the enormous Overshot world and help you dive deeper, should you wish to.
You can purchase the Overshot Kit right here:
https://weaving.link/overshot-kit
An introduction to our lesson, Overshot and a few great books!
We look at the first pages of your PDF handout and go through the theory of Overshot and look at examples of drawdowns.
Jane demonstrates profiles and how to work from them.
We take a closer look at Overshot from Marguerite Porter Davison's book.
Jane gives us a quick look at the 5 scarves we'll be looking at further in detail in 6.4.6.
We'll have a good look at each of the 5 scarves and how they were woven by going through the treadlings.
Jane weaves Overshot!
We have another great Show & Tell with pieces woven by the Dream Team and a few extras of vintage coverlets and some modern pieces dyed with Indigo!
Don't forget to download this PDF as well and follow along learning about Overshot.