Valley Yarns #113 Regal Twill Towels

Valley Yarns Regal Twill Towels – Weaving Pattern Summary

Project Overview

The Regal Twill Dish Towel is a woven homeware project designed by Paula Veleta that produces two finished towels measuring 16" x 30" each. This downloadable weaving draft combines traditional twill techniques with color-and-weave patterning to create decorative kitchen towels featuring the Gothic Cross motif. The design showcases how strategic color placement and pattern repetition can elevate a functional household textile into an artisan-quality piece.

What Is Being Made

This pattern creates a pair of dish towels woven on a 4-shaft loom. The finished towels feature a sophisticated combination of the Gothic Cross twill pattern rendered in color-and-weave blocks, complemented by asymmetric bands of solid color running the length of each towel. The design balances visual interest through patterned sections with restful solid-color areas, making these towels both decorative and practical for everyday kitchen use.

Weaving Techniques Used

Twill Weaving: The foundation of this project is twill, a fundamental weaving structure that creates diagonal lines across the fabric. Twill is prized for its durability and subtle visual texture, making it ideal for towels that will withstand regular washing and use.

Color-and-Weave Patterning: This advanced technique uses the interplay between warp and weft colors to create pattern and visual depth without requiring complex threading. Small squares of color-and-weave sections are strategically placed throughout the design, where all three colors appear in both the warp and weft, creating intricate geometric effects.

Gothic Cross Pattern: A traditional twill motif that creates a delicate, cross-like shape when rendered in the fabric. In this design, the Gothic Cross pattern is emphasized through careful color placement, with Eggplant weft highlighting the pattern against the lighter Daffodil and Turquoise Blue warp colors.

Multi-Color Weft Weaving: The project employs two shuttles to alternate between different colored wefts—Eggplant for the Gothic Cross blocks and Turquoise Blue and Daffodil for the color-and-weave sections. This technique requires managing multiple bobbins and coordinating shuttle changes to maintain pattern integrity.

Stitches and Structural Elements

While weaving does not use "stitches" in the traditional sense, this pattern employs several key structural components:

• Threading Order: The warp is threaded following a specific sequence across four shafts, with heddle counts of 135 on Shaft 1, 90 on Shaft 2, 136 on Shaft 3, and 181 on Shaft 4. This threading is repeated 22 times across the warp width and includes floating selvedges on either end for finished edges.
• Treadling Sequence: The weaver alternates between Gothic Cross treadling blocks using Eggplant weft and color-and-weave blocks using Turquoise Blue and Daffodil wefts. This rhythmic alternation creates the visual structure of the finished towel.
• Warp Color Order: The warp is wound following a specific color sequence that repeats across the width, incorporating Eggplant, Daffodil, and Turquoise Blue in a planned arrangement. The color order chart provided in the draft ensures consistent patterning across both towels.
• Selvedge Treatment: Floating selvedges are added on either end of the warp to create finished, non-raveling edges on the towels, a professional finishing detail.

Materials: Yarn and Equipment

Yarn: This project uses Valley Yarns 10/2 Cotton, a mercerized 100% cotton yarn with a yardage of 4200 yards per pound. The specific colors are:

• #6256 Eggplant: 1773 yards (primary weft color for Gothic Cross blocks)
• #1325 Daffodil: 843 yards (color-and-weave and accent bands)
• #2194 Turquoise Blue: 267 yards (color-and-weave and accent bands)

The mercerized cotton provides excellent durability, absorbency, and a subtle sheen appropriate for kitchen towels. The 10/2 weight creates a fabric with good body and structure suitable for a 30 epi sett.

Equipment Required: A 4-shaft floor loom or table l