Weave an Expandable Bag that Harnesses the Power of Twill

The brilliant colors may be what you notice first about Deb Essen’s design. On a closer look, you’ll see that the structure—simple twill stripes—produces irresistibly touchable results. Who doesn’t want to stretch this fabric out and watch it spring back when you let it go, over and over again? If you don’t need a bag, Deb suggests using the piece as a shawl, where you can do that all day long!

Read on to learn more about this project, developed exclusively for the Winter 2025 issue of Handwoven, or head to the library to access the project PDF and WIFs. Please enjoy this subscriber bonus project from the Winter 2025 collection.—Handwoven editors

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About the Stretchy Stripes Bag

Back in the early 2000s, my weaving guild brought Celia Quinn in to teach spinning and weaving classes. One of the samples we made in the weaving class alternated bands of 1/3 and 3/1 twill to create pleats that ran the length of the fabric.