Name draft created from the title Bellwether, a book by Connie Willis. Because the warp threads alternated in color every two threads, it was easier to see any errors in the blocks as the weaving progressed. I only had a 15 dent reed with this...
Hand-dyed warp, dyed in the skein using fiber-reactive dyes, undyed weft. Woven on a new-to-me Bexell Cranbrook countermarche loom....
I use my towel projects as experiments. The draft does not show threads per color stripe, and the final threading was not exactly what my original plan called for. For these towels, the threading (right to left) was: Grey 20, White 4, Grey 12, White...
Warp Width: 19.5″ Sett: 24 Reed: 12 Sley: double # Ends: 470 Warp Yarn: unmercerized cotton Count: 8/2 Color: 6 colors Weft Yarn: unmercerized cotton Count: 8/2 Color: 6 colors, same as warp. Used one color for each of the 6 towels. Finished dimensions: 16.5...
This design was inspired by 200 Patterns for Multiple Harness Looms by Russell E. Groff (1979). Calculated as follows: Weaving width 20″ EPI: 20 400 warp ends, but I calculated 405 warp ends to balance the design. I added 2 floating selvages at each side....
I was inspired by “Twill Illusions with Two and Four Blocks” by Freya van Holst Pellekaan, p. 96 in Best of Weaver’s: Twill Thrills (2004). Basic threading, tie-up, and treadling for 5-end satin blocks is in Handweaving.net #74464. Warp color progression, right-to-left: 514 ends plus...
Warp is 8/2 cotton dyed by Kathrin Weber of Blazing Shuttles (for wider stripes) and 8/2 Maurice Brassard (for narrower stripes). Weft is 8/2 variegated purchased from Webs many years ago. Hems are 10/2 mercerized cotton from Lunatic Fringe. Lots of colors! The “Friendship Towels”...
A temple is most useful to prevent draw-in. You can make a coordinated set of towels on the same warp, having fun varying weft colors and block sizes. 480 ends Sett 2 per dent in a 12-dent reed Wet finished Hemmed, hand-stitched Love this cottolin!...
I used a Josephine Estes miniature, “Cambridge Beauty” (www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/monographs/eje_min1.pdf), to design this towel. I added some striped segments that altered the miniature repeats to create the structured effect I was seeking in the towel. 735 ends plus 2 FS each side. I played with the...
20″ wide, 600 ends plus floating selvages. Straight draw on 24 shafts so each towel could be different. I put on a 10 yard warp. I wove each towel about 37″ on the loom and hand hemmed. The towels are generously sized; the one for...
This towel was woven on a long warp of 496 threads in a 2 block design. Each block uses 8 shafts in a straight threading. I used several tie-ups to vary the look of each towel, and even included a tabby with one or two...
Woven in Valley Yarns 8/2 variegated unmercerized cotton in the ‘Cotton Candy’ colorway. It was interesting to weave because of the variegated yarn. Six towels were woven then zigzagged on the sewing machine. They were washed and dried in the dryer then cut apart and...
This towel was washed in the machine, dried in the dryer, ironed with steam and hand hemmed with cotton thread. Other notes on making the towel are included in the WIF. I might sett it a tad closer next time—22-24 epi. It offers a great...
I selected this pattern because I liked the geometry. I learned more about block patterns and how they are constructed. Strickler’s book notes that this draft, woven by Barbara McClanathan, is a 2 block twill adapted from Väv Magazinet, 1984, Nr.4, pages 20-21. Here are...
This is my expression of pansies viewed through a window. Used Kathryn Weber ‘s Blazing Shuttles for warp with white cotton and purple accents for warp. Structure was plainweave with two overshot accents in the weft—one narrow purple and one wider of white. Floating selvages...
I was influenced by the piece Vavstuga had for Bockens Egyptian 8/2 cotton on their website (store.vavstuga.com/product/yarn-bock-cot-8-2-dyed.html). Their current piece is actually a little different, as the one that influenced me had some red accent yarns in warp and weft. I liked the combination of...
It was my first experience with Bateman weaves. I looked at the following books to understand the technique and create my pattern: Bateman Weaves: The Missing Monograph by Linda Tilson Davis Weaving Innovations from the Bateman Collection by Robyn Spady, Nancy A. Tracy and Marjorie...
This is the oldest, simplest, and most traditional Scottish tartan. It is variously known as Shepherd’s Check, Houndstooth, or Northumberland (Northumbria) tartan, as that is the area where it originated. I can just imagine those early medieval weavers deciding to add a little variety to...
Changing the blocks in the tie-up and treadling can produce a variety of designs in the cloth while weaving on one warp. Towel designs are a good way to play with blocks in the tie up and treadling. I wove four different towels by changing...
Warp (10/2 organic cotton) was 513 ends including floating selvages. Used #3 treadling. A rolled hem was machine stitched....
The colors I used were blue, gray, red, and turquoise. This was a fun project to weave. I also added a hang tag woven with the same colors....
I used 422 ends including floating selvages. The warp is Chocolate Brown by Spartan Dyers from Cotton Clouds. The weft is turquoise by Maurice Brassard from The Woolery. My draft is #355 in Strickler’s A Weaver’s Book of Eight-Shaft Patterns. This is a plaited twill...
The original draft I found on the Schacht website had 414 ends, so I adjusted to 430 ends to meet the necessary width requirement. I also used a simplified threading, a draft of which was supplied to me by Judie Eatough. I machine washed the...
Note that the heddle count is significantly greater for harnesses 2 and 3 and minimal for harnesses 1 and 4....
I was introduced to this pattern, “Checked Houndstooth,” in a Scandinavian Towel class taught by Melissa Weaver Dunning. This traditional design can be found in Simple Weaves by Birgitta Bengtsson Bjork & Tina Ingell, p. 92. Warp is wound 36 Periwinkle, 4 Marine, 4 White,...
I made 6 towels on this warp. For all the towels except this one, I used 8/2 cotton. On this towel, I used a thicker cotton (Conshohocken ‘Softball’ cotton, color 088 – cherry). It made the whole towel very fluffy and I loved it....
I just started weaving in August 2020. My fiber friends, who are also weavers, encouraged me to join Jane Stafford’s Online Guild. I fell in love with Jane’s boucle towel kits and bought two for the colors. However, I wanted to try something I had...
I varied Jane’s original design, but started with her ideas. My fiber is actually cotton boucle and cottolin....
This is a draft that blends overshot and huck with plainweave in between. It was very hard to beat the overshot to square, so I ended up using sewing thread for tabby. 418 ends; 2.5 yards long. 8-shaft loom, 21″ weaving width; 10 dent reed....
I used the napkin patterns in the Handwoven article and adapted them. I used the treadling for towel 1. I began and ended the towel with 1 ½ inches of 10/2 weft to make the hems a little less chunky. 20″ in reed; 30″ long....
Twill blocks in 4 warp colors (red, black, grey, white) with block changes not coinciding with color changes. Blocks were woven as 3/1 and 1/3 twill rotating the same four colors as the warp. Color changes were made every 16 picks, alternating which side the...
This was fun and fast to weave. 24 epi 24 ppi 576 ends and 2 floating selvages I simplified the treadling for a less busy effect. Before finishing: 26″ long x 22″ wide After finishing: 22″ long x 20.5″ wide Shrinkage: 22% Machine wash cool,...
My towel has a combination of twill treadling with narrow strips of basketweave to outline the weft color changes. This was a simple project with lots of opportunities for different outcomes by changing tie-ups and treadling....
I always loved the look of turned twill and Jane Stafford renewed my interest with her lesson in her Online Guild. The colors in the towel were inspired from a clothing tag that I’ve held onto for years. I also love purple and green and...
I created this draft as a sketch and then modified it as I wove. I had intended to warp it in three sections: ABA. Somehow, my B section became 2 sections when I inadvertently went from beige, white, beige to white, beige, white in my...
I was inspired when Judith, a member of our guild, wove this for our April 2021 newsletter sample. This was fun. I put on five yards of warp, total of 562 ends (used floating selvages). I had a 20 inch width and wove 32 inches...
Traditional twill threadings like the Ms & Ws I used lend themselves to treadling variations. This towel includes straight, point, as-drawn-in, and several variations I “unvented” while playing around with Fiberworks. In the MAFA Samples Database, there is a second .wif file showing all the...
Hems are in plain weave using quilting weight sewing thread—weave 1/2″, insert thicker white yarn, another 1/2″ and another thicker yarn, and the last 1/2″. That gives a crisp fold line (after pulling out the thicker threads) for your hems. Cotton bouclé (teal) in warp...
This is a popular draft for kitchen towels with good reason. It is a fun weave and produces a good looking towel. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed weaving it. The Schacht website describes the “Friendship Towels” pattern: “This is...
I am learning more and more each time I weave. I am taking classes this time around to help me learn how to more efficiently warp my loom. And this was the first time weaving on my new-to-me Leclerc table loom. I really enjoyed watching...
The treadling was adjusted to allow squared blocks, with 8/2 Brassard cotton used for warp and weft. After being washed, the texture is nubby and more pronounced. The weaving width in the reed was 20.75″. I like the look and enjoy the process of hemming...
I wanted to weave a linen towel but with this design the linen weft didn’t work well, so I changed to cotton and was well pleased. This can be woven on a 4 shaft loom also—Davison has many patterns....
The loom was warped for a total of four towels. A total of 434 ends at 20 epi for the warp and 20 ppi for the weft. Allowance of two inches at the top and bottom of each towel. Using Fibonacci as my theme in...
This draft is a color and graphic exploration as part of the Jane Stafford Textiles Online Guild. This was created though her design influence. Consider using your interpretation of Fibonacci numbers. One thing that has become clear as I have worked with Jane Stafford is...
I am a novice weaver, and this is my 10th project. I had initially planned this project for 40/2 linen, but I was unable to find colored linen in that grist. Scaled up for 16/2 linen the pattern is more dramatic and the cloth is...
This towel represents the many towels I have woven on the straight 8-shaft twill threading using many tie-up and treadling variations in preparation for the MAFA class I am teaching. The threading offers so many options for weaving with the 8 shafts or 4 shafts...
This draft is from a terrific issue of Heddlecraft titled “Wicked Good Weaving—Squares and Grids.” This particular draft, in what Robyn Spady terms “x” style, was a lot of fun to weave. I was really drawn to the “X” motif between the tables. Please note...
Huck draft used from page 12 of The Best of Weaver’s: Huck Lace; treadling on page 15...
I like weaving turned twills and find that towels woven with the design have a nice texture as well as visual pattern. I had a partial cone of variegated 8/2 cotton that would not be enough for a full towel, so I started placing stripes...
Name draft created in Fiberworks. Name for threading is: PatCapogrossi. 487 ends. 2 inches of plain weave at each end. Machine washed and dried. Yarns are Lunatic Fringe perle cotton....
It’s been several years since I wove this towel and I have no memory of where it came from. I think it came from a breast cancer awareness publication....
I played around with the threading by adding some bands of straight twill between sections of the rosepath threadings. I also used sewing thread for weaving the hem sections....
This towel is a design to combine waffle and tabby. I used five shafts for the waffle areas and three shafts for the tabby areas. For the waffle areas I sett the ends at 32 epi, tighter than the tabby areas of 24 epi. I...
I used several colors of Bluegrass Mills’ 6/2 unmercerized cotton yarn for my towel. Plain weave for turned hem, sewn by hand. I love this weave, and have used it several times for towels. I varied the stripes in warp and weft for more visual...