Whether we make them as gifts or plan to use them in our own homes, towels are always a hit with weavers. In fact, if you don’t have a towel warp on the loom right now, you probably expect to weave one soon.
To help you decide on your next warp, we gathered last year’s most popular towel projects as inspiration—some are new designs and a few are old favorites (and we present them here in no particular order). They include a great mix of structures (plain weave, twill, huck lace, honeycomb, and turned taqueté) and loom type (four-shaft, eight-shaft, and rigid heddle—one project even has an inkle tab as a finishing touch).
And if you’re curious, read about a weaver’s explorations of structure, sett, and absorbancy using her favorite towel yarns.
Happy weaving!
1. Sweet Linen and Lace Towels (4 shaft)
Sweet Linen and Lace Towels by Malynda Allen. Photo by Matt Graves
Something new: Malynda Allen’s Sweet Linen and Lace Towels are woven in plain weave with delicate huck lace patterning. She used linen because it’s absorbant, dries quickly, and gives towels a nice hand. If you’re heard daunting stories about weaving with linen, Malynda wants to assure you that it’s not that bad. Because she lives in a dry climate, she misted her warp and bobbins as she worked to keep the linen relaxed—but if you weave in a place with more natural humidity, she says you won’t need to take those steps.
Find the project in the Spring 2025 issue
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2. Discovery Towels in Thick and Thin (4 shaft)
Discovery Towels in Thick and Thin by Karen Isenhower. Photo by Joe Coca
Old favorite: The Discovery Towels are a playground for improvising with color and treadling. Designer Karen Isenhower says that thick and thin is plain weave in disguise—its magic happens simply by alternating thick and thin threads in the warp and the weft. You can create a second block just by reversing the order of those threads, with no need for extra shafts. The surprising intricacy of the resulting two-block pattern can be enhanced with strategically placed color in warp and weft.
Find the project in the November/December 2016 issue
3. Beachcomber Towels (rigid heddle)
Beachcomber Towels by Dana Lutz. Photo by Matt Graves
Something new: Designer Dana Lutz‘s Beachcomber Towels for the rigid-heddle loom were inspired by the serene beauty of the beach. Embracing the soothing hues of sand and driftwood, the towels are light and airy, and feature a delicate blend of colors throughout.
Get the design in the library
4. Stormy Skies Towels & Wrap (4 shaft)
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Something new: The striped and plaid Stormy Skies Towels are woven using cotton in huck spots—but designer Rebecca Logan has recently started asking a bit more from her long dish towel warps. After weaving her fill of towels, she’s been finishing off the warp with a tussah or bombyx silk weft to make a beautiful wrap, and she suggests that you do the same.
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Find the project in the Fall 2025 issue
5. Floral Bouquet Towels (4 shaft)
Floral Bouquet Towels by Malynda Allen. Photo by Matt Graves
Something new: After designing her Floral Bouquet Napkins for the Summer 2025 issue of Handwoven, Malynda Allen decided to weave coordinating Floral Bouquet Towels on the same warp, trying options for patterning, borders, colors, and fibers. As you weave these towels, Malynda encourages you to design your own borders for them—for a start, change up the colors, or use more or fewer rows of Brooks bouquet.
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6. Be Our Guest Hand Towels (4 shaft)
Be Our Guest Hand Towels by Jennifer E. Kwong. Photo by Matt Graves
Something new: Designer Jennifer E. Kwong originally planned to weave a pair of towels using a tube of rusty red chenille she’d found at a thrift store, but she finds it incredibly boring to weave duplicates. So she set herself a design challenge: Weave a second towel that looks radically different from the first, and working only from her stash. You can weave a matching pair of her Be Our Guest Hand Towels, or follow Jennifer’s lead and weave two towels from the same warp that look very different from each other.
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7. eBook: 5 Fun (and Free) Weaving Projects: Handwoven Towels and Placemats (4 shaft and 2 shaft)
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Old favorite: Even if you’re a beginner, you can still weave something truly beautiful. Included in this eBook are instructions for three sets of towels, woven in stripes, huck lace, and twill.
Playing With Stripes, by Jean Korus: Add a splash of color to the kitchen with these beautiful and easy to weave striped dishtowels.
ADVERTISEMENTSpring Bouquet Towels, by Laura Fry: Pick your favorite set of colors, or go wild and weave them all.
Huck Windows, by Marjorie Erickson: An absorbent, durable towel woven in huck lace, using linen.
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8. Natural Charm Dish Towels (3 shaft or rigid heddle)
Natural Charm Dish Towels by Melanie Smith. Photo by Matt Graves
Something new: At this point in her life, designer Melanie Smith weaves on a 32-inch Ashford rigid-heddle loom armed with a double-heddle block. She loves dish towels and adores twills, but wanted to weave something with the look of four shafts, but on only three shafts. You can imagine how excited she was when she found she could create interesting designs by alternating point, straight, and rosepath threadings and treadlings. The result is her Natural Charm Dish Towels. The project includes instructions for weaving on either a three-shaft or rigid-heddle loom.
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9. Circles & Checks Towels in Turned Taqueté (8 shaft)
Circles & Checks Towels by Susan Poague. Photo by George Boe
Old favorite: The circle is one of Susan Poague’s favorite design elements, and she has found that turned taqueté is a great structure for weaving circles with the fewest number of shafts and treadles. For variations in her Circles & Checks Towels, she added stripes to the warp, and a checkered treadling option. A version with an expanded tie-up allows for the colors on the front and back to swap sides.
Find the project in the May/June 2019 issue
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10. Garden Path Towels (4 shaft)
Garden Path Towels by Malynda Allen. Photo by Matt Graves
Something new: Malynda Allen was inspired by a Swedish Point monk’s belt design and treadling variations from Marguerite Porter Davison’s A Handweaver’s Pattern Book. The Garden Path Towels are the result of her work: two towels with plain-weave bodies and monk’s belt variations for borders, one traditional monk’s belt towel, a textured towel, and another woven on a honeycomb treadling for a thirsty towel with lots of textured hills and valleys. She suggests that you experiment with the honeycomb cells, outlines, shaping, and colors, or use it for blankets, washcloths, or bath towels.
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Find the project in the Winter 2025 issue