Weaving With Janet Dawson
Unraveling Overshot ~ January 2-30, 2021
Are you intimidated by overshot’s fancy footwork and long treadling repeats?
Mystified by its specialized vocabulary?
Confused by “as drawn in”?
This New Year, say goodbye to these limitations and "HELLO!" to the most flexible structure you can weave on four shafts
Enroll NOW
in Unraveling Overshot - LIVE
January 2-30, 2021
but do they truly understand it?
Don't let this be you!
Sadly, many weavers are intimidated by overshot’s complex threadings, its two shuttles and fancy footwork, or its long treadling repeats. Some are confused by “use tabby,” while others are mystified by overshot’s own peculiar language.
As a result, they stay dependent on recipes and feel frustrated or anxious at the loom. Or - even worse! - they avoid overshot altogether.
It doesn't have to be that way!
Wouldn't it be amazing?
Her class also helped me explore more treadlings with each threading. Threading the heddles is my least favorite weaving activity. Now I put on a long warp and explore many other treadlings with the same threading. I now have one of my looms exclusively dedicated to overshot.
Don’t avoid overshot!
Instead, avoid dependence, intimidation, and frustration when you
Join the Unraveling Overshot – LIVE! experience for just $95 USD
What makes overshot so special?
Overshot creates large, sweeping curves; tiny, intricate motifs; bold, geometric patterns; and endless variety on just. four. shafts.
No other weave structure can say the same!
Become an overshot ninja and unlock its amazing potential!
Overshot is known as a coverlet structure, but it’s also ideal for placemats, runners, blankets, fashion accessories, table linens, rugs, and much more. Just about anything you want to weave can be done in overshot.
Our class project is a series of coordinated placemats and table runners, woven in inexpensive, easy to get materials you may already have in your stash. You’ll choose from three different threadings composed of classic overshot motifs, then treadle them in star fashion, rose fashion, and many other ways.
Don’t want placemats or runners, or don’t have that much time to commit? There’s an option to weave narrower, shorter samples instead if you prefer.
Don’t feel like weaving placemats, runners, OR samples, or don’t have a loom available? No problem! You can still participate in the class without weaving at all. The lessons, videos, Q&As, and pen and paper exercises will help cement your understanding of overshot even if you don’t take it to the loom right away.
In order to weave the class project, you'll need a shaft loom with at least four shafts. Table or floor; direct tie-up or lamms and treadles; jack, counterbalance, or countermarche – it doesn’t matter! They’ll all work!
Don’t have that kind of loom? No worries! You can still read, watch, listen, and do all the pen and paper exercises. Your deeper understanding of overshot will be beneficial when you do have a loom to use it on or decide to explore how to weave it on the loom you already have on your own.
Anne Neville Stauffer //
How many overshot weavers can answer these questions?
Join Unraveling Overshot – LIVE and YOU will be one of those who can!
What you’ll learn in Unraveling Overshot - LIVE
Week One:
Overshot 101
After week one, you’ll be able to recognize motifs and blocks and confidently understand overshot’s lingo.
Week Two:
Weaving Star Fashion
Week Three:
Weaving Rose Fashion
After week three, you’ll know more about rose fashion than is covered in any other book or class on the subject!
Week Four:
Beyond Star or Rose
After week four, you’ll know so many ways to mix, match, vary, and coordinate overshot treadlings – on a single threading! – that you’ll be able to weave for as long as you want without ever changing your threading!
Weaving classes online??
YOU BET! Online learning has got all kinds of advantages!
- Online classes accommodate YOUR schedule rather than the other way around. Are you a night owl or an early bird? Busy with work or family? The lessons are available 24/7 from the time they go live. Are you unable to weave the project within the timeframe of class? NO PROBLEM! You've got permanent access to all the materials, so they'll be ready and waiting whenever you and your loom have the time.
- You can take an online class without leaving the house. You don't need to pack a lunch - or wear a mask. You don't even need to get dressed!
- You can use your own equipment rather than a loom you're not familiar with. Plus, you don't have to haul it anywhere, or worry about forgetting something at home. You've got access to your own yarn stash, too.
- You can work at your own speed without anyone breathing down your neck. Need a break? Go ahead and take it! Need a glass of therapeutic wine? Have that, too!
- You can interact with your fellow students as much or as little as you like. Between the in-class Discussion Forums, an active Facebook group, and the weekly interactive Q&A sessions, there's loads of opportunity to meet and get to know the other weavers in class... but if that's not your cup of tea, there's no pressure at all to join in.
Online learning is a new animal for most of us, but I can make it work well for you no matter your learning style. Learn best by reading? By listening? By doing? By working through exercises, so that the information flows out through the end of your pencil and into your brain? This class has all that and more.
As a teacher with more than 20 years of experience, I understand that people learn in a variety of ways: by reading, by hearing, by watching, by doing, and by working through exercises with pen and pencil or computer. I’ve taught over 10,000 weaving students both on- and offline, so no matter your learning style, I’ve got you covered!
You don’t need to be tech savvy, either - as long as you have an internet browser, you can make full use of this course. No other software is needed.
Included in the course:
It's like a textbook + a workbook + a DVD + a guild seminar + a hands-on workshop + an international weave-along!
Plus 6+ hours of INTERACTIVE lectures and
6+ hours of INTERACTIVE Q&A
all for just $95 USD! That's less than the cost of a guild workshop!
Who am I and how can I help?
I'm Janet Dawson, and I’m a weaver, a teacher, a writer and an editor.
I’m good at math and patterns and also really good with words. According to the more than 10,000 (no kidding!) people I’ve taught in person, in my online Floor Loom Weaving class on Craftsy, and in online weave-alongs since COVID, this combination is my superpower: I not only get this stuff, I explain it well and write about it clearly.
Using my facility with words and my experience teaching online, I can help YOU get to know overshot up close and personal so YOU can make educated, informed design choices that will produce beautiful overshot cloth because YOU understand what’s going on at the loom.
I also really, really like cats.
I’ve spent years researching, weaving, and teaching overshot – discovering its little quirks, learning what makes it tick, and shedding light on its closely guarded secrets. I freely admit that it wasn’t my favourite when I first wove it over 25 years ago… but with familiarity and a deeper understanding I’ve come to truly love this beautiful, flexible, and infinitely varied weave structure.
In recent years I’ve taught overshot across the US and Canada and have loved every minute of it. Now in this brand new, four week online course, I can easily help YOU take YOUR relationship with overshot to the next level. In Unraveling Overshot, you’ll come to know this lovely, FOUR SHAFT weave structure intimately – and I’m convinced you’ll fall in love just like me.
Still have questions? I've got answers!
If you want to weave the class project, you’ll need a shaft loom with at least four shafts. It can be a table loom or a floor loom. It can be a jack loom, a counterbalance, or a countermarche. If your loom has more than four shafts, fine, but we won’t be using them in this class.
Weaving overshot on rigid heddle looms, or anything other than shaft looms, will not be covered in the course materials or webinars.
The class project uses unmercerized 8/2 cotton in natural or another light colour for warp and tabby weft, and unmercerized 8/4 cotton for pattern weft. The drafts and detailed project specs, including amount of yarns required, will be published in the classroom by mid-December so that you can wind your warp and dress your loom before class starts.
No, it isn't. Your loom should be dressed before class begins. Week One is light on weaving, though, so you'll have some time to catch up if you're not quite ready to throw the shuttle on January 2nd.
Nope, definitely not. If you HAVE it, you’ll be able to use it, but you don’t need it for this course. During the live lectures, I’ll show you some drafts and examples using Fiberworks PCW for Windows, but YOU don’t need to have it yourself.
In order to make the most of this class, you should be able to do these things on your own:
- Read a weaving draft, including threading, tie-up, and treadling or lift plan.
- Wind a warp and dress your loom, including threading and tying up the treadles
You should also be comfortable
- Winding bobbins
- Throwing and catching two shuttles
- Starting, joining, and ending weft yarns
Nope! Once each chapter goes live, its lessons will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, forever and ever, amen.
The webinars are scheduled for a certain day and time but they'll all be recorded and uploaded to the online classroom as soon as possible after the event so you can watch them if you weren't able to attend -- or re-watch even if you were!
You’ll be able to download and print ALL the drafts, project specs, and exercises. The text of the lessons themselves is not printable.
Your access to the class will NEVER EXPIRE. You’ll have ongoing access to all the class materials - lessons, videos, PDFs, and recorded webinars even after class ends.
Registration for Unraveling Overshot - LIVE closes on December 28, 2020, so be sure to grab your seat in class ASAP!
2020 has been a rollercoaster year but the silver lining of all the turmoil has been discovering new ways to share my love of weaving with more people than ever before.
I'm SO looking forward to ringing in the new year with a brand new class, working on brand new projects, and exploring brand new teaching horizons. I'm super excited to have you join me on the adventure!
I can't WAIT to weave with you,
