For many families, summer is a time for family reunions—and my family is no exception. At our reunions, you’ll find fried chicken, cold watermelon, warm conversations, and pie, pie, pie. We look forward to meeting the newest members of the family, and we make sure to spend extra time with the oldest. These events also provide an opportunity to appreciate the similarities that come from our shared DNA. I’m amazed at how much we look alike and even how similar our laughs all sound. THE DNA OF WEAVING As a weaver, I also can’t help comparing the similarities and differences in families of fabrics. For example, I like to think about the patterns and structures that use color-and-weave effects, in which light and dark threads alternate in both warp and…
STRUCTURE Waffle weave. EQUIPMENT 7-shaft loom, 22" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 4 bobbins. YARNS Warp: Plaid towel: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #4271 Jeans, 336 yd; #112 Slate, 168 yd; #101 White, 382 yd. Striped/variegated towels: 8/2 cotton, #101 White, 1,392 yd. Weft: Plaid towel: 8/2 cotton, #4271 Jeans, 187 yd; #112 Slate, 94 yd; #101 White, 202 yd. Striped/variegated towels: 8/2 cotton, #4271 Jeans, #112 Slate, and #101 White, 118 yd each. 8/2 space-dyed cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), #9836 Blue Jay, 570 yd. All towels: Cotton sewing thread for hems, white, 100 yd. WARP LENGTH Plaid towel: 506 ends 1¾ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 4" for take-up, 25" for loom waste). Striped/variegated towels: 506 ends 2¾…
In the mid-1970s, the back-to-the-land movement was in full swing, and many of those interested in self-sufficiency and lives of personal meaning took up fiber crafts. Linda Ligon found weaving an “absorbing sideline” to her full-time job as a high school teacher and her commitments as a wife and mother. When a third baby joined the family, she quit her teaching job and began thinking about a new venture. Looking back at that moment, Linda said, “A publication about my favorite subject seemed a good way to combine all the things that I liked to do when I found myself at home full-time.” At her dining room table in Loveland, Colorado, she turned this idea into a magazine about fiber arts in the mountain/plains region, titling it interweave. The first issue…
I stand near Luca’s weaving bench, watching over his shoulder as he throws the shuttle, beats, changes treadles. He looks at me and smiles, then turns back to his loom. I hear a low grunting sound, a contented rhythm that accompanies his work. I smile as well, knowing that he’s doing fine without my help. Not that long ago, it was a different story. My first encounters with Luca, who lives at the residential home for adults with developmental disabilities where I work, did not include many friendly nods or smiles. Instead, as I sat next to him on the weaving bench, he might frown or give me a little push. His attention span for weaving was limited; after a short while, he would turn to look out the window…
STRUCTURE Huck spots. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 26" weaving width; 8-dent reed; 4 shuttles; 5 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #4275 Charcoal, 1,260 yd; #5109 Flax and #1244 Olive, 810 yd each; #112 Slate, 855 yd. Weft: Towels: 8/2 cotton, #4275 Charcoal, 847 yd; #5109 Flax, 501 yd; #112 Slate, 566 yd; #1244 Olive, 558 yd. Note: Yardages are approximate and will vary based on weaver’s choice of plaid sequences and lengths. Weft: Wrap: Hand-dyed 20/2 tussah silk (5,000 yd/lb; Jane Stafford Textiles), Quarry, 1,070 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Styrene spool, optional. WARP LENGTH 415 ends 9 yd long (allows 26" for take-up, 32" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 16 epi (2/dent in an 8-dent reed). Weft: 16 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed:…
HANDWOVEN DISH TOWELS are a weaver’s staple and a perfect long-warp project. They are welcome gifts, sturdy and thirsty, and they last forever. For some time now, turned taqueté has been my structure of choice for dish towels. Conventional taqueté is threaded exactly like summer and winter, but turning the draft 90 degrees so the threading and treadling orders switch places creates turned taqueté. It becomes a one-shuttle weave, with tie-down picks that alternate with pattern picks. Using highly contrasting colors in the warp makes shapes appear as if by magic as you treadle. The circle is one of my favorite design elements, and I have found that turned taqueté is a great structure for weaving the circle shape with the fewest number of harnesses and treadles. I am always…
STRUCTURE Doubleweave. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 16" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 5 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 17/2 Lambswool (100% wool; 4,200 yd/lb [8,500 m/kg]; Uppingham Yarns or colourmart.com), #343 Feather, 717 yd; #425 Coral, 714 yd. Weft: 17/2 Lambswool, #343 Feather, 508 yd; #425 Coral, #423 Bubblegum, #424 Pink Haze, and #308 Turmeric, 106 yd each. Note: The yarn used for warp and weft is spun by Z. Hinchliffe & Sons in the United Kingdom (see Resources). OTHER SUPPLIES Eucalan or similar no-rinse wool wash; two 12" × 20" cushion inserts; two 9"–10" zippers; cushion back fabric, ⅔ yd. WARP LENGTH 477 ends 3 yd long (allows 5" for take-up, 20" for loom waste, 35" for sampling or yardage for a third cushion). SETTS Warp: 30 epi (3/dent in a…
STRUCTURE Point twill. EQUIPMENT 16-shaft dobby or table loom (24 dobby bars for manual dobby loom), 21" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 11 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 10/2 pearl cotton (4,200 yd/lb; UKI/Supreme), #125 Pacific Blue, 216 yd; #116 Black, 504 yd; #01 White, 288 yd. 10/2 mercerized cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), Very Dark Gray and Middle Gray, 576 yd each; Very Light Gray, 288 yd. Weft: Blue towel: 10/2 pearl cotton (UKI/Supreme), #48 Dark Turquoise, #109 Bermuda Blue, #18 Copen, #101 Baby Blue, and #1 Light Blue, 120 yd each; #117 Stone, 121 yd. Note: Copen and Baby Blue have been discontinued. #105 Paradise in the same yarn line is a close substitute for Copen. Valley Yarns 10/2 pearl cotton in #2576 Celestial Blue can substitute for…
Long ago, when I was overwhelmed with the breadth and depth of the possibilities in weaving (just look at the tables of contents of the weaving books available to us!), someone said to me, “Everything in weaving is either plain weave, twill, or a block weave.” Even more comforting is that there aren’t that many block weaves. The “breadth and depth” comes from the infinite ways in which twill and block designs, fibers, and colors (even in plain weave) work together. Twills provide infinite potential for pattern, color, and texture, and they are an important part of a weaver’s repertoire. As you fall in love with the other weave structures in this issue, don’t forget about twill! TWILL IS A SIMPLE WEAVE Twill is classified by Irene Emery, in her…
FOR THESE SCARVES, I decided to look at overshot from a different angle and explore how it would look and feel using the wonderful materials handweavers have available today. Overshot was introduced to me, and thousands of other weavers, through the beautiful and functional traditional coverlets woven by our collective grandmothers and grandfathers. Many of these amazing patterns were gathered and preserved for us by the likes of Mary Meigs Atwater, Marguerite Porter Davison, and Weaver Rose. That is what I believed overshot to be throughout the early years of my handweaving life, but for this project, I wanted a more modern vibe. I wove two scarves on the same warp of 8/2 cotton using 20/2 silk as my pattern weft and Bambu 12 as tabby. For my draft, I…
STRUCTURE Overshot. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 19" weaving width; 15-or 10-dent reed; 4 shuttles. YARNS Warp: 20/2 cotton (8,453 yd/lb; Bockens), Unbleached, 1,915 yd. Weft: 20/2 cotton, Unbleached, 1,150 yd. 40/2 linen (7,000 yd/lb; Jane Stafford Textiles), #059 Olive, 340 yd; #802 Denim, 270 yd; #401 English Rose, #320 Lavender, #801 Wine, and #803 Ginger, 77 yd each. WARP LENGTH 547 ends 3½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 12" for take-up, 26" for loom waste; allow 24" for each additional napkin). SETTS Warp: 30 epi (2/dent in a 15-dent reed or 3/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 44 ppi (tabby, 22 ppi; pattern, 22 ppi); plain-weave hems, 27–28 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 18 5/15" or 184/10". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 88". Finished size: (after…
For some reason, I find cloth with contrasting areas of warp-dominant and weft-dominant patterning particularly satisfying. I classify this type of pattern under the general “damask” heading. True damask uses alternating areas of warp-and weft-dominant satin and thus requires at least five shafts per block, which means using a dobby loom—or better yet, a drawloom—to go beyond checkerboard or rectangle designs. Because twill requires only three shafts, various combinations of rectangles in turned twill satisfy my damask envy—and can be woven using as few as six shafts. When woven with similar colors in both warp and weft, turned-twill patterning is subtle, playing on how light reflects differently across the cloth. But that’s not my personal color style—I use many different colors in the warp and weft, and in doing so…
STRUCTURE Plain weave and huck with color-and-weave. EQUIPMENT Towels: 4-shaft loom, 21" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2–4 shuttles; 4 bobbins. Optional hanging tabs: inkle loom; belt shuttle. YARNS Towels: Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 1,490 yd. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), #2574 Heather, 72 yd; #6394 Royal Lilac, 36 yd; #8799 Pearl Grey, 54 yd. 8/2 cotton A (3,360 yd/lb; UKI; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #04 Plum Green, 36 yd. Weft: 8/2 cotton (Georgia Yarn Company), Natural 1,288 yd. 8/2 cotton (Valley Yarns), #2574 Heather, 177 yd; #6394 Royal Lilac, 54 yd; #8799 Pearl Grey, 32 yd. 8/2 cotton A (UKI), #04 Plum Green, 55 yd. Hanging tabs: Warp: 8/2 cotton (Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 16 yd. 8/2 cotton (Valley Yarns), #2574 Heather, 10…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 17" weaving width; 15-dent reed; 1 shuttle. YARNS Warp: 3/2 pearl cotton (1,260 yd/lb; UKI Supreme), #07 Black, 137 yd; #02 Natural, 335 yd; #50 Avocado, #58 Spice, #107 Melon, and #29 Old Gold, 85 yd each. Note: #50 Avocado and #58 Spice have been discontinued in the 3/2 weight. Possible substitutions include #62 Moss Green and #122 Mead. Weft: 3/2 pearl cotton, #07 Black, 573 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Optional: Straightedge, rotary cutter, selfhealing mat. WARP LENGTH 249 ends 3¼ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 8" for take-up, 34" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 15 epi (1/dent in a 15-dent reed). Weft: 15 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 169/15". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 75". Finished…
STRUCTURE Shadow huck. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 18" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 2 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 organic cotton (710 yd/100 g; Venne), #4077 Deep Plum, 550 yd; #4048 Iris, 553 yd. Weft: 8/2 organic cotton, #3020 Raspberry and #4048 Iris, 412 yd each. WARP LENGTH 315 ends 3½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 8" for take-up and 31" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 17½ epi (2-2-2-1 ends/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 17½ ppi for towel body and 15 ppi for the hems. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 18". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 87". Finished size: (after wet-finishing and hemming) three towels, 14½" × 21½" each. Shadow weave is one of my favorite weave structures, especially for four-shaft projects. The structure of a…
STRUCTURE Plain weave with color-and-weave. EQUIPMENT 2-or 4-shaft loom, 30" weaving width; 8-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 4 bobbins. YARNS Warp: Dungarees Rainbow Tweed (76% recycled cotton/12% cotton/7% recycled polyester/5% polyamide; 459 yd/100 g skein; 2,050 yd/lb; Queensland Collection), #3001 Alabaster, 660 yd; #3005 Peridot, #3009 Amethyst, and #3010 Lapis, 220 yd each. Weft: Dungarees Rainbow Tweed, #3001 Alabaster, 470 yd; #3005 Peridot, 148 yd; #3009 Amethyst and #3010 Lapis, 162 yd each. Note: Dungarees Rainbow Tweed has been discontinued. Possible substitutions include Venne Eco Jeans, made from recycled jeans and plastic bottles (in Sandalwood, Very Light Yellow, Havanna, and Slate Blue), and Berroco Remix Light, made from a range of recycled fibers (in Almond, Buttercup, Eggplant, and Blue Moon). OTHER SUPPLIES Handwoven or purchased ¼" tape, ribbon, or cord, 2…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 24" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 1 bobbin. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), #3599 Lollipop, #7198 Burnt Sienna, and #3794 Burgundy, 220 yd each; #4425 Orange, #7327 Tobacco, #1382 Spectra Yellow, #5792 Lime, and #5468 Stone Green, 230 yd each; #5424 Turquoise Green, #2550 Nautical, #2636 Navy, and #6290 Petunia, 240 yd each. Weft: 8/2 cotton, #8001 White, 1,975 yd. WARP LENGTH 554 ends 5 yd long (allows for 14" take up, 26" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 24 epi (2/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 20 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in reed: 231/12". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 140". Finished size: (after wet-finishing and hemming) four towels, 18¾" × 24½" each plus 11" sample swatch. For the…
STRUCTURE Color-and-weave. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 18" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles. YARNS Warp: Jacob DK Yarn (100% Jacob wool; about 1,160 yd/lb; Meridian Jacobs), JW23-VO-LL-2 Lilac and JW23-VO-B Black, 267 yd each. Weft: Jacob DK Yarn, JW23-VO-LL-2 Lilac and JW23-VO-B Black, 205 yd each. Note: The JW23 lot of yarn will be sold out by the time this issue is published, but JW24 yarn will be available. See “How to Source Yarn Directly from a Farm,” page 28, to learn how to find and work with small-batch farm-produced yarns, and why yd/lb measurements are approximate. OTHER SUPPLIES Unicorn Fibre Wash for wet-finishing (optional). WARP LENGTH 178 ends 3 yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 7" for take-up, 25" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 10 epi (1/dent in a 10-dent…
TRONSTAD RANCH, at the foot of the Medicine Bow Mountains, is home to Border Leicester and Border Leicester-cross sheep. Husband and wife Bryan and Lusha Tronstad grew up in northwestern Montana, raising animals and crops. After college and a brief stint in Alabama, the Tronstads found their way to Laramie, Wyoming, for a PhD program. Though they longed to have their own property among the vast plains and rugged mountains of southeast Wyoming, it took five years to find the perfect location. Once they found their ranch, they decided to raise sheep to slow down Lusha’s production of crocheted afghans, a craft she learned from her grandmother. Bryan suggested that if Lusha had to raise the wool and spin it, the house would fill with afghans more slowly—how true! The…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 10" weaving width; 6-dent reed; one 14" or longer stick shuttle; 1 boat shuttle. YARNS Warp: 8/4 Poly Cotton Rug Warp (50% polyester/50% unmercerized cotton; 1,600 yd/lb; Great Northern Weaving), Rust, 257 yd. Weft: 8/4 Poly Cotton Rug Warp, Rust, 44 yd; Natural and Denim, 22 yd each. 100% cotton strips 1" wide, from 3–4 men’s M–L T-shirts, about 100 yd total; see Weaving with T-Shirts. Note: Lois made her cotton strips from three T-shirts: dark blue, cream, and light blue. Adjust your warp and hem weft colors as you prefer for the colors of your T-shirts. OTHER SUPPLIES Water-soluble glue. WARP LENGTH 114 ends 2¼ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 4" for take-up, 19" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 12 epi (2/dent in…
Summer & Winter Kitchen Towels These towels were inspired by a project I designed for Handwoven in 2013. For that project, a set of kitchen towels in polychrome summer and winter, my design process centered on exploring the possibilities of color interaction with multiple colors in both the warp and weft . For this set of towels, however, I focused on the combination of structure and fiber, using only two colors, to create the desired cloth. Summer and winter is a traditional weave known for its use in Early American two-color coverlets, predominantly dark on one side and light on the other with the plain-weave ground cloth woven in a finer thread than the pattern thread. For a more balanced effect between the light and dark colors, I used the…
STRUCTURE Doubleweave. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 14" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles. YARNS Warp: Naturally Colored unmercerized 10/2 cotton (4,200 yd/lb; American Maid; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), Dark Green, 1,656 yd; Natural White, 1,296 yd. Weft: Naturally Colored unmercerized 10/2 cotton, Dark Green, 1,227 yd; Natural White, 753 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Raddle (optional); warping sticks. Note: Because the warp is beamed at two different densities (20 epi in the green edge sections and 40 epi in the green and white center sections), Tien recommends using warping sticks to evenly tension the warp. Paper separators are not stiff enough. See Weaving Tips for more about managing warp and cloth tension. WARP LENGTH 492 ends 6 yd long (allows 20" for take-up, 40" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 40 epi (20 epi per…
STRUCTURE Twill and pseudo–plain weave. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 19" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles and 3 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 16/2 line linen (2,700 yd/lb; Bockens; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #00 Natural, 1,351 yd. Weft: Towel body: 16/2 cotton (6,720 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #100 Natural, 828 yd. Towel 1 pattern: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #100 Natural, 175 yd. Towel 2 pattern: 8/2 cotton, #101 White, 175 yd. Hems: 20/2 pearl cotton or sewing thread in natural or beige, 27 yd. Note: For each additional towel, add 1 yd of warp. Weft yardages are generous: For the 16/2 cotton, there is enough weft yardage to weave two towels without any stripes. The 8/2 cotton yardages are based on weaving an “average”…
STRUCTURE Plain weave and twill with color-and-weave. EQUIPMENT 6-shaft loom, 11" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 4 shuttles. YARNS Warp: Bambu 12 (100% viscose from bamboo; 6,300 yd/lb; Cotton Clouds), Truffles, 186 yd; Pearl, 150 yd; Emperor Blue, 75 yd; Aruba, Borage, and Cerise, 72 yd each; Lime and Cyclamen, 69 yd each. Weft: Bambu 12, Truffles, 110 yd; Pearl, 87 yd; Emperor Blue, Aruba, Borage, Lime, Cerise, and Cyclamen, 60 yd each. WARP LENGTH 255 ends 3 yd long (allows 6" for take-up, 30" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). Note: Add floating selvedges if desired. Barbara didn’t use them, choosing instead to manually wrap the outer warp ends when required. SETTS Warp: 24 epi (2/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 23 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 108⁄12".…
STRUCTURE Modified M’s and O’s. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 16" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 4 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 2,185 yd. Weft: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), #3611 Red, #5637 Pacific, and #7198 Burnt Sienna, 187 yd each; #1205 Banana, 82 yd; #2574 Heather, 216 yd. 8/2 Cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #04 Plum Green, 164 yd; #5214 Magenta, 187 yd. 6/2 cotton (2,520 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), Red, Royal, Magenta, and Sienna, 90 yd each; Sage, 135 yd; Banana, 68 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Double-bobbin shuttle (optional); sewing thread in Natural. WARP LENGTH 380 ends 5¾ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 15" for take-up, 39" for loom waste and sampling). Add 22" for each additional napkin or placemat. SETTS…
EVEN THOUGH IT WAS YEARS AGO, I remember it like yesterday. Two guild members were discussing the work of another member. “You know,” said one, “she’s been called the Honey Suckler. The only pattern she weaves is honeysuckle twill from Davison.” I was shocked, but I still laughed at these two grown adults as they spoke like middle school mean girls. I thought, So what if she loves honeysuckle twill; then she should weave it. And honeysuckle does offer a lot of treadling possibilities. Look it up. It’s on page 132 of A Handweaver’s Pattern Book by Marguerite Porter Davison, also known as “The Green Book.” I later found out that the Honey Suckler sold her work at a yearly craft fair. Honeysuckle twill had become her trademark and a…
The rare and wonderful family owned and operated Brown Sheep Company has its origins on a farm that E.W. Brown purchased over 100 years ago, and where he raised a small flock of sheep. Some 40 years ago, E. W.’s son Harlan decided to switch gears away from farming. He invested in spinning equipment and entered the yarn market. Remaining true to its origins, Brown Sheep now sources wool for its mill in Mitchell, Nebraska, from family farms and ranches across the western United States and still dyes all its yarns in-house. THE YARN Brown Sheep Harborside Aran; 740 yd/lb; 4-ply wool; 162 yd/3.5 oz skein; Irish Cream, Beachwood, Ship’s Rudder, Fisherman Green, Celtic Sea. Brown Sheep Company’s new Harborside Aran is a medium to fine blend of Columbia and…
I am a very lucky man. In my many years of teaching weaving, I have met some incredible and interesting people with amazing stories to share. Such is the case of Laura Logston. One day, while Laura was weaving a baby blanket for her soon-to-arrive granddaughter, we started talking about weaving rag rugs. Weaving rag rugs is a subject that’s near and dear to both our hearts. Laura has been a rug weaver for many years. She loves turning waste material into beautiful rugs, and she sells them at a market not far from her home. Laura gathers and collects unwanted fabrics and cuts them into strips that she then artfully arranges into lovely, patterned rugs. Besides weaving rag rugs, Laura also loves weaving overshot and other structures that are…
Last spring, I needed special gift s for two weddings. Both couples will be living where the winters get cold, so I chose the warmth, softness, and lovely natural colors of alpaca to create two blankets on one warp. I used two color-and-weave patterns from A Weaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns that have the same straight-twill threading, though different tie-ups. I made a warp long enough for two blankets. The use of three grays plus black and white creates a soft color blend while providing enough contrast for the color-and-weave structure to be clear. Alpaca is a treat to work with. It feels wonderful, from the warping stage to curling up under the finished blanket. But on a project this big, alpaca’s slickness and tendency to stretch can also be…
RECENTLY, I READ ABOUT THE TRENDING influence of international textiles on fashion. In both clothing and home textiles, you can find a lot of folk art inspiration from textile traditions including Indian saris, Fair Isle knitting, and Romanian embroidery. Naturally, I started to think about how these sorts of influences might translate to handweaving. The vision in my head was of small, allover prints and textures combined with bold, graphic borders. At first, I couldn’t think of how to achieve my dream design without weaving a small pattern and sewing on a border—not my first choice at all. Blended drafts to the rescue! Two Handwoven articles came to mind: one by Carol Strickler from March/April 1985, and a more recent project by Krista Richey from November/December 2017 about blending two…
THE OVERALL STRUCTURE of shadow weave is plain weave with short 2-thread skips in both the warp and weft directions where vertical and horizontal lines meet. In the Atwater version, a dark thread on shaft 1 is followed by a light (“shadow”) thread on shaft 3, dark on 2 by light on 4, dark on 3 by light on 1, and dark on 4 by light on 2. Designing is most often done by threading the dark threads in a twill, starting on shaft 1, say, with each dark thread followed by a light thread using the same twill but starting on shaft 3 (see Clotilde Barrett in Resources for design techniques using the Atwater system). THE POWELL METHOD In the 1970s, Marion Powell recognized shadow weave as a block…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 20" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles. YARNS Warp: Italian Cotton/Linen (50% cotton/50% linen; 2,600 yd/lb; Gist Yarn), Lavender and Clementine, 812 yd each. Weft: Italian Cotton/Linen, Lavender and Clementine, 637 yd each. OTHER EQUIPMENT OR SUPPLIES Sewing machine or Fray Check. WARP LENGTH 464 ends 3½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 9" for takeup, 27" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 24 epi (2/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 24 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 195/12". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 90". Finished size: (after wetfinishing and hemming) four napkins, 17" × 17½" each. When this issue’s call for submissions was published, I admit I gave it a bit of side-eye. I had been weaving a lot of twill, experimenting…
STRUCTURE Monk’s belt, plain weave, and honeycomb. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 21" weaving width; 9- or 12-dent reed; 2–3 shuttles; 3 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 2,024 yd. Weft: 8/2 cotton, Natural, 594 yd. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns), #6394 Royal Lilac, 625 yd; #2574 Heather, 510 yd. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #04 Plum Green, 292 yd. 6/2 cotton (2,520 yd/lb; Yarn Barn of Kansas), Sage, 298 yd; Royal, 110 yd. 6/2 cotton (2,520 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 91 yd. 10/2 cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Carolina Blue, 48 yd. WARP LENGTH 368 ends 5½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 16" for take-up, 27" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 18 epi (2/dent in a 9-dent reed or…
Have you ever had a mentor who was able to show you an opportunity you might have otherwise missed? Offering in a single moment such a profound statement that your life path became clear? After I’d woven many of the drafts from Marian Powell’s book about shadow weave, my mentor asked me, “When are you going to start making your own drafts?” That statement changed my life. I often wish I’d written down the date because I view that moment as a turning point for my work with shadow weave. Let me back up for a moment. Powell used profile drafts to create more than a thousand shadowweave drafts for four, six, and eight shafts, which she gathered into a book and published in 1976 (see Resources). These days, that…
STRUCTURE Honeycomb. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 14" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 1 shuttle. YARNS Warp: 5/2 pearl cotton (2,100 yd/lb; UKI Supreme; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #79 Natural, 162 yd; #17 Wine, 90 yd; #105 Paradise and #115 Peach, 23 yd each. Weft: 8/4 carpet warp (100% cotton; 1,600 yd/lb; Maysville; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #14 White, 250 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES 44" wide 100% cotton fabric, medium-weight, about 1 yd (Andrea used Free Spirit Fabrics Mon Jardin by Nathalie Lete for Conservatory Craft, PWNL 032 Beautiful Bunch); rotary cutter, straight edge, and selfhealing mat. WARP LENGTH 132 ends, 2¼ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 6" for take-up, 28" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 10 epi (1/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 18 ppi for carpet warp; 4 ppi for fabric…
Many weavers turn to inkle weaving or kumihimo to make coordinating hanging tabs or straps for their projects. For those who want to finish their handwovens with something more extravagant, there’s passementerie—tassels, ribbons, and decorative cording. Two skilled passementerie artists, Jessica Light and Elizabeth Ashdown, have written books on the subject aimed at weavers. Both books cover similar topics: the history of passementerie, its use in the past and the modern day, different styles of trims and tassels, and ideas for creating original designs. While both provide clear guidance for the beginner, the two books seem intended for different types of readers. FOR THE TRADITIONALIST As one of the most renowned passementerie weavers in the United Kingdom, Jessica Light has made a career of creating embellishments for historic buildings and…
STRUCTURE Shadow weave. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 23" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 7 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; UKI Supreme), Natural, 1,050 yd; #12 Dark Green, 210 yd; #49 China Blue, 320 yd; #57 Turk, 160 yd. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maysville), #70 Dubonnet and #35 Copper, 160 yd each. 8/2 cotton, magenta, 160 yd. Note: The magenta came from the author’s stash. A close substitute is 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #5214 Magenta. Weft: 8/2 cotton (UKI Supreme), Natural, 828 yd; #49 China Blue, 435 yd; #12 Dark Green, 90 yd; #57 Turk, 126 yd. 8/2 cotton (Maysville), #70 Dubonnet, 90 yd; #35 Copper, 165 yd. 8/2 cotton, magenta, 90 yd. Note: Weft yardages may differ depending on weft color order choices. WARP LENGTH 444…
STRUCTURE Plain weave with Ghiordes knots. EQUIPMENT Rigid-heddle or 2-shaft loom, 8" weaving width; 10-dent rigid heddle or 10-dent reed; 3–4 stick shuttles. YARNS Warp: 12/6 cotton (1,430 yd/lb, Halcyon Yarn), natural, 160 yd. Weft: 12/6 cotton for hems, 8 yd. Shetland (100% wool; 1,800 yd/lb; Harrisville), Marigold, 384 yd; Azure, 28 yd; Blackberry, 20 yd. Bulky (50% alpaca/50% wool; 205 yd/lb; 45 yd/100 g; Blue Sky Fibers), Claret, 108 yd (three 45 yd balls for two bags). Yarn notes: 12/6 cotton is still available from Halcyon Yarn, listed as Seine Twine or Swedish Cotton Warp. The alpaca/wool blend is still available from Blue Sky Fibers, but colors are limited. Lion Brand’s LB Collection Fifty Fifty, available in a wide range of colors, is very similar. OTHER SUPPLIES ⅓ yd…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 38" weaving width; 12-dent or 8-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 5 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/4 cotton (1,680 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #5132 Denim, 1,600 yd; #8267 Limette, 128 yd; #5115 Rouge vin, 320 yd; #1451 Ivoire, 128 yd; #1418 Vieil or, 256 yd. Weft: 8/4 cotton, #5132 Denim, 708 yd; #8267 Limette, 56 yd; #5115 Rouge vin, 140 yd; #1451 Ivoire, 56 yd; #1418 Vieil or, 112 yd. WARP LENGTH 608 ends 4 yd long (allows 18" for take-up, 56" for sampling and loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 16 epi (1-1-2/dent in a 12-dent reed, or 2/dent in an 8-dent reed). Weft: 14 ppi before finishing; 16 ppi after finishing. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 38". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom)…
When I created Handweaving.net in 2004, it held fewer than 200 historical weaving drafts, each one of which I’d typed in laboriously by hand (see Resources to learn more about those early days). Today, the site’s nearly 80,000 weaving drafts are a rich asset for weavers, whether they’re looking for drafts to weave or are in search of inspiration for their own ideas. You can browse those drafts without being a subscriber, but if that’s all you do, you’ll be missing out on an important resource—the site’s software tools for weavers. Over the years, I’ve worked hard to add a set of powerful yet simple online weaving tools. Subscribers can use them to change existing drafts, create new drafts, or edit any draft uploaded in WIF format—all in their web…
STRUCTURE Rep weave. EQUIPMENT 2-shaft sturdy loom, 30" weaving width (see “Tips to Ease Rep Weaving”); 6-dent reed; 1 rag shuttle; 1 boat shuttle. YARNS Warp: 8/4 carpet warp (100% cotton; 1,600 yd/lb; Maysville), #10 Gold, 176 yd; #33 Olive, 234 yd; #54 Loden Green, 351 yd; #59 Army Green, 293 yd; #60 Dark Gray, 819 yd; #62B Coffee, 585 yd; #84 Velvet, 702 yd; #3 Colonial Blue, #8 Dark Brown, and #40 Bronze Gold, 117 yd each. Weft: Thick: 8/16 Heavy Cotton (400 yd/lb; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #83 Black, 324 yd (used tripled on shuttle). Thin: 10/2 pearl cotton (4,200 yd/lb; UKI), #116 Black, 160 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Fray Check. WARP LENGTH 1,080 ends 3¼ yd long (allows 27" for take-up, 39" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 36…
STRUCTURE Twill and plain weave. EQUIPMENT 6- or 4-shaft loom, 12" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles. YARNS Warp: Bambu 7 (100% bamboo; 2,100 yd/lb; Silk City Fibers). 6-shaft version: #360 Onyx, 96 yd; #333 Cloud, 576 yd; #028 Persimmon, 120 yd. 4-shaft version: #360 Onyx, 102 yd; #333 Cloud, 564 yd; #028 Persimmon, 135 yd. Weft: Bambu 7, #360 Onyx, 305 yd. 2/18 Superfine Merino (100% merino wool; 5,040 yd/lb; Jaggerspun), Black, 60 yd. Note: Jaggerspun is no longer in business. Any laceweight 100% nonsuperwash wool can be substituted. (Superwash wools are not suitable as they resist fulling and shrinking during wet-finishing and will not create the desired texture in this scarf.) Hinchliffe Merino Lambswool is a similar 100% merino yarn. At 4,540 yd/lb, it’s also a bit heavier,…
STRUCTURE Turned taqueté with color-and-weave. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 23" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 1 or more shuttles; 6 bobbins; temple (optional). YARNS Warp: 10/2 unmercerized cotton (100% cotton; 4,200 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Warm Navy, 1,830 yd; Orange, 430 yd; Rose and Hyacinth Violet, 420 yd each; Turquoise, 210 yd. Weft: 10/2 unmercerized cotton, Warm Navy, 833 yd; Hyacinth Violet, 725 yd; Rose, 337 yd; Turquoise, 147 yd; Orange, 139 yd; Dahlonega Gold, 122 yd. WARP LENGTH 662 ends 5 yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 13" for take-up, 37" for loom waste; add 1 yd of warp length for each additional towel). SETTS Warp: 30 epi (3/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 26 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 22 2/10". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom)…
“THE EARLIEST WEAVING APPEARS to have been limited to the capacity of the simple four-harness loom. Several weaves are possible on this loom, but the one that admits of the widest variations is the so-called ‘four harness overshot weave,’—and this is the foremost of the colonial weaves.” So wrote Mary Meigs Atwater in The Shuttle-Craft Book of American Hand-Weaving when speaking of the American coverlet and the drafts most loved by those early weavers. Overshot, in my mind, is the most North American of yarn structures. Yes, I know that overshot is woven beyond the borders of North America, but American and Canadian weavers of old took this structure and ran with it. The coverlets woven by weavers north and south provided those individuals with a creative outlet. Coverlets needed…
EARLY IN MY WEAVING LIFE I vowed I would never waste my time weaving a dish towel, so I surprised myself by entering the Convergence 2018 dish towel exchange. By participating, I learned that towels are a wonderful weaving project. They are a chance to experiment and learn about weave structures and color interaction. At the exchange, I was amazed at the many approaches, unique patterns, and colors that the participants used. Both beginning and expert weavers couldn’t wait to take home five beautiful new towels. Last March, I visited elderly aunts in Texas, where I admired the vast fields bursting with bluebonnets. Back at home, I remembered the delicate blossoms waving in the wind and felt inspired to weave a towel with flowers. I liked a friend’s rosepath sample,…
Thick and thin is plain weave in disguise. The magic happens simply by alternating thick and thin threads in the warp and in the weft. Two blocks are created by reversing the order of the threads. Where there are consecutive thick or thin threads, the blocks change. The surprising intricacy of the pattern is enhanced with strategically placed color. After weaving thick and thin towels on a long black and white warp to explore patterns, I wove this project to discover what effect a colorful warp would have on this fascinating structure. The weft sequence for the first towel is based on the warp-stripe sequence. The remaining three towels explore various treadling options. I included some narrow stripes in colors I had in my stash. You may have yarn in…
Summer and winter is a member of the “tied unit weave“ family. (For more about tied unit weaves, see “The Draft,” Handwoven, May/June 2016, pp. 16–18.) In all tied unit weaves, a ground cloth is patterned by a supplementary weft that floats either on the face or on the back of the cloth. The floats are “tied” to the cloth by regularly spaced warp threads called “tie-down” threads. In summer and winter, two tie-down threads (on shafts 1 and 2) alternate with threads on what are called the “pattern” shafts (shafts 3 and above). See Figure 1a. A BLOCK WEAVE Summer and winter is a block weave in which pattern is created in a block when the pattern weft floats on the face, background when it floats on the back.…
When we want to change the look of a design, we often think of changing the draft or the yarn color—but what about changing the tie-up? Consider the two fabrics in Example A. They look quite different, but they’re woven with the same threading, treadling, and warp and weft colors. The only difference is in the tie-up: the left swatch is 3/1 twill, while the right swatch is 1/3 twill. Now look at Example B, which shows a third cloth woven with the same threading, treadling, and warp and weft colors. This example looks different, too! Here both warp and weft stripes show equally. What’s the secret to the different effects? In warp-dominant cloth, more warp appears on the surface of the cloth, increasing the visual impact of warp stripes…
STRUCTURE Overshot. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 37" weaving width; 8-dent reed; 3 shuttles; 3 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; UKI; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #54 Dark Navy, 1,468 yd. Weft: Tabby: 8/2 cotton, #54 Dark Navy, 591 yd. Pattern: 3/2 pearl cotton (1,260 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), #3800 Currant, 202 yd; #2574 Heather, 321 yd. WARP LENGTH 587 ends, 2½ yd long (includes doubled floating selvedges; allows 5" for take-up, 37" for loom waste and sampling). SETTS Warp: 16 epi (2/dent in an 8-dent reed). Weft: Hems: 15 ppi. Body: 24 ppi (12 ppi each for pattern and tabby). DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 366⁄8". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 48". Finished size: (after wet-finishing and hemming) 30¾" × 38½". A couple of years ago, a…
MEET JUANA When Juana first tumbled off the curb, she laughed it off. Unfortunately, her right shoulder had a new snap, crackle, and pop. She began to hold her arm close to avoid triggering pain—which caused her balance to suffer. Weaving became so difficult that she was unable to join in her guild’s towel exchange, and she stopped attending meetings. They were just too stressful. AGING SHOULDERS CAN BE ACHING SHOULDERS The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that one in five senior citizens has shoulder pain—from arthritis and bursitis, or from injuries due to falls, breaks, strains, and dislocations. Contributing factors include menopause, diabetes, and even the bodily wear and tear accumulated by those of us who continue to lead active lives. The good news is that there are…
IF YOU HAD ASKED THE 20-YEAR-OLD version of myself where I thought I’d end up settling down, I never in a million years would have said Alabama. I grew up overseas, a military dependent, and always struggled with feeling a sense of a place being mine. I am not a native Southerner, yet somehow here I am, in the Deep South, making a home for my family. Growing up moving around a lot did teach me to embrace the idea that home is where your heart is. So even though I didn’t expect to live in Alabama, it is now my home and, at 33, I am starting to learn what it feels like to have a true sense of place. Nothing makes a place feel like a home more…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 24" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles. YARNS Warp: 10/2 mercerized cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), Cobalt Blue, 627 yd; 10 Blue, 630 yd; Teal, 664 yd; Natural White, 173 yd. Weft: 8/2 Tencel (100% lyocell; 3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), Silver Gray, 690 yd. 10/2 mercerized cotton; Bleached White, hand-dyed to pale cyan, 690 yd (see Dyeing Tip). Optional: For a little extra shine, Joy added 8 picks of sewing-thread-weight silver Lurex (metallic yarn) from her stash, spaced randomly (7"–10" apart) along the length of the shawl. Note: If you don’t want to hand-dye your pale cyan weft yarn, 8/2 Tencel in Whipple Blue is a grayed cyan, slightly darker than the weft Joy used. Other possible substitutes are 10/2 pearl cotton (4,200…
MY OBSESSION WITH WEFT-FACED wool rugs didn’t end when my “Diamond and Bars Twill Rug” was in the March/April 2019 issue of Handwoven. After weaving several versions of that rug, I began looking for new inspiration. A “farmhouse” rug on the Vävstuga Weaving School website caught my eye. The rug was weft-faced with three vertical panels, and the colors were reversed on opposite sides. Two rugs for the price of one! The only information on the weaving technique was “dubbelbindning.” This left me with more questions, specifically: What is dubbelbindning and how does one weave it? I was off on an exploratory adventure. I found references to double binding, weft-faced summer and winter, and double-faced block weave. The book Weft-Faced Pattern Weaves: Tabby to Taqueté by Nancy Arthur Hoskins led…
STRUCTURE Dimity (plain weave with twill stripes). EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 23" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle. YARNS Warp: 5/2 pearl cotton (2,100 yd/lb; UKI; Camilla Valley Farm), #79 Natural, 774 yd; #140 Safari, 182 yd; #106 Persian Green, 78 yd; #60 Duck, 52 yd; #141 Silver, #81 Grotto, #115 Peach, and #17 Wine, 65 yd each. Weft: 5/2 pearl cotton (2,100 yd/lb; UKI; Halcyon Yarn), Bleached White, 570 yd. WARP LENGTH 414 ends 3¼ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 8" for take-up, 33" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: Plain weave, 16 epi (1-2-1/dent in a 12-dent reed); twill, 24 epi (2/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 11 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 22 3/12". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 76". Finished size: (after wet-finishing…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 4- or 8-shaft loom, 27" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 2 bobbins; inkle loom and band shuttle for optional hanging tabs. YARNS Towels: Warp: 22/2 cottolin (60% cotton/40% linen; 3,274 yd/lb; Bockens), #2000 Ivory, 1,024 yd; assorted colors, 864 yd total. Weft: 22/2 cottolin, #2000 Ivory, 1,425 yd; optional color stripes, 128 yd per towel. 16/2 cotton (6,429 yd/lb; Bockens), #0003 Bleached, 40 yd for hems. Hanging tabs: Warp: 22/2 cottolin, #2000 Ivory, 27 yd, and four other assorted colors, 4 yd each. Weft: 22/2 cottolin, #2000 Ivory, 6 yd. WARP LENGTH Towels: 472 ends 4 yd long (includes doubled floating selvedges; allows 11" for take-up, 34" for loom waste). Optional inkle band: 37 ends 1 yd long. SETTS Towels: Warp: 18 epi (1-2/dent in a…
WEAVERS ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WAYS to weave more than one pattern on the same warp. Different treadling orders can produce some pattern variation—in twills, overshot, and block weaves, for example. A technique called “blended drafting,” however, can produce different weave structures as well as very different patterns—in the same cloth. In a blended draft, two different threading drafts are integrated so that the blended draft can produce either of the two original interlacements: huck lace and overshot in Diane Pigg’s towels, for example (see pages 34–36). To blend two drafts, adjust them as necessary so that they each have the same total number of ends. To be woven on the same warp, they need to have the same general sett requirements (two different twills, two different overshots, an overshot…
THESE TOWELS ARE THE RESULT of playing around with a portion of a twill pattern from A Weaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns edited by Carol Strickler. I slightly altered the threading of draft #328 and put the tie-up and treadling into my weaving software. On a whim, I changed warp and weft colors to alternate light/dark for a shadow weave. I was so tickled with the result that I quickly wound a sample warp and played around with treadling sequences. My favorite made squares with Xs inside. Usually with shadow weave, the back mirrors the front, but when I turned over the sample—surprise!—the pattern on the back had rectangles within rectangles, no X to be found. My second-favorite treadling sequence made little boxes within a bigger box on the front,…
STRUCTURE Overshot. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 60" weaving width; 8-dent reed; 2–3 shuttles; 5 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 3,330 yd. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), #2574 Heather, 878 yd. 8/2 cotton A (3,360 yd/lb; UKI; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #04 Plum Green, 81 yd. Weft: 10/2 cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 1,925 yd; Carolina Blue, 610 yd; Olive, 26 yd. 3/2 cotton (1,260 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), #2314 Royal, 2,315 yd; #5934 Elm Green, 8 yd; #3800 Currant, 114 yd. WARP LENGTH 953 ends 4. yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 14" for take-up, 32" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 16 epi (2/dent in an 8-dent reed). Weft: 17 ppi in hems; 22 ppi in pattern (11 ppi tabby and…
STRUCTURE M’s and O’s. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 18" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 3 shuttles. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #101 Blanchi hand-dyed blue and #101 Blanchi hand-dyed gray, 1,944 yd each. Weft: 8/2 cotton, #101 Blanchi hand-dyed blue, 1,600 yd; #101 Blanchi hand-dyed gray, 1,214 yd. 10/2 unmercerized white cotton (4,200 yd/lb; American Maid; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), hand-dyed red, 276 yd. Note: All the yarns for this project were hand-dyed using natural dyes. See project intro below for more information. Good substitutes in commercially dyed yarns are 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #4274 Bleu Cobalt and #4275 Charcoal for the blue and gray, respectively, and 10/2 cotton (100% cotton; 4,200 yd/lb; Tubular Spectrum; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), #10 Red. WARP LENGTH 432 ends 9 yd long (allows…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 41" weaving width; 8-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 1 bobbin. YARNS Warp: Red Heart Super Saver (100% acrylic; 364 yd/7 oz), #0774 Light Raspberry, 300 yd; #3251 Flame, 175 yd; #0579 Pale Plum, 100 yd; #0706 Perfect Pink, 230 yd. Note: #0722 Pretty ’N Pink or #1704 Bubble Gum could be substituted for Perfect Pink or Light Raspberry. Weft: Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo (100% acrylic; 744 yd/14 oz), #0313 Aran, 660 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Temple (optional but recommended); 2 weights for the outer 4–5 warp ends on both sides (optional) WARP LENGTH 322 ends 2½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 6" for take-up, 33" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 8 epi (1/dent in an 8-dent reed). Weft: 10 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed:…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT Beach towel: 4-shaft loom, 41" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle. Tote bag and accessory pouch: 4-shaft loom, 36" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle. YARNS Beach towel: Warp: 8/4 cotton (1,680 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #101 Blanchi, 882 yd; #4269 Limette pâle, 378 yd; #5981 Navy, 459 yd. Weft: 8/4 cotton, #101 Blanchi, 1,410 yd. Tote bag and accessory pouch: Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #101 Blanchi, 1,808 yd; #4269 Limette pâle, 736 yd; #5981 Navy, 828 yd. Weft: 8/2 cotton, #101 Blanchi, 2,843 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Tote bag: McCall’s M7611 pattern, View A; medium-weight sew-in woven interfacing, 2⅞ yd; cardboard or plastic canvas, 15" × 18" for strengthening bag bottom; 7" zipper; 45" wide lining fabric, 1½ yd; 45" wide sturdy contrast fabric, 1…
Weaving fabric to then turn into a fluffy, chenille-type yarn is a technique for every weaver with a floor loom. New weavers will appreciate the simple plain weave structure with the bonus of no worries about selvedges. More experienced weavers will rejoice in using up stash yarns. My experience with this technique started with a guild program back in the 1990s with the idea of creating the weft of the rug by first weaving a crammed and spaced fabric, cutting it up into long strings of chenille, and then weaving the resulting fluffy strings into a lovely, shaggy rug. My weaving neighbor, Judy, wove several that I admired, but it took me 30-odd years to get around to weaving one myself. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, I…
STRUCTURE Doubleweave. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom; 10" weaving width; 20-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 2 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 20/2 pearl cotton (8,400 yd/lb; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), Middle Gray, 732 yd; Tangerine and Gold, 720 yd each. Cotton quilting thread (8,450 yd/lb; Coats and Clark; Jo-Ann), Pastels (variegated), 2,160 yd. Weft: 20/2 pearl cotton, Coral, 1,622 yd; Middle Gray, 1,626 yd. WARP LENGTH 722 ends 6 yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 15" for take-up, 53" for loom waste; loom waste includes interstitial and end fringe). SETTS Warp: 80 epi (4/dent in a 20-dent reed). Weft: 80 ppi (40 ppi top and 40 ppi bottom). DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 92⁄20". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 148". Finished size: (after wet-finishing) two scarves, each 8¾" × 68" with 4"…
STRUCTURE Summer and winter. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 20" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 5 bobbins. YARNS – BLUE TOWELS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), #2636 Navy, 542 yd; #2550 Nautical, 539 yd. Weft: 8/2 cotton, #2636 Navy, 600 yd; #6122 Very Berry, 68 yd; #5792 Lime, #1205 Banana, and #6974 Grayed Lavender, 51 yd each. YARNS – WHITE TOWELS Warp: 8/2 cotton, #8001 White and #8418 Silver Birch, about 541 yd each. Weft: 8/2 cotton, #8001 White, 600 yd; #6256 Eggplant, 68 yd; #5792 Lime, #6122 Very Berry, and #6974 Grayed Lavender, 51 yd each. WARP LENGTH 393 ends 2¾ yd long (allows 6" for take-up, 27" for loom waste, 9" for sampling). SETTS Warp: 20 epi (2/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 20 ppi in…
MANY YEARS AGO I THOUGHT I might try production weaving. I had a loom with a sectional warp beam that could hold yards and yards of warp. “I’ll weave rag rugs with lots of different colored fabrics,” I thought, “and each one will be different from the next even though they share the same warp.” I wound a 50-yard warp of natural-colored carpet warp. Fairly quickly, my brilliant idea became the warp of nightmares. After weaving five rugs, I was bored out of my gourd, with more than 40 yards left to weave. I persevered but promised myself to never make that mistake again. Today, I stick with warps 10 to 12 yards long, and I plan carefully to make sure each piece from a warp is different in some…
As a formerly serious knitter, I accumulated a sizable stash of knitting yarns, including a whole box of Noro Kureyon balls patiently waiting for their place in the sun. Looking for a structure that would use Kureyon to its best advantage, I perused The Best of Weaver’s: Thick ’n Thin. In diversified plain weave, a thin yarn is used to hold together a much thicker yarn in both warp and weft. Plump Kureyon works perfectly as the thick yarn, especially when combined with 16/2 cottolin or cotton as the thin yarn. To avoid the notoriously sturdy hand of diversified plain weave, I loosened the sett from the expected 8 ends per inch (epi) for Kureyon in plain weave to 5⅓ epi, and I added stripes of plain weave in the…
STRUCTURE Doubleweave with pebble weave or plain weave. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft or 4-shaft loom, 7" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 2 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 Tencel (100% lyocell; 3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #T5070 Royal, 330 yd; #T5977 Bleu moyen and #T5214 Magenta, 198 yd each; #T5182 Marigold, 44 yd. Weft: 8/2 Tencel, #T8019 Navy, 475 yd. WARP LENGTH 280 ends 2¾ yd long (allows 6" for take-up, 33" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 40 epi; 20 epi per layer (4/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 37 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 7". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 60". Finished size: (after wetfinishing and hemming) 6" × 55". Over a decade ago—before I was a weaver—I picked up a cute, inexpensive scarf at a local shop. The…
Many weavers were deeply sorry to hear about the closing of Jaggerspun—the source of wonderful yarns including their Superfine Merino, Maine Line worsted wool, and, perhaps saddest of all, their Zephyr wool/silk blend. Well, I’m here to bring you good tidings! I believe that we now have a replacement for Zephyr: It’s a brand new yarn called Zephira, from Revolution Fibers. For this Yarn Lab, I put the two yarns to the test, weaving up nine samples in deflected doubleweave. One set of three uses Zephyr, and two additional sets of three use Zephira in the same patterns—but in different colors, to better show how it weaves up. I designed the samples using a name draft to honor my grandfather, George Relyea. (I outline how I did that on my…
STRUCTURE Overshot. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 16" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 7 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/4 cotton (1,680 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), Naturel, 590 yd. Weft: 8/4 cotton, Naturel, 360 yd. Plump (100% American superwash wool; 100 yd/100 g; Spincycle Yarns), Under the Wave, 295 yd. Note: Dana used exactly 3 skeins of Plump for her runner but recommends that weavers have 4 skeins on hand to ensure they do not run out and to provide flexibility in color usage. OTHER SUPPLIES No-rinse wool wash; laundry color-catcher sheet. WARP LENGTH 181 ends, 3¼ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 8" for take-up, 34" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 12 epi (1/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 19 ppi in pattern (tabby and pattern weft). DIMENSIONS Width…
STRUCTURE Overshot and plain weave. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 20" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2–5 shuttles; 5–7 bobbins; doublebobbin shuttle (optional but recommended). YARNS Warp: 10/2 Ring Spun, Combed Georgia cotton (unmercerized cotton; 4,200 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Warm Navy, 90 yd; Lt. Cornflower, 1,030 yd; Carolina Blue, 875 yd. Weft: 10/2 Ring Spun, Combed Georgia cotton, Warm Navy, 74 yd; Lt. Cornflower, 749 yd; Carolina Blue, 576 yd; Persimmon, 288 yd; Old Brick, 423 yd. WARP LENGTH 399 ends 5 yd long (allows 13" for take-up and 41" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 20 epi (2/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 20 ppi (plain weave); 29 ppi (overshot, combined tabby and pattern). DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 20". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) about 126". Finished size:…
STRUCTURE Krokbragd. EQUIPMENT 3-shaft loom, 12" weaving width; 12-dent or 6-dent reed; 2 or more shuttles; 3 or more bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/4 cotton carpet warp (1,600 yd/lb; Maysville), #2 Black, 252 yd (see “Tips for Weaving Better Krokbragd” for other suitable warp yarns). Weft: 8/4 cotton carpet warp, #2 Black, 2 yd. For weft, Annette also used wool stash yarns in the following colors: charcoal, 110 yd; deep blue, 270 yd; light blue, 50 yd; cream, 77 yd; gold, 55 yd; maroon, 23 yd; dark burgundy, 24 yd; rose, 34 yd. A worsted-weight wool or wool/nylon blend at 800–1,000 yd/lb, such as Valley Yarns Collingwood Rug Wool (80% wool/20% nylon; 989 yd/17.6 oz; WEBS), would make a good substitution. OTHER SUPPLIES Plywood disk, 10" diameter; wire ring, 10" diameter;…
STRUCTURE Plain weave and huck lace. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 18" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 2–6 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 40/2 linen (7,000 yd/lb; WEBS), half bleach, 4,028 yd. Weft: 40/2 linen, half bleach, 920 yd; Natural, 400 yd. 40/2 linen (7,000 yd/lb; Jane Stafford Textiles), Lavender and Olive, 430 yd each; English Rose and Ginger, 400 yd each. OTHER SUPPLIES Spray bottle of water for misting the warp and bobbins as needed. WARP LENGTH 537 ends 7½ yd long (allows 22" for take-up, 31" for loom waste and sampling; for four towels, wind 4¾ yd; add 33" warp length for each additional towel). SETTS Warp: 30 epi (2-3 in a 12-dent reed; see Weaving Tips); or 3/dent in a 10-dent reed. Weft: 22–27 ppi (varies by pattern woven). DIMENSIONS…
STRUCTURE Summer and winter. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 16" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 4–5 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 unmercerized cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #100 Naturel, 268 yd; #83 Noir, 88 yd; #415 Light Grey, 272 yd. Weft: Tabby: 8/2 unmercerized cotton, #415 Light Grey, 230 yd (for both towels). Pattern: 8/2 unmercerized cotton, Anni towel: #5212 Honey, 96 yd; #100 Naturel and #83 Noir, 8 yd each. Gunta towel: #4616 Peacock Blue, 88 yd; #1316 Rouille, #100 Naturel, and #83 Noir, 8 yd each. Hems: sewing thread, light gray, 16 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES White glue or Fray Check; twill tape (optional for hanging tabs). WARP LENGTH 314 ends 2 yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 5" for take-up, 22" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 20 epi (2/dent…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 24" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 1 shuttle. YARNS Warp: Knockan Laceweight (100% superwash merino; 1,312 yd/100 g; Ripples Crafts), The Day Monet Visited the Dye Shed, 1,120 yd; Water Loch, 1,127 yd. Weft: Knockan Laceweight, Water Loch, 1,425 yd. Note: Knockan yarns may be difficult to source in the United States, but the base yarn is commonly used by other small-batch dyers. Merino Lace from Hedgehog Fibres is similar. WARP LENGTH 642 ends 3½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 8" for take-up, 35" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 30 epi (3/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 26 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 21 6/10". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 83". Finished size: (after wetfinishing and hemming)…
My all-time favorite weave structure is turned twill, even though it is very shaft-greedy, with each block requiring four shafts. I wove this four-block project first in turned twill using a jewel-tone palette and 16 shafts. I loved the finished towels so much that I tied on a second warp in a neutral palette. When the theme for this issue was announced, I decided this would be the perfect time to get out of my turned-twill rut and weave this profile draft in another structure. My other structure rut is summer and winter. I tried substituting many different structures with my weaving software, and darned if I didn’t dislike the look of all of them—except for summer and winter! I am not a huge fan of traditional summer and winter…
STRUCTURE Swedish lace. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 18" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle. YARNS Warp: OmShanti 20/2 (100% eri silk; 5,000 yd/lb; Treenway Silks), #427 Sterling Silver, 784 yd; #428 Sugar Plum Fairy, 773 yd. Weft: OmShanti Red 20/2 (100% eri silk; 5,000 yd/lb; Treenway Silks), Natural, 910 yd. WARP LENGTH 415 ends 3¾ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 10" for take-up, 34" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 24 epi (2/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 18–19 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 175/12". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) about 91". Finished size: (after wet-finishing) 14¾" × 88" plus 7½" twisted fringe. What could be more perfect for spring than a lightweight lace scarf woven with eri silk? The eri silkworm, Samia…
I’ve often heard that weaving is a solitary activity, especially if you work on a heavy countermarch loom. You’re not likely to move a loom like that around much and even less likely to take it out of the house. However, my wife, Cindy, and I have acquired some travel-friendly looms that fit nicely in our car. In fact, buying a new car is always an adventure, because our traveling loom and all its accoutrements must fit into the vehicle easily, while leaving plenty of room for us, too. With a tape measure—and sometimes the actual loom—in hand, we head off to dealers in search of just the right model. Our motto is “If the loom doesn’t fit, we can’t commit.” WHY WE DO IT The two of us find…
WHEN I FIRST LEARNED TO WEAVE, warping my loom made me tense—really tense. But you have to warp to be able to weave, so I put on long warps to avoid warping as often, and then got bored weaving off those long warps. When I decided to complete the Handweavers Guild of America’s Certificate of Excellence and faced weaving 40 different samples, I resolved to confront my warping aversion. I began by establishing a routine to make warping easy and fast. I practiced, improved, tweaked, and learned. Now I love to warp my loom! I’ve discovered that little changes can have a big impact on my enjoyment of each aspect of weaving. Here are some tips I’ve found that will make your warping faster, easier, and more enjoyable. 1 Secure…
I am always looking for simple, attractive drafts for my little twoshaft table loom. For these towels, I decided to adapt a draft that combines plain weave and basketweave (sometimes called hopsack). Using linen from my stash, I rotated four colors, holding three at a time, to create a random threading with wider, more subtle stripes made by the color groups as well as pinstripes formed by individual colors. When woven tromp-as-writ, or as drawn in, a dotted texture forms in the fabric. While I’d originally planned to weave these on my table loom, the linen warp and the width of the towels led me to put the warp on my floor loom—though I still only used two shafts. Treadling was rhythmic and easy, and I love the towels’ beautiful…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 35" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 1–3 shuttles; 3 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 16/2 cotton (6,720 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #100 Naturel, 2,896 yd; #4272 Bleu, 452 yd; #1317 Saumon, 472 yd; #415 Gris Pâle, 328 yd. Weft: Lyte Hemp Fine (100% hemp, 5,000 yd/lb; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), Bleached or Periwinkle, 1,220 yd; 16/2 bamboo (6,720 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #BB8021 Cactus, 1,420 yd; #BB5229 Viel Or, 27 yd; #BB5977 Bleu Moyen, 18 yd. WARP LENGTH 1,037 ends 4 yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 11" for take-up, 35" for loom waste and sampling). Allow 54" warp length for each additional blanket. SETTS Warp: 30 epi (3/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: Hemp, 24 ppi; bamboo, 28 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 347/10". Woven length: (measured under tension…
EQUIPMENT For dyeing: • Apron. • Dye bath—a deep stainless-steel pot is ideal. • Dyeing utensils—teaspoon, plastic or metal serving spoon. • Old bath towel. • Rubber/synthetic gloves to protect your hands from the dye. • Sink. • Small jug or mug. • Stove top/hob. Weaving equipment: • Rigid heddle loom. • Scissors. • Yarn shuttle or bobbin. • 15 epi reed. MATERIALS AND MEASUREMENTS These make a 2 in. (5 cm) wide, 28 in. (71 cm) long wool fringe. When deciding on the length of your final trim, take into account shrinkage of the length caused by the dyeing process. Add an extra 3 in. (7.5 cm) to the final length to be on the safe side. • 50 g of 2/6 nm (equivalent to a four-ply-weight yarn) Shetland…
WHEN LOOKING FOR A DRAFT for a table runner, I was immediately drawn to the geometric patterning in Tien Chiu’s silk scarf from the May/June 2014 issue of Handwoven. Using it as my guide, I adjusted Tien’s draft into a pattern that would work with multiple colors of 5/2 pearl cotton. The colorful runner wove up beautifully, and I gave it to a good friend and fellow guild member to celebrate her retirement from the board of the Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds after serving tirelessly for nine years. Since then, I’ve woven several more runners using the same draft. Summer and winter creates a different look on each side of the fabric: one side is weft-faced, the other is warp-faced. In this runner, the brighter warp-faced side was my…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 21" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 2 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 18/3 linen (2,961 yd/lb; Gist Yarn), Ice, 1,580 yd; Mint, 860 yd. Weft: 18/3 linen, Ice and Mint, 906 yd each. WARP LENGTH 488 ends 5 yd long (includes 2 floating selvedges; allows 12" for take-up and 36" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 24 epi (2/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 21–22 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 205/12" Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 132", about 33" per towel. Finished size: (after wet-finishing and hemming) four towels 18½" × 28½". When my children were young, our family took a long road trip through southern Utah. My husband, who was driving, needed a nap, and the kids needed a break from the…
DESIGNING TWILL CIRCLES should be easy—right? Not so much, as I found while working on drafts for this project. Beginning with some eight-shaft options, I put on a 3-yard sample warp and tried four different threadings and many treadlings, all to no avail. I guess if you squint and hold your head to the side, they look like circles, but the floats are far too long to be practical for towels. After several weeks of tweaking the draft with weaving software that didn’t result in anything worthwhile, I started over with a new four-shaft draft that I came upon during a guild workshop, “The Thrill of a Twill,” with Robyn Spady. Initially, the floats were too long for towels, but by making some adjustments in both the threading and treadling,…
My husband is from England and I am from Hungary. We have chosen to settle in Canada, with our two grown daughters living 1,000 and 2,500 miles from us. You can imagine how many significant family events and ordinary holidays we are forced to miss! However, the sky is blue everywhere and the same stars shine down on every member of our family, no matter how many miles separate us. I wanted to weave placemats for all of those dear to us so we could feel connected despite the distance. With thoughts of the blue sky and stars we share, I chose a starry pattern from Mary Meigs Atwater's Recipe Book and shades of blue cotton to make these placemats. Now we can enjoy meals "together" despite being thousands of…
STRUCTURE Plain weave with supplemental warp and weft. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 16" weaving width; 10- or 15-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 4 bobbins. YARN Placemats: Warp: 5/2 pearl cotton (2,100 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), #1089 Alabaster, 574 yd. 5/2 pearl cotton (2,100 yd/lb; UKI), #107 Melon, 112 yd. 5/2 pearl cotton hand-dyed (2,100 yd/lb; Tabby Tree Weaver), Peach Harvest, 140 yd. Weft: 5/2 pearl cotton (Valley Yarns), #1089 Alabaster, 519 yd. 5/2 cotton (UKI), #107 Melon, 96 yd. 5/2 pearl cotton hand-dyed (Tabby Tree Weaver), Peach Harvest, 128 yd. 10/2 pearl cotton (4,200 yd/lb; UKI), #107 Melon or sewing thread in a similar color, 78 yd for hems. Runner: Warp: 5/2 cotton (Valley Yarns), #1089 Alabaster, 297 yd. 5/2 pearl cotton (UKI), #107 Melon, 88 yd. 5/2 pearl cotton hand-dyed (Tabby…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 6-shaft loom, 16" weaving width; 15-dent reed; 1 shuttle. YARNS Warp: 8/2 Tencel (100% lyocell; 3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), Black, 276 yd; Burnt Orange, 207 yd; Gold, 423 yd; Lemon Drop and Spice, 201 yd each; Natural 132 yd. Weft: Silk with Stellina (75% superwash wool/25% tussah silk; 2,940 yd/lb; Green Grass Handwoven), Black, 606 yd. Note: This yarn is no longer available. A good substitute is Treenway Silks’ Zola, 12/2 laceweight (100% bombyx silk; 2,950 yd/lb), Raven Black. OTHER SUPPLIES Cardboard strip 1" × 17" to use as a separator between rows of hemstitching. WARP LENGTH 480 ends, 3 yd long (allows 7" for take-up, 24" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 30 epi (2/dent in a 15-dent reed or 3/dent in…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUPMENT 4-shaft loom, 20" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2–4 shuttles; 5 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 10/2 cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 315 yd; Warm Navy, 675 yd; Hyacinth Violet, 1,076 yd. Weft: 10/2 cotton, Cherry Red, 906 yd; Warm Navy, 479 yd; Olive Green, 450 yd; Natural, 94 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Coordinating sewing thread. WARP LENGTH 459 ends 4½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 12" for take-up, 32" for loom waste). Note: Allow 33" for each additional towel. SETTS Warp: 24 epi (2/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 27 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 193/12". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 118", or four towels about 29½" each. Finished size: (after wet-finishing and hemming) four towels, 16½" × 24½" each. I love symmetry,…
While weavers have been writing down their drafts for hundreds of years, modern weavers may find the notation used in older drafts to be a mystery—to say nothing of the handwriting. In his preface to The Weavers Draft Book and Clothiers Assistant, printed in 1792, John Hargrove explains how to sley cotton, linen, and worsted warps, as well as how to interpret the harness leaves (shafts), threadings, and treadlings of the drafts included in the book. Even relatively recent drafts can be confusing. Let’s take a moment to compare two classic pattern books: A Handweaver’s Pattern Book by Marguerite Davison (published in 1944) and A Weaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns, edited by Carol Strickler (published in 1991). MARGUERITE’S NOTATION In Marguerite Davison’s drafts, the threading is represented by short vertical…
STRUCTURE Turned Atwater-Bronson. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 22" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 7 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 10/2 pearl cotton (4,200 yd/lb; UKI), #142 Purple Passion, 132 yd; #27 Purple, 126 yd; #5 Loden, 222 yd; #26 Dark Green, 216 yd; #116 Black, 213 yd; #17 Wine, #24 Garnet, #99 Dark Sierra, #52 Chestnut, #15 Navy, and #120 Deep Purple, 108 yd each. Note: #24 Garnet and #52 Chestnut are discontinued. Try #32 Lipstick and #25 Medium Brown as substitutes. Weft: 10/2 pearl cotton, #132 Red Hot, #114 Indies Orange, #67 Light Orange, #63 Yale Blue, #109 Bermuda, and #1 Light Blue, 96 yd each; #12 Red, #11 Tangerine, #111 Dark Gold, #125 Pacific Blue, #18 Copen, and #101 Baby Blue, 49 yd each; #10 Gold and #117 Stone, 48…
What do you call a gathering of weavers? We call it Weave Together with Handwoven, and the next time it happens will be March 8–12, 2026, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Conference Center in Loveland, Colorado. This event is Long Thread Media’s weaving retreat, where attendees enjoy four days of weaving classes, community, and fun. It’s designed by and for weavers of all kinds—including beginners who want to become weavers but don’t know where to start. This will be a great opportunity to try out multiple weaving techniques in one place, with a minimum of stress. As usual, we’ve got a lineup of incredible teachers, including several names that should be familiar to readers of Handwoven and Easy Weaving with Little Looms. Lynda Teller Pete will be teaching a…
I try to make handwoven items for wedding gift s, which meant I was busy in 2016 with four weddings in one year. The last wedding was my nephew’s on New Year’s Eve. I didn’t know the bride well, so I asked about her favorite home décor colors and her decorating style. The answer was pastels and mid-century modern. I don’t work with pastels oft en, which presented a challenge, but I do love mid-century modern design. By Googling “mid-century modern color palette,” I found a pastel palette to work with and chose a geometric design to give the towels a mid-century modern feel. I named them David’s Towels aft er the loom I wove them on, Louet’s David. Th ink David and Goliath: a little loom with a big…
STRUCTURE Twill. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 37" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles. YARNS Warp: Alpaca Fino (100% alpaca; 219 yd/100 g; AppleOak FibreWorks), Caramel, 1,085 yd. Weft: Alpaca Fino, Caramel, 536 yd. Simply Alpaca Aran (100% alpaca; 246 yd/100 g; Knit Picks), Alton, 66 yd (see Weaving Tip). OTHER SUPPLIES Temple (recommended). WARP LENGTH 434 ends 2½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 5" for take-up, 30" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 12 epi (1/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 10 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 362/12". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 53". Finished size: (after wetfinishing and hemming) 32" × 48" plus 6" fringe. My wife and I love to travel. Not too long ago, we went to Peru to see…
STRUCTURE Turned twill. EQUIPMENT 12-shaft loom, 19" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 17 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cottolin (40% linen/60% organic cotton; 3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #C963 Royal, 528 yd; #C1510 Turquoise and #C4616 Peacock, 144 yd each; #C4269 Limette pâle, 96 yd; #C1430 Orange foncé, #C8265 Orange brûlé, and #C5214 Magenta, 72 yd each. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #5169 Fushia, 96 yd; #1330 Rose foncé, 48 yd; #1831 Vert pâle, 24 yd. Note: These warp yardages are sufficient for weaving one runner. Multiply required yardage for each color by 1.67 for two runners. Weft: Runner 1: 8/2 cottolin, #C963 Royal, 346 yd; #C8265 Orange brûlé and #C5214 Magenta, 72 yd each; #C1430 Orange foncé, #C4269 Limette pâle, and #C4616 Peacock, 54 yd each; #C1510 Turquoise, 36…
STRUCTURE Doublewidth. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 39" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 3 shuttles. YARNS Warp: Nature Spun Sport (100% wool; 1,656 yd/lb; Brown Sheep Company), N36 China Blue, 910 yd; N03 Grey Heather, 1,449 yd; N85 Peruvian Pink, 315 yd. Weft: Nature Spun Sport, N36 China Blue, 686 yd; N03 Grey Heather, 1,099 yd; N85 Peruvian Pink, 247 yd. Note: Several extra yards to accommodate the many weft color changes are included in the weft yardages. For a special tonal effect, Malynda purchased Peruvian Pink skeins as seconds from an inconsistent dye lot. First-quality yarns may not have this color variation. OTHER SUPPLIES 5 yd 8/4 cotton carpet warp or other strong, smooth yarn and 5 yd fishing line (used to maintain the doublewidth fold’s position on the loom). WARP LENGTH…
STRUCTURE Doublewidth. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 26" weaving width; 8-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 4 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 2-ply sportweight wool (1,515 yd/lb; Meridian Jacobs), Natural and Coreopsis (rust), 352 yd each; Hollyhock (green), 176 yd; Black Walnut (brown), 264 yd. Weft: 2-ply sportweight wool, Natural, 232 yd; Coreopsis (rust), 255 yd; Hollyhock (green), 153 yd; Black Walnut (brown), 204 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES Wool wash; sewing thread in a contrasting color. WARP LENGTH 416 ends 2¾ yd long (allows 7" for take-up and 24" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 16 epi (2/dent in an 8-dent reed). Weft: 8 ppi in each layer. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 26". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 68". Finished size: (after wet-finishing) 45½" × 54" with 4" twisted fringe.…
STRUCTURE Plain weave. EQUIPMENT 2- or 4-shaft loom, 20" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 9 bobbins. YARNS Warp: Euroflax 30/2 linen (4,500 yd/lb; LoftyFiber), Navy, 182 yd; Cobalt, 168 yd; Angelfish, Fluorescent Green, Soft Coral, Orchid, Tangerine, and Buttercup, 84 yd each. 28/1 line linen (7,342 yd/lb; Bockens), half bleached, 798 yd. Weft: Euroflax 30/2 linen, Navy, 44 yd; Cobalt and Buttercup, 65 yd each; Angelfish, Fluorescent Green, Soft Coral, Orchid, and Tangerine, 109 yd each. 28/1 line linen, half bleached, 735 yd. Note: Véronique used eight colors of 30/2 linen. Feel free to use more or fewer colors, or to substitute other colors from your stash. WARP LENGTH 472 ends 3½ yd long (allows 5" for take-up, 28" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 24…
STRUCTURE Plain weave with warp floats. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 22" weaving width; 12-dent reed for napkins; 15-dent reed for towels; 2 or more shuttles; 7 or more bobbins. YARNS Warp: 16/2 cotton (6,720 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #0100 Naturel, 1,714 yd; #1330 Rose foncé, 253 yd; #0112 Slate and #1315 Orange pâle, 374 yd each. 16/2 cotton (6,720 yd/lb; Bockens), #1028 green yellow light, 253 yd. 16/2 cottolin (60% cotton/40% linen; 6,720 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #5067 Periwinkle and #1934 Nil green, 253 yd each. Napkin Weft: 30/2 linen (4,500 yd/lb; Euroflax), Cream, 857 yd; Crabapple, Tangerine, Aqua, French Blue, and Periwinkle Grey, 170 yd each; Wasabi, 70 yd; Buttercup, 100 yd. Sewing thread, white or colors to match accent stripes, 150 yd. Towel Weft: 16/2 cotton (Brassard), #0100 Naturel, 395 yd;…
The Art of Weaving: Master the Techniques, Understand the Weave Structures, Create Your Own Designs Betty Briand In the opening moments of my very first weaving class, my teacher asked me why I wanted to learn to weave. Surprised, I thought a few seconds, then said, “I want to know how to make cloth.” She nodded. “What interests you more, the process or the product?” No need to think about that one. “Definitely process.” “Okay,” she said, “now I know how to teach you.” And so she did. Fast-forward 11 years to the day The Art of Weaving arrived in the mail. Turns out Betty Briand is a process-of-weaving teacher on steroids. With palpable exuberance and many exclamation points—she is French, after all—her book opens with exhaustive overviews of looms,…
You invest a lot of time, heart, and soul when making a handwoven item, so consider giving it a finish to match: hemstitching by hand. You can quickly do machine-sewn hems or knot the edge, but some pieces need the special touch that shows you took extra care. Beautiful handwovens deserve beautiful finishes! Hemstitching is part of drawn-thread embroidery needlework. Embroiderers draw threads out of an evenweave (what weavers would call “balanced weave”) fabric to form areas with only warp or weft . As a handweaver you don’t need to draw out the threads; your warp is wait ing and ready to take the beautiful stitches. The most common use of hemstitching is hemstitching fringe at the beginning and end of a project. Hemstitching binds groups of warps together, preventing…
