Shifting Structures Towels

The magic comes from a blended draft, which lets you weave unique towels on the same warp and without rethreading.

About this Project

Every Christmas, Annette Swan Schipf makes handwoven gifts for her family. She wants each gift to be personalized and uniquely special, but she doesn’t have time to put on a separate warp for each person! The answer? Towels woven using a blended draft (sometimes called integrated drafts or composite drafts).

What is a blended draft? Mary Black defines them as those in which “two drafts are integrated, forming a threading that can be treadled to produce either of the original patterns or an entirely new one which shows some features of the two originals.”

For this design, Annette blended Bronson lace with one of Bertha Gray Hayes’s overshot drafts, and she also designed borders to give the various versions a more finished look.

Contents

• Project Instructions PDF
• Towel WIFs

Details

Structure
Bronson lace and overshot.

Equipment
8-shaft loom, 23" weaving width; 12-dent reed; at least 2 shuttles; 3 or more bobbins.

Yarns
Warp: 6/2 cotton (2,520 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), Natural, 2,680 yd.
Weft: Annette used yarns from her stash.
Substitute: 6/2 cotton, Natural, 741 yd; Dark Grey, 361 yd; Burgundy and Hunter, 30 yd each. Beam 8/2 cotton (100% organic cotton; 3,360 yd/lb; Gist Yarn), Blush, 385 yd; Dawn, 311 yd. Beam 3/2 cotton (100% organic cotton; 1,260 yd/lb; Gist Yarn), Dawn, 28 yd. Duet (55% linen/45% cotton; 2,390 yd/lb; Gist Yarn), Apricot, 70 yd; Rust, 11 yd; Sun, 317 yd.

Dimensions
Width in the reed: 22²⁄₁₂".
Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 192" (about 32" per towel).
Finished size: (after wet-finishing and hemming) six towels, about 19" × 25" each.

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Photos by Matt Graves

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Visit our help article for more information on WIFs, including what they are and how to use them.