Valley Yarns #57 Blue & White Striped Dishtowels

Valley Yarns Blue & White Striped Dishtowels

What Is Being Made

The Valley Yarns Blue & White Striped Dishtowels are functional homeware textiles designed by Barbara Elkins. This weaving project produces practical kitchen towels featuring a classic striped pattern in blue and white colorways. The finished towels measure approximately 17" x 22¾" (blue towel) or 17" x 23¾" (white towel) after washing, making them ideal for everyday kitchen use. A single warp setup allows weavers to produce multiple towels efficiently, with enough yarn provided to create two towels in each colorway from the specified materials.

Techniques Used

This project employs striped weaving as its primary design technique, creating the distinctive blue and white pattern through careful warping order rather than color changes during the weaving process. The design utilizes a straight draw treadling method, which is one of the most fundamental and versatile weaving techniques. This approach is suitable for both 4-shaft and 8-shaft looms, offering flexibility for weavers with different equipment. The weaving process includes plain weave sections for the heading and ending, with the main towel body woven in the straight draw pattern. Weavers separate each individual towel using contrast color picks during weaving, then finish by stay stitching and cutting the towels apart. The finishing process involves machine washing on a gentle, cool cycle followed by cool machine drying, with optional hand or machine hemming after folding under the edges.

Stitches and Weaving Structures

The primary weaving structure used throughout this project is plain weave, the most basic and fundamental weaving structure. Plain weave is created by alternating the over-and-under interlacing of warp and weft threads, producing a balanced, durable fabric ideal for absorbent kitchen towels. The straight draw treadling pattern—numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 for 4-shaft looms or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 for 8-shaft looms—creates this plain weave structure through sequential shaft activation. The tie-up configuration differs between 4-shaft and 8-shaft versions, with the 8-shaft tie-up providing additional shaft combinations while maintaining the same fundamental plain weave result. The pattern's striped effect comes entirely from the warping order, where blue and white threads are arranged in specific sequences to create the visual striping without requiring pattern changes during the actual weaving.

Materials: Yarn and Equipment

This project specifies Valley Yarns 8/2 Valley Cotton as the yarn for both warp and weft. The 8/2 designation indicates a yarn with 8 plies twisted together, creating a smooth, medium-weight cotton suitable for kitchen textiles. Two cones of white cotton and one cone of blue cotton are required, providing sufficient yardage for the warp plus two complete towels in each colorway. The total warp length needed is 5 yards, accounting for four towels plus loom waste.

Equipment requirements include either a 4-shaft or 8-shaft loom with a weaving width of 20.5 inches. A 10-dent reed is used to achieve the sett of 20 ends per inch (epi), which determines the density and drape of the finished fabric. The project requires 410 total warp ends, with the outside ends functioning as floating selvages for clean edges. A single shuttle is needed for the weaving process. The loom setup accommodates the specified 20½" width in the reed, producing towels that measure 20½ inches before washing and shrink to approximately 17 inches in width after the standard 20% shrinkage allowance.

Design Specifications and Finishing

The warping order creates the striped pattern through a carefully planned sequence of blue and white threads. The pattern is symmetrical and reversible, with blue sections bookending white sections in the center. Each towel is separated during weaving using several picks of contrast color yarn, then stay stitched and cut apart to create individual pieces. The finishing process is straightforward: machine wash on gentle cycle with cool water, machine dry on cool setting, then fold under hems and either machine stitch or hand stitch them in place. The design notes recommend measuring an existing towel you prefer and allowing at least 20% for lengthwise shrinkage when determining desired weaving length, as cotton textiles typically shrink during the washing and drying process. For weavers concerned about color fastness, the instructions suggest using a color catcher product in the wash water to attract any unfixed dye particles.