Shadow weave is basically a block weave woven mostly as plain (tabby) weave, with occasional small floats where blocks adjoin. The “shadow” effect is produced by the alternating light and dark warp and weft threads. Introduced in the 1940s by Mary Meggs Atwater and followed up by Harriet Tidball in the 1950s, shadow weave was reinterpreted by Marian Powell in the 1970s in her book “1000(+) Patterns in 4, 6 and 8 Harness Shadow Weaves.” In this book, Ms. Powell introduced a threading, tie-up and treadling conversion to the Atwater method which allowed the weave structure to be seen as a block weave.
The interlacing of lights and darks in both the warp and weft creates the horizontal and vertical lines that are characteristic of a shadow weave fabric. Light and dark diagonal lines occur from the short floats created when switching between blocks. The arrangement of blocks in both the threading and the treadling can produce thousands of patterns, even on a four-harness loom.
The most basic shadow weave is often known as Log Cabin and needs only 2 harnesses (similar to the quilt pattern Log Cabin in that it contains only horizontal or vertical lines). In one block Log Cabin, the warp alternates between light and dark – harness 1 with all light threads and harness 2 with all dark threads, threaded 1,2,1,2 across the loom. Weaving Log Cabin consists of alternating light and dark weft woven in plain weave.
One block shadow weave can display two different effects, depending on if the dark weft is woven with harness 1 or with harness 2.
Horizontal lines: Raise harness 1 (light warp) and throw a light weft. Since the light weft crosses over (and therefore hides) the dark warp, what you see is a light warp thread next to a light weft thread, producing a horizontal light line. Raising harness 2 (dark warp) and throwing a dark weft produces a horizontal dark line.
Vertical lines: Raise harness 1 (light warp) and throw a dark weft (the dark weft crosses the dark warp, leaving the light warp exposed). Raise harness 2 (dark warp) and throw a light weft (the light weft crosses the light warp, leaving the dark warp exposed). Repeating this sequence produces vertical light and dark lines.
Two block Log Cabin is created by a second block with the light and dark warps switched. Instead of harness 1 containing light warp and harness 2 containing dark warp, the second block has dark warp on harness 1 and light warp on harness 2. Weaving a light weft when lifting harness 1 creates a horizontal line in block A and a vertical line in block B. Weaving a dark weft when lifting harness 1 creates a horizontal line in block B and a vertical line in block A.
Mindy presents one-day workshops/meetings about shadow weave upon request.
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