Broken Twill Fabric Inspiration

By Jane Patrick

I love this bold broken twill pattern. It is fairly easy to thread and the straight twill treadling is a snap to weave. We threaded this up for our Anniversary Catalog and find that it looks terrific on the cherry 45” Standard Floor Loom. This is an 8-shaft pattern, but you could just as easily weave it on 4-shafts, say, for example Three Thread Herringbone, treadling I on page 24 of Davisons’s A Handweaver’s Pattern Book.

Project Specs

Weave structure: 8-shaft broken twill, with floating selvedges on either side

Number of warp ends: 442

Warp length: 3-1/4 yards, which allows 28" take-up and loom waste

Width in reed: 44.2"

EPI: 10

PPI: 10

What You'll Need

Materials

warp and weft: worsted weight wool in natural white (700 yd), blue (950 yd), light brown (480 yd), and wine red (480 yd)

Equipment

8-shaft 45” Standard Floor Loom
four 13” boat shuttles

Directions

Warp the loom, adding a floating selvedge at each end.
Use an even beat and weave at 10 ppi to square the pattern. Follow the warp color threading order, or create your own variation. When changing colors, weave the ends in about an inch. Clip the ends after finishing.
After removing from the loom, create a twisted fringe prior to washing. Wash in cool water in the washing machine on gentle cycle, checking every 5 minutes. When almost fulled, gently rinse, remove from machine and gently squeeze out. Lay flat to dry on towels and then steam press using a press cloth.

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