A Dozen Bonus Projects to Put on Your Loom

The process of indigo dyeing, a dress fragment in a museum, precut quilting squares, patriotic colors, zebras, precious babies, and even flying pigs: The designers who created the 12 projects in our Handwoven Bonus Collection #1 were inspired by a broad range of ideas.

We‘ve gathered these bonus web-only projects from 2024 together in one convenient place, and invite you to be inspired by them in turn! The eBook is free to All Access subscribers. Not a subscriber yet? Click to purchase the eBook or to subscribe.

Susan A. Bloomfield‘s Monk‘s Belt Revisited Towels (left), Carla Jeanne Hubbart‘s Zebras on the Serengeti scarf (center), and Tegan Frisino‘s Inspired by Indigo Pillows (left). Photos by Matt Graves

The design for Susan A. Bloomfield‘s cheery Monk‘s Belt Revisited Towels (above left) was originally inspired by a dress fragment in a Swedish museum—but the story has a twist. The weaver who discovered that fragment, Margaretha Essen-Hedin, reinterpreted it as a tablecloth in Handwoven‘s May/June 1987 issue. Susan's four-shaft monk‘s belt towels are an interpretation of Margaretha‘s work—and a reminder that we are all a part of handweaving‘s long heritage.

Carla Jeanne Hubbart‘s elegant rigid-heddle scarf, Zebras on the Serengeti (above center), is a masterpiece of asymmetry and balanced random colors. Repeated black and white stripes in warp and weft contrast with handpainted yarns in greens, blues, and tans, in color-and-weave for the rigid-heddle or two-shaft loom.

The ripples in an indigo vat and the color changes that fibers undergo as they are withdrawn from the vat—from bright leaf green to rich blue—led Tegan Frisino to design her Inspired by Indigo pillows (above right). The four-shaft draft is a very fresh take on the traditional overshaft structure.

The Handwoven Bonus Collection #1 eBook also includes:
• Regina McInnes‘s 8-shaft Fluttery Lace Curtain in huck lace.
• Margaret Stump‘s When Pigs Fly, a delightful pin-loom–woven pig named Zoomer.
• Laura Lough‘s 2-shaft Mix It Up Mug Rugs in plain weave.
• Rebecca Fox‘s 2-shaft A Slice of Layer Cake Runner in plain weave.
• Maggie Byckalo‘s 4-shaft Share Your Colors Scarf in twill.
• Margery Erickson‘s 8-shaft Skullery Towels, in plain weave with a summer and winter border.
• Susan Capehart‘s 4-shaft City Chic Scarf in crackle.
• Malynda Allen‘s 8-shaft Celebration Romper in M‘s and O‘s.
• Melanie Smith‘s Natural Charm Dish Towels in twill for the rigid-heddle loom.

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Check out all the projects in Handwoven Bonus Collection #1