Introduction:
Supplementary wefts are wefts that if pulled out of the cloth an intact cloth would still remain. Usually, I would say the ground cloth would be a balanced plain weave but it doesn’t have to be.
Overshot
This is a typical supplementary weft pattern we call overshot. I really love this technique.
Here is my project for the overshot class I took at Pacific Basin School of Textiles. You can read about it in a previous post on March 15, 2022.
One of my mentors, Helen Pope, wove bookmarks when she was in her 90’s. She loved to chose one overshot threading and see how many different patterns she could make from the one threading. I’m lucky enough to have this set all woven on the same warp.
Here is a close look at 2 of Helen’s bookmarks.
Inlay
Inlay is another type of supplementary weft. It follows the basic rule that it could be removed, and an intact cloth would remain. This is a loom I saw in Bhutan.
A close look showing in detail the inlay areas in the Bhutan warp, above.
We saw this inlay in the Philippines. The fabric is likely made with threads made from pineapple plants in the weft or in both the warp and weft. It’s called pina cloth.
Another inlay from the Philippines.
Some inlay on netting from my collection from somewhere.
I wove this piece on a warp left over from my students who wove color blankets. I have often tried optical illusions. And triangles seem interesting to me when trying out ideas.