Överskärargränd, 1926

Överskärargränd is an alley in the Old Town of Stockholm that stretches from Västerlånggatan 24a to Stora Nygatan 13. The street, which is about 60 metres long, was named in the 1680s, and along the street is Gåstorget.

Name The alley first mentioned in 1684, replacing the older name Erik Ingemundsson's alley from 1619. Erik Ingemundsson (1581-1622) was mayor of Stockholm and had a house in the alley. In 1643, there is a mention of a carver named Absalon, after whom the alley may have been named. The carvers had their own guild with their own workshops and were active in this particular alley from the 15th century onwards.

So what does a cutter do? Well, overcutting was a method of manually cutting off the protruding flap of cloth before pressing, to get a thinner and shinier fabric. First the fabric was lightly roughened, then large wide-bladed scissors, such as wool scissors, were used.