Hi Madelyn!
I'm getting ready to weave a project from Handwoven. The instructions allow 31" for loom waste and 13" for take-up, and the 5-yd warp produces four towels with a length of 34" each under tension.
But I want to weave eight towels. How do I figure out how much longer my warp should be?
—Sandra
Hi Sandra!
Your question is a good one and it is connected to an issue that has always been very tricky.
In our project instructions, we usually give a woven length measured under tension on the loom. When you remove the item from the loom, that length will decrease as the fabric relaxes. Even on the loom, however, the warp threads in the woven fabric are no longer straight–they bend over and under the weft. The difference between the relaxed fabric and the actual warp length used to make it is called take-up.
Determining an accurate take-up amount would require that the weaver measure the actual length of warp used to weave each item, a measurement that could best be determined by measuring the length of warp NOT used and subtracting that from the original warp length. To complicate matters, warping boards can vary in size, so the original warp length is probably not a particularly accurate number. And, finally, weavers don’t always measure the amount of warp they use when they tie or lash on to the front apron rod (which should be included as part of the project’s unused warp length).
All of this is to say that giving an accurate number of inches to allow for take-up is next to impossible. We generally assume that it’s around ten percent of the on-loom length, depending on the weave structure.
(If you’re wondering how take-up differs from shrinkage, shrinkage is the difference between an item’s relaxed length and its wet-finished length. Shrinkage is much easier to determine than take-up, since measuring the item before and after washing can be done with accuracy.)
In project instructions, we do the best we can to make sure that the warp length is more than sufficient for the items in the project, with a generous allowance for loom waste (at least 27"—but note that this measurement will not be the same for all looms and tie-on methods, so you should be aware of what your own loom’s waste is and adjust a project’s warp length if needed).
For your project, if the woven length measured under tension on the loom is 34" per towel and the interlacement is plain weave, I’d allow about ten percent for take-up. That works out to about 38" in warp length for each additional towel on the loom, and a total of about 91⁄4 yards for nine towels.
But if I were in your shoes, that’s not what I’d do. I recommend always putting on a longer warp than required by the project. You’ll come up with ideas for varying the design and colors as you weave, and you’ll be sorry if you run out of warp before you try them.
How much longer? I usually put on twice as long a warp as I think I’ll need.
—Madelyn
MAKE THE PROJECT SHOWN ABOVE:
Susan E. Horton’s Blue Horizon Towels, from the Summer 2026 issue of Handwoven.
If you have a weaving question, please email Madelyn!
Originally published Nov. 24, 2015; updated Aug. 24, 2026