Weaving To Woo - Friendship Towels
By Jane Patrick
I wanted to share my favorite towel design with you. This is a project originally designed by Mary Ann Geers which we published in the May/June 1985 issue of Handwoven magazine when I was editor. I loved it so much that I included it in A Handwoven Treasury, a collection of articles and projects from the first 10 years of Handwoven magazine. The threading is huck-a-back blocks from Marguerite Davison's A Handweaver’s Pattern Book. (If you don’t know about this compendium of patterns for the 4-shaft loom, it is a marvelous resource that you could spend a lifetime exploring!)
I love this block pattern for a towel because it has small floats that are practical for a towel. This is a one-shuttle weave so it means that the weaving goes quickly. I call them friendship towels, because you can put on a long warp and weave many towels, each in a different color.
Project Specs
Warp length for 4 towels: 5-2/3 yards, which allows just under 36” loom waste. Each towel takes 43” of warp, estimating about 15% shrinkage in width and 30% in length.
Total warp ends: 414
Width in reed: 20-5/8”
EPI: 20, sleyed 2 ends per dent in a 10-dent reed.
PPI: about 24
What You'll Need
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Warp yarn: I used cottolin (cotton-linen blend yarn) instead of 8/2 cotton that was used in original. Either is fine. You’ll need 2,320 yards for 4 towels.
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Weft—I used cottolin in pink, you could also use 8/2 cotton or 16/2 linen. You’ll need 645 yards for each towel.
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Embroidered heart: I used pink embroidery floss.
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4-shaft loom with at least 21” weaving width
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10 dent reed
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shuttle—I used an end delivery shuttle
Materials
Equipment
Directions
Warp the loom according to the draft. Note: because the selvedge threads don't catch every time, thread the last 4 warp threads in the same dent. Alternately, you could use a floating selvedge, though it will slow the weaving somewhat.
Weave 2” plain weave for hem and then weave pattern for 39”, ending with another 2” hem. Repeat for three more towels.
I made a pink embroidered heart in the center on one end of each towel. Doing this on the loom when the fabric is under tension makes fast work of it. It's a fun touch!
To finish, machine zigzag between towels and cut apart. Machine wash, tumble dry, press. Make a double rolled hem and hand or machine stitch in place.