Perfectly Striped Towels: A Creative Journey with Aurora Earth Cotton

Posted by Jodi Ybarra on December 31, 2024

Weaving Perfect Stripes

A Creative Journey with Aurora Earth Cotton

Happy New Year!

Cotton Clouds is excited to announce another year of weaving challenges and free monthly patterns!

The theme for this year's 2025 Monthly Weaving Projects is "The Art of Contrast".

"The Art of Contrast" explores the dynamic interplay between opposing elements to create visually striking and thought-provoking designs.

In this theme, we celebrate the balance between light and dark, smooth and textured, bold and subtle. Whether through color, pattern, or material, contrast allows each element to stand out, making the whole composition more vibrant and engaging.

In this month's weaving challenge, I will take you through the process of weaving two different styles of striped towels with seven coordinating warp colors.

For the first set of towels, we will be using natural for the weft. For the second set of towels, we will see how a darker navy blue weft enhances the contrast and brings out the vibrancy of the striped colors.

We will also be weaving in two different weave structures, plain weave, and fun texture weave sequence. You can enjoy weaving this project on either a rigid heddle or multi shaft loom.

The Inspiration Behind Perfectly Striped Towels

Stripes are a timeless design choice in weaving, offering a perfect balance of simplicity and sophistication. The use of multiple colors can make your weaving feel dynamic and vibrant while still maintaining a harmonious overall look. By alternating the stripes of different colors, you create a visually appealing rhythm that allows you to create something exciting and special.

Choosing the Right Yarn

The yarn we will be using to weave these towels is Aurora Earth 8/2 Cotton, which is known for its handspun appearance and many fantastic color options. It's perfect for weaving towels, offering durability, softness and absorbency.

Aurora Earth is also a great choice if you are direct warping on your rigid heddle loom. You can warp in both slots and holes in your 10-dent reed to achieve 20 threads per inch. If weaving on a multi-shaft loom you should sley your reed with two threads per dent.

Choosing Warp and Weft Colors

The seven coordinating colors I’ve chosen for these towels include a beautiful color palette of blues, greens, and turquoise that blend well together. The combination of rich, medium, and muted tones adds a touch of sophistication to the design.

For the first set of towels, I’ll use natural for the weft. This choice gives the fabric a neutral, understated appearance that lets the colors of the stripes really pop. The natural weft creates a soft, earthy feel, ideal for those who prefer a subtle look that still packs visual interest.

For the second set, I’ve opted for a dark navy weft which provides a striking contrast to the colorful stripes, giving the towels a bold, modern look. The navy weft also adds a sense of richness, making this set feel both sophisticated and dramatic.

Designing the Stripes

When it comes to designing stripes for your towels, the possibilities are endless. One of the first decisions you'll need to make is whether you want all your stripes to be the same size or if you'd prefer a variation in width.

A uniform stripe design creates a clean, orderly look, while varying the sizes of your stripes can add visual interest and a more dynamic feel to the fabric.

Another design consideration is whether you want each side of the towel to start and end with the same color, which can create a sense of symmetry and balance.

The beauty of designing with stripes is that you have the freedom to experiment with different patterns and color placements to create a design that truly reflects your style.

For our Perfectly Striped Towels in this blog, our stripes will be uniform and placed in an order that will look balanced.

Let's Get Started!

Now that we've talked a little about some different options for designing towels with stripes, I'd like to share my Perfectly Striped Towels that I designed with Aurora Earth 8/2 Cottons!

Gather your supplies ~ You will need an assortment of six Aurora Earth colors plus natural or dark navy for the seventh warp color and weft. We've supplied a pattern in this blog to help you get started. The pattern will give you the yarn amounts, weaving width, suggested sett and finishing techniques to weave two towels.

We make it easy! Our Perfectly Striped Towel Kits make gathering your supplies easy. These kits include all the yarns you'll need whether you choose a natural background color or the darker, more bold navy blue. There are two kits to choose from or you can choose the bundle to weave both the neutral and bold towels!

Join the Cotton Clouds Weaving Community on Facebook so that you can share your questions, pictures and accomplishments.

Let's Weave together! I'm here for you every step of the way!

Perfectly Striped Towel Pattern

Fabric Description: plain weave or texture weave

Warp: Aurora Earth 8/2 Cottons: Natural or Dark Navy 800 yd, Lt Turk 72 yds, Royal Blue 108 yds, Duck 108 yds, Plum Green 108 yds, Jade 108 yds, Nile Green 54 yds.

Weft: Aurora Earth 8/2 Cotton: Natural or Dark Navy 1000 yds (doubled on shuttle).

Equipment needed: rigid heddle or 4-shaft loom; 22.6” weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 stick shuttles, 1 pick-up stick if you weave the textured towels. You will also need a double bobbin shuttle if you are weaving on a multi-shaft loom.

Total Warp Ends: 226 (452 threads)

Warp Length: 3 yds (108”); allows for 40” tie up and waste.

Sett: 10 epi (doubled ends); 9 ppi in plain weave or 10 ppi in texture.

Finished Dimensions: two towels 21” x 30” hemmed.

Available as a kit from Cotton Clouds Inc.

Rigid Heddle Instructions

Warping the Loom
Set up your loom to direct warp a length of 3 yards (108”). Wind the warp following the warp order diagram. Each slot and hole will have two threads which is one pass to the warping peg.

Natural or Dark Navy - slot, hole, slot. (3 ends or 6 threads)
Six Coordinating Colors - hole, slot, hole. (3 ends or 6 threads)

The numbers in this chart represent doubled ends so 3 ends will equal 6 threads.

This warping chart will give you 22.6" weaving width. You can adjust the repeats to 2 instead of 3 if you would like a 16.6" weaving width to make smaller towels. If you need to reduce the width even more, you can take out some of the 37 ends in natural or dark navy.

After you have completed warping your loom with the desired weaving width, wind the yarns onto the back beam and tie the yarns in small bundles onto the front apron rod.

Preparing the Shuttles
Wind one shuttle with single strand weft color and a second shuttle with doubled weft color. The single strand shuttle will only be used for the hems.

This pattern allows you to weave your towels in either plain weave or texture weave. You can weave one of each, or two the same.

Weaving in Plain Weave
Weave with scrap yarn to spread the warp evenly.

Weave 2” in plain weave with single strand shuttle.

Change to shuttle with double strand and weave for 33”.

Finish with 2” using single strand shuttle for hem.

Perfectly Striped Towels in Plain Weave

Weaving in Texture Weave
Weave with scrap yarn to spread the warp evenly.

Weave 2” in plain weave using single strand.

Change to shuttle with double strand and weave in the 4-step pick-up technique for 33”.

Finish with 2” in plain weave using single strand for hem.

Perfectly Striped Towels in Texture Weave

When you have finished weaving your towels, weave a few picks of waste yarn before cutting your towels from the loom.

Finishing and Hemming
Remove the towels from the loom and sew a zig zag stitch across each end before cutting apart.
Using an iron with steam, fold each hem over twice to get a nice flat edge.
Sew a straight stitch across securing each hem.
Machine wash and dry on normal.
Press with a warm iron if needed.
Towels will relax with more washes.

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Multi-Shaft Loom Instructions

Winding the Warp
Wind a warp of 452 threads following the Warp Color Order Chart.
This draft was written to weave the cloth exactly as it is woven on a rigid heddle loom.

The warp ends are all threaded with two threads of yarn next to each other on the same shaft, each in their own heddle to mimic the rigid heddle loom cloth. The finished towels will be identical to those woven on a rigid heddle loom and to what is shown in the pictures. If you are short on heddles these two side-by-side ends could be threaded through the same heddle, but be aware that they will likely begin to twist.

Dressing the Loom
Warp your loom using your preferred method (front to back or back to front).

Warp order:
Multi-shaft instructions can follow the same warp order and layout as the rigid heddle pattern.

Warp color chart:
Remember that the warp color chart was written for rigid heddle weavers and that all of the numbers will be doubled when measured on a warping board. So each color stripe of 3 ends will have 6 threads.

Heddles Needed:
Shaft 1: 152
Shaft 2: 226
Shaft 3: 74

Winding the Bobbins

Wind a double bobbin shuttle to weave double strand. Only the hems will be woven single strand.

Weaving:
Weave with scrap yarn to spread the warp evenly.
Using single strand weft yarn, weave 2” in plain weave.

You can weave one towel plain weave and one texture weave or two of either styles.
Weave for 33” using double strand, then finish with another 2” hem with single strand.

I hope you enjoy weaving these Perfectly Striped Towels with Aurora Earth 8/2 Cottons!

This project is available as a kit!

Order your kit today!

Thank you for weaving with Cotton Clouds!

Jodi Ybarra
Cotton Clouds, Inc

The PDF Download for this Perfectly Striped Towel Pattern is included with kit purchase.

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