Four-Shaft False Damask

Day 332: Until very recently, I thought it was only possible to weave false damask on an eight-shaft loom or a draw loom. Then I discovered a novel technique as explained by Sarah of Sarah Jackson Handwoven Designs on YouTube for executing it on a four-shaft loom. Her instructions there are not complete, and I was too lazy to try to figure out the tie-up (although I was fairly certain it was broken twill, as it turned out to be), so I bought her tutorial pattern through Etsy. I decided to weave it on my table loom in case it proved to be beyond me, but now after several inches of very steep "learning curve waste," I am pleased to say that my pattern is beginning to emerge. I did not use Ms. Jackson's design, instead drawing one of my own to suit the dimensions of the trial run.

Let me tell ya, this is a right royal pain in the neck to weave, but I haven't been this excited about a new technique since I discovered overshot some fifty years ago. Supplemental to your loom's four shafts, you will need a pickup stick, two lengths of music wire and the patience of a saint. If you are following a design on graph paper, each square requires four picks, three of which involve manually picking up the pattern threads. A wire is then passed through the lifted threads and pushed back against the reed, and when the shed is opened, the wire holds the pattern threads above the lower tier. The remaining shed (#3) utilizes the threads picked up and held on the wire from the previous pass. I call it "the easy shed," but easy or not, if I am not careful, I risk picking up unwanted threads. After discovering several inadvertent floats in my practice work, I added another step to Ms. Jackson's process: reinserting the pickup stick in the shed before sending the shuttle through. Even so, I have to check each shed to be sure it is clear. The design on the "back" of the fabric is the exact reverse of that on the "front."

Technically, this process effects the same shed sequence you would get if you were treadling an eight-harness loom. The four-shaft weaver uses pickup sticks/wires to create the same sheds which would be created by treadling. Obviously, this means it is a slower process because of all the manual manipulation required, but the main thing is this: IT CAN BE DONE! And you don't need an eight-shaft loom to do it. Did I mention "slow?" I'm getting faster. I can now complete four passes of the shuttle in something under ten minutes. That's real progress!