Overshot Vs. Summer-and-Winter

Day 322: If I asked you to tell me how these two pieces of cloth are alike and how they are different, you would probably point out the obvious: that one is red, one is green, that they are different patterns, but that would only be superficially correct. An experienced weaver would reply, "The one on the left is summer-and-winter weave. The one on the right is overshot." Let's talk about that for a minute.

Summer-and-winter weave (left) produces a pattern which is not quite the exact opposite of itself on the reverse side. That's where the name comes from. One side is light (top), the other dark. In overshot (right), the pattern reverses, creating the inverse of the design. Compare the top and bottom images of the green coverlet. Neither side is dominated by the colour of the pattern threads. While the technique for weaving in both these styles employs a tabby thread on every other throw to bind the pattern threads in place, the threading and treadling sequences account for the difference. Either weave can be effected on a four-shaft loom, although eight shafts will provide more latitude in creating complex patterns. True overshot is woven in "blocks," i.e., throws are repeated multiple times to make squares or rectangles which are staggered to form a design like the one in the righthand photo. While summer-and-winter weaves occasionally use blocks, turning the cloth over to view the back will tell you whether or not a block-worked piece is true overshot.