Have you seen Deb Essen’s striking rigid-heddle Montana Sunrise Scarf from the Spring 2026 issue of Easy Weaving with Little Looms? Two shades of blue run along the outer edges of the scarf, while a variegated sock yarn with irregularly shaped edges fills the middle.
This technique is called double clasped weft, and if you’re wondering whether it’s possible to weave something similar on your multi-shaft loom—yes, you can!
How Double Clasped Weft Works
The Montana Sunrise Scarf isn’t just for rigid-heddle looms—it can also be woven on multi-shaft looms when you know how the double clasped weft technique works.
The underlying weave structure for this scarf is plain weave, so it requires only two shafts. The warp consists of three wide stripes (blue, orange, and blue), roughly aligning with the areas of weft colors. As you thread, warp ends should alternate between the two shafts. Tie up one shaft to one treadle, and the other shaft to a different treadle. As you weave, you’ll alternate those treadles.
You’ll be using three wefts, but this is a one-shuttle weave. The shuttle holds the center yarn, and the edge yarns sit on the floor on each side of the loom. At each open shed, you pass the shuttle through loops pulled from each edge yarn and then adjust the positioning of the joins on each side. When everything looks good, you lift the shuttle out of the center of the warp, beat, and change the shed. The weft picks end up doubled in each shed.
The shuttle holding the central weft yarn loops around the edge wefts. Illustration by Long Thread Media
This technique requires a bit of attention to how the clasps are positioned side to side, and how they lay next to each other in the shed. Unweaving can be challenging, so you’ll need to take your time with each pick before you move on to the next one—but the results can be stunning.
Get All the Weaving Details
If that’s enough information to get you going, great! When you’re done, please send us a picture.
If you’d like more details, you’ll find the project with full instructions here, or in the Spring 2026 issue of Easy Weaving with Little Looms. The weaving process is identical on rigid-heddle and multi-shaft looms, but be sure to make your warp a little longer to compensate for the extra loom waste that’s typical on multi-shaft looms.