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Bluegrass Mills Rigid Heddle Towels
Updated January 16, 2025.
A couple years ago we posted a towel (see original post here), but since then we have added new colors that were begging to be used! Here is our new take on an old favorite using the rigid heddle loom.
Amy decided to re-do the same towel using a different colorway that included one of our newly added Bluegrass Mills colors - Sage!
As a refresher: Our recommended sett for Bluegrass Mills 6/2 cotton is 15 EPI, so you would need to weave your towel using a 15 dent heddle, but not all looms offer 15 dent heddles.
Don't worry! You can use 2 strands of yarn as one working end to double up your sett! Basically just hold two strands of 6/2 cotton together at the same time and warp them using a 8 dent heddle. This gives you a sett of 16 EPI. It's only one thread off our suggested sett and will make lovely absorbent towels. Amy made a useful video for you on how to set up your loom with a doubled up warp:
You can then double up your weft to create a towel with a balanced weave. To see a video on how to manage a doubled weft on a stick shuttle click here.
Now for the project details so you can weave your own towel!
Equipment Needed
- Rigid heddle loom, at least weaving width of at least 20"
- 8 or 7.5 dent rigid heddle
- Boat shuttle & bobbin or a stick shuttle
Yarns
Warp: Bluegrass Mills 6/2 Cotton - Sage, Grey, and Slate
Weft: Bluegrass Mills 6/2 Cotton - Sage
Setts
Warp: 16 epi (Doubled in an 8 dent rigid heddle)
Weft: ~ 16 ppi
Dimensions (approximate)
Width in heddle: 18.62 inches in an 8 dent rigid heddle OR 19.86 inches in a 7.5 dent rigid heddle
Woven length: ~30”
Finished size (after washing) : ~14.75" x 27.5"
Weave Structure
Plain weave
Warp
We highly encourage you to watch the video tutorial mentioned above if you have never warped with doubled ends before.
Your warp length with vary depending on how many towels you'd like to get out of it, but you have plenty of yardage to work with the BG Mills cones.
Warp Color Order
For this project Color A = Grey , Color B = Sage, and Color C = Slate
Weft
Using Color B, aim for 16 ppi for your desired woven length.
Note: Amy used a slightly different technique for her towel. She used two different shuttles, a double boat shuttle, and a single boat shuttle, so that she could alternate between having 1 and 2 strands in her weft. She felt it would be easier to reach 16 PPI using this method. For her tips on keeping neat selvedges using this method, see video below.
Finishing
We require that all towels be hemmed - no fringe! Taking a sewing machine to your handwovens can seem scary if you've never done it before, so we made a video on preforming a simple hem for you. The video starts where Amy begins talking about hemming.
Bluegrass Mills 6/2 Cotton Yarn
$23.99
The Woolery now offers a new line of 6/2 unmercerized cotton yarn from Bluegrass Mills! 6/2 is a wonderful weight for weaving thirsty towels, heavy...… read more
