How many times have you heard “wash your hands” in the past few weeks? I’m guessing it’s a lot! I thought it would be the perfect time to offer a free project for us all to enjoy together.
Let’s face it, if we’re going to constantly wash our hands, we might as well have beautiful, hand woven towels to dry them with! I chose bright and cheery colours to increase their aesthetic appeal. I hope that weaving these towels is fun for you and that using them to dry your hands makes you happy.
*This post contains affiliate links
This project is suitable for beginners, however you do need to know how to warp, thread, and set up your rigid heddle loom for plain weave. If you don’t feel you are at that level just yet, I highly recommend my Woe to Go! Beginner Rigid Heddle Weaving class.
Both towel designs are quite adaptable and can be varied in many ways. I give you some ideas on how to go about this in the video class.
We’ll begin by going over some of the tools and materials you will need to complete this project:
*Rigid heddle loom 24” weaving width or wider (yes, you can also use a smaller loom with the understanding that your towels will be narrower than mine).
*1 x 10 dent heddle (or a 7.5 – 8 dent heddle if using Sugar n Cream yarn)
*3 stick shuttles longer than the width of the project. (For the first towel we are weaving with 3 weft colours).
*1 pickup stick longer than the width of the project (additional pick up stick to aid transfer of pick up is optional – a stick shuttle can be substituted.
*A sewing machine and serger are very handy for hemming but not essential
I used a beautifully soft and lofty cotton to weave these towels on my rigid heddle loom. We will be using the same warp for both towels, but as you can see, using different techniques makes the towels wonderfully varied in how they look.
If you’re in Australia, my yarns were from Bendigo Woollen Mills in the following: Pomegranate, Peacock and White cotton 10ply. But, if you need substitutes, here are my recommendations:
Make sure you download the printable PDF, which gives you all the necessary warp calculations, weaving and pick up sequences.
Both towels are woven on the one warp but are quite different in appearance. The first towel uses the same colour sequence to weave as the warp set up, giving us a fabulous plaid.
I chose this design because I have so many weavers ask how to deal with the changing of colours in the weft. This is the perfect opportunity to practice the technique of frequent colour changes by cutting and starting new colours.
I chose to weave 4 picks of each colour and to cut each colour to introduce the new one. But, if I decided to weave, say, 2 picks of each colour, I would likely choose to carry the colours up the side rather than cutting them.
Towel two is woven with just white in the weft.
I started and finished with a plain weave border, with the mid section being woven in a simple but lovely pick up design. If you haven’t used pick up sticks before, you may want to start with this post and video to better understand the process and get you set up to weave this towel. I kept the design and weave sequence as simple as I could so that newbies could have a go.
So, are you ready to watch and weave? Here are the videos that, together with the printable PDF will have you up and weaving these beautiful towels in no time at all:
This free class is also available at my Online Weaving School.
If you complete this project, I would love to see and hear about them. If you tag me on Instagram, I will share your project in my stories. And, if you enjoy the project, please share the videos so that others can benefit too!
If you have any questions or comments, let me know down below, I love to hear from you.
Until next time…
Happy Weaving!
I was wondering whether there is a way to mark the halfway point in your warp. Also, is there a way to tell where the halfway point is after you have started weaving? I’m afraid I am using different yarn to you and I may have warped a different length as well. (I know, I should have taken notes!)
Love the colours in these. I live near Bendigo so will get some cotton from BWM for my next project.
Hi Sarah,
I don’t do any pre marking, I just measure my weaving as I work through it. Are you worried your warp might be a little short?
Sort of. I’m hoping for the two towels to be roughly the same size. Does the warp length change while you are weaving, or only when you take it off the loom and it relaxes?
I think I just need to take better notes next time!
I am going to enrol in aome of your courses or get a membership soon. Just waiting until November when I will have a little more time for weaving.
Thank you for taking the time to help me.
The warp will change once you’ve relaxed tension and taken the towels off the loom. If your towels end up a little shorter than planned, don’t stress, they will still be useable towels 😊
Hi Kelly ..I am unsure how you are going to cut the towels off and stop them from fraying out before you machine hem, could you please tell me, thank you
Once you cut them, take them straight to the machine and zigzag the raw edges. I have a serger, so I use that to secure my edges.
Thanks Kelly, will I be able to hem the thick sugar and cream yarn?
I can on my sewing machine, but there may be some machines that would struggle with it. A walking foot can help in this instance.
Will it be ok to get the Aran weight Sugar and Cream, I don’t know if there are any other weights, I will be using an 8 heddle
Yes Janet, that is ok, you may find it a little stiff to weave with, as it is quite thick, but I think it will turn out fine.
Thank you Kelly.
Hi Kelly: I have been trying to purchase a membership (GOLD) for 3 days with the HAPPYBIRTHDAY code. I keep getting a message that the code is invalid. I also tried to e-mail you before to see if there is any way I can use Paypal. Your other courses allow the option for paypal, but this one does not. Can you please help me. I do not see any other way to e-mail you directly, so I hope you get this. Thanks, Charlotte
I’ve emailed you Charlotte 😉
One year on I’ve now started on the towels but I have encountered a problem. I substituted the yarn for another Aran weight cotton yarn that was available to me and which I thought was close enough in type but it must be thicker and/ or have a different twist than the two you recommend as it is very tight in the heddle and it is rubbing and creating fluff so at the moment I’m trying to decide if it’s worth persevering or not. I wish I had done a test before putting on the whole warp!
Which size of heddle are you using Tina?
I’m using a 10 dent heddle.
That could be the problem – that the 10 dent is just a little too close for your yarn. You may want to try switching to a 7.5 – 8 dent instead.
Unfortunately I printed off my copy of the instructions before you added the bit about the 7.5/8 dent heddle so never saw that or the comments from people with same problem. Decided to stop yesterday and will need to cut off some of the damaged warp before starting again with the 8 dent, ideally I’d like to cut off 25 inches but how much do you think I can safely remove?
Oh, I’m sorry about that. I had to change some of the information based on student feedback. Yes, just cut off what you need to.
When supplying a free pattern you can’t really be held responsible when people decide to make their own yarn substitutions. I suppose you could just write that the heddle may need to be changed if you change yarn. What I meant by “safely remove” is how much I can remove and still have enough warp left to weave both towels?
Hi Kelly,
I have made several sets of your Wash Your Hands towels for family and they love them! Thank you for this project. Each time I measure out the warp though, I have the same question. When I measure, is it the distance from the peg to the back apron rod or is it from the peg to the reed? Thank you.
Theresa
Hi Theresa,
I’m so glad you have enjoyed this project. I always measure from the back apron rod (fully extended) to the peg (not around the peg, just to meet it). This is not necessarily the way that other weavers do it, but I do it exactly the same each time, which allows me to be consistent in my pattern instructions.
Thank you. Is that fully extended away from the loom or fully extended toward the front of the loom? Sorry…just a little confused.
Fully extended towards the front of the loom, an easy way to remember is to imagine that the apron rod is reaching out towards the peg 😉
Thank you again!
Hi Kelly, For the beginning and end of my towel, I want to weave with a thinner yarn since the Sugar and Cream yarn made a very thick hem when doubled. I will use 3/2 cotton. My question is: will 3/2 cotton be too loose in a 7.5 reed? Thank you.
Hi Kelly, I have a 16 inch loom, so I had to adjust how many repeats of the red, white and aquamarine pattern for warping the Wash Your Hands towels. I was doing ok until I realized I did not have room for one warp thread. It ended up being outside the rh reed. So one repeat only has 3 strands instead of 4. I hope I’m explaining this right. My question is whether that will effect my 4 rows of each color when I throw the picks. Since only the first repeat is short one strand, I’m thinking that will not make a difference. Am I right and if I am not, what do you suggest. Thank you for your help.
Theresa
Hi Theresa,
If it were me in the same situation, I would just go ahead, I don’t think there will be a really noticeable difference 😊
You were right…having one less warp thread did not make a difference. Thank you.
Now I have another question. I have read that if you are weaving with a worsted weight yarn , like Sugar and Cream, doubling a hem can be very bulky. I think you suggested the use of a thinner yarn for the beginning and end of the towel so that when it is doubled, it will not be so thick. My question is, if I am using a 7.5 heddle with Sugar and Cream for the main part of the towel, can I weave the hem part with a 3/2 yarn on the same size heddle? Would it be too loose? I hope this makes sense. Thank you.
Yes, you can use your 3/2 Theresa, I’ve used similar weight yarns for hemming bulkier items before and it works out fine 😊
Kelly,
Just wanted to make sure I understood something you said in a video. If I link to The Woolery through this website to buy a loom and/or link to Amazon to buy some yarn (or anything else within 24 hours), then you’ll get a commission from them? If I’m going to buy something from them, I’d be glad to have it support your work too.
Thank you for asking Steve!
If you click on links from my blog posts for particular items, they are usually affiliate links so that I get the commission.
You can also just use my affiliate link for The Woolery, so use the link to go to their site and they will automatically apply the commission to me – http://woolery.com?aff=124
And an easy way to shop Amazon is to go to my Amazon shop-http://www.amazon.com/shop/kellycasanova If you don’t see what you want in the shop, let me know and I can add it.
Kelly,
Thanks. I’m just waiting for the 24″ Ashford to be back in stock at the Woolery and then I’ll order one through your link. Wish we had found out about this sooner because we would have ordered my wife’s Knitter’s Loom that way. But now that we know, we’ll do our best to support you whenever we can. Have a great day.
That is really thoughtful of you, thank you!
Yes, the 24″ has been out of stock for quite a while, hopefully it won’t be too much longer now.
Hi. I was thinking the same thing. I buy so much from Amazon and ocassionally from Woolery. It would be nice to share a little of the sales profit with this generous teacher.
Thank you, that is lovely ❤️
Kelly, I am unable to download the PDF for the towels. I have tried on two different platforms. I get “network error” Help?
Sorry about that Carolyn, I made some adjustments to the file yesterday but something must have gone wrong when I re uploaded it. I’ve fixed the issue now, so you should be able to download with no problems at all 😊
The instructions say to use a 10 dent heddle. When I’ve woven cotton towels before, I’ve used a 7.5 heddle, but, I followed your instructions.
First problem I encountered was the shed wasn’t clean and that slowed down my weaving. The second problem that developed was the cotton fluff that formed all across the heddle because it is too small for Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Cotton.
I had to unweave 2″ and exchange the heddles…aargh!
I’m sorry for your trouble Suzanne, I think I will add to the pattern that some yarns may require a 7.5 dent. My cotton was perfect for my 10 dent heddle but I know that not all cottons are the same even if they’re meant to be the same weight!
Kelly, just wondering, since you said that Sugar and Cream would be a good substitute, does that mean I should use a 10 dent?
I’m hearing that people are having better results with a 7.5 or 8 dent when they use Sugar n Cream, so I would do that. I’ve written that recommendation into the PDF file 😊
Thanks for sharing Kelly! Can you tell me the finished width of the towels?
Hi Betsy, Towel 1 around 18″, Towel 2 around 17″ 😊
Thanks!!
Hi Kelly,
Hope I’m not asking a dopey question. I’m doing towel #2 again with better contrasting colors this time. Can you clarify one thing though? I have done the 4″ border. Looking good so far. I went to the video to refresh my memory about the pick-up pattern. am I correct in thinking that in the VIDEO after going under the 12 ends (3 sequences of color) you BEGAN the pattern with a 1 DOWN and then 1 up etc —but in the written instructions it says leave a border of the 12 threads BUT the pick is written as beginning with 1 UP and 1 DOWN. Does it matter? Many thanks,
Diane
Knowing me, that is entirely possible that I messed up the instructions on that section, but the good news is – no it doesn’t matter 😄
Kelly, another question from a newbie. I am lost on the calculation of how much yarn in each color to purchase and need a little further direction. Under yarn it is listed 80 grams of Pomegranate, white and peacock, how do I translate that to the number of skeins I need to purchase for each color? The Sugar n Cream Red is listed as 120 yards. Am I missing something in the instructions? Is there another video out there explaining yarn calculation between grams and yardage that I missed? Good gravy, this sounds like a math problem!
The 80 grams should be around the equivalent of 160 yards or 150 metres.
Does that help? 😊
Yes. Is there a place that provides a calculation? Thank you for your time as always.
I haven’t provided exact calculations for this project, I’ve kept it all as simple as possible.
Kelly I am working on your hand washing towels and thank you for this lockdown project!
Question: with 102 slots on a 24” Schacht Flip, so Ive warped the whole thing but have ONE slot left. What do I do with that? Or not include that in the warp and take one off the other side so I have even amounts of warp threads in the reed?
Don’t stress about it Holly, it’s not going to affect your project. If I’m understanding correctly, your empty slot is at the side, rather than somewhere in the middle of the warp? (That would require a fix).
If it’s a slot outside of the warp, just carry on with the next step, it will be fine 😊
Hi, Kelly, I am just about finished weaving two towels. Both patterns are amazing and your directions are perfect. Thank you so much. Can I ask you a question about color choices though? I am so bad at color and not very adventurous, I guess. I was very excited to try these in summery colors especially the beach glass hahaha (mint green, really) with white and a deep coral color but I learned that maybe these colors were too pastel/light for the pattern to emerge, or maybe it was the order in which I warped the colors. ? I chose to try towel #2 first. The above colors are very pretty together (I think) but your gorgeous overshot-looking pattern with border effect was absolutely lost. I warped the loom with the deep coral, then the white, then the mint green, in that order and used the white as the weft (the first time). I’ve used pickup sticks many times and have been weaving for about 4 years so I feel I did everything right. Do you think the colors I chose weren’t saturated enough or dark enough, or that the three I chose had a value that was too close to the same? The second time, I wove towel #2 again but experimented with the mint as the weft. Again, pretty I guess but as before the beautiful patterning did not appear. I can foresee using both of these towel patterns many, many times – just gorgeous – but I don’t feel confident choosing ‘future’ colors. Can you advise?
I would say your colours are not contrasting enough because of the white. Notice with my towels that I chose 2 bold colours to go with the white. White really tones colours down, so if your colours are already pastel and then you cross them with white they will tend to blend rather than stand out. I think your chosen colours would work really well with the towel 1 design though, as there are blocks of colour that stand out more.
I made these towels this week. I used Sugar and Cream in the same colors you used. I like both towels and probably will make more in different colors. I really love the overshot pattern with the border all the way around.
That’s great Susan, I would love to see them! Can I ask, were the yarn amounts given in the instructions correct for you? Someone told me that she ran out of yarn whilst warping, I would like to hear your experience.
Hi Kelly – When you “tuck the ends in” when beginning to use a color to then put your shuttle into a shed, it looks to me that you tuck in a very small amount of yarn. How do you treat that bit of yarn when you remove your fabric from the loom? Do you further weave in that end on the wrong side using a crochet hook? Thanks so much.
Liza
No, I leave the tails until after wet finishing and drying, then I cut them level with the fabric. You can see me doing that in the last part of video 2 😊
Thanks so much for the video, Kelly. I’m struggling to find a 10 dent reed for my Schacht Flip. I’ve got a 12.5 and an 8. I’ve also got a lot of 8/4 cotton yarn.
Would this towel work if I double warped an 8 dent reed with 8/4 yarn?
Thanks for your expertise 😄
Margaret, the recommended sett for 8/4 cotton is 10-12 epi, so you could do either of these two things:
1. Use the 12.5 dent with your 8/4 for lighter towels
2. As you suggested, double the 8/4 in the 8 dent for much denser, thicker towels.
What do you think your preference would be?
You are Awesome!!! Thanks you for sharing with us. I ordered material today. I am building a 28” Loom and will be done in a few days, just waiting on last minute parts. I am a new weaver of two months. I will get on a rake a few classes with you.
Thanks so much for all you do,
David
Wow, that sounds great David, I hope your loom turns out well
😀
Thank you Kelly, these two patterns are beautiful. I’ve been checking the Bendigo cotton sample card, the lovely colours make choice difficult.
I know, the colours are so good! And the cotton is super soft, I love it 😄
Coincidentally, I put a 18″ warp on my RHL yesterday, using Lily cotton. It is for a hand towel! (I plan for a 25″ length). I had planned to use 1 of the floating weft patterns that I learned (from you), in your lesson about Textured kitchen cloths. Then in the evening, I get the posting of your plaid hand towel! WoW..hey, are we in sync, or are we just washing are hands a lot & need more hand towels? I do wish I had seen this posting before I warped my loom, so I would have allowed more warp length for that lovely 4″ border. Well, next time. I have to tell you though, that I had a lot of trouble working to get a good tension. The cotton yarn & the width of the warp & having to tension it by myself, while then putting in warp separators was not easy. I did it, & hope that it’ll be good. I was wondering if could I/2 the warp & tie each 1/2 onto dowel sticks & as I’m warping, twist the dowels. Will that tighten the warp while I wind on? Thanks Kelly, I like your p/u pattern & I think I’ll be using it as my choice to weave. I’ll begin today.
Hi Liza, I haven’t tried using dowel when warping, but it’s fine to experiment and see what you come up with – some things will work and others won’t but at least then you know 😊
Thank you, Kelly, you are such a blessing! These will be a great project for me as a new weaver. Can these be woven with an 8 dent heddle?
Yes, you can Debbie, the towels just won’t be as thick but will still be totally fine 😊
Hi Kelly, thank you for this lovely project, I have a doubt, I don’t have access to any brand of cotton you mention, I looked at the website of the cotton you used looking for more information, can you confirm that it is the one that has 360 meters for every 200 grams of cotton? Thank you so much again
Cristi, the cotton I used has 300 metres per 200 grams. You can also substitute for Sugar n Cream cotton – do you have access to that?
Thank you Kelly, I do not have access to sugar n cream, which is why I asked you to buy a similar one, now I know what to look for !!! 😁
Thank you SO much, Kelly. Very generous of you and it is THE perfect project for this bizarre time we are living in! It is still early spring here in New England but in the spirit of play and looking forward to better times for all, I have ordered the yarn in the 3 most BEACH-like colors that I could find! Ha! In fact, one color is called Beach Glass and the other rose CORAL! 🙂 I hope that’s ok!
That sounds beautiful Diane! “Beach Glass”, what a wonderful name for a colour 😊
What a terrific idea. I have been weaving towels on my 15 inch rigid loom and now I can rename them . Thanks so much for your enthusiasm!
Great Marilyn! 😊
Thank you!
You’re most welcome!
Hi Kelly these are beautiful towels. I would be using a 4 shaft instead of a RH.
Is there an article that would show me how to create a draft for using my table loom instead of using a pickup stick?
I cannot thank you enough for your articles and videos. It has inspired me to explore a new medium. thank you
Kim
That is something I would like to learn more about too, I have attempted it recently but found it difficult. I’m sorry, I don’t have something I can refer you to, but I hope I can research and share my findings in the future!
Thank you Kelly! Can hardly wait to try this project 🙂
Awesome! 😄
Hi Kelly. I have tried a couple of different times to enter my debit card info to sign up for the monthly membership but it declines my card. Can you help me with that?
Patty, is it a Discover card? Unfortunately they are not accepted.
Thank you Kelly! I have had a nightmare on my loom since last summer and not wanting to finish it. This hand towel project is just what I needed to get motivated to finish it so I can do something new. And its a great project for the times to remember what was happening in our lives right now. Thanks so much!
That’s great to hear Patty! 😀