What Will You Weave With Mocha Mousse?

Pantone recently announced their 2025 Color of the Year as Mocha Mousse, a luscious milk-chocolatey tone.

We took a deep dive into the Handwoven pattern archive in search of ideas for weaving with shades of medium brown. Here are a dozen of the projects we found to inspire you!

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Beautiful Browns

Photo by Joe Coca

Twill blocks will always be popular, with very good reason—they‘re simply a delight to weave and to use in the kitchen. Gloria Martin's Three-End Twill Block Towels (above) from January/February 1994 show brown in a lovely light.

Photo by Joe Coca

In the same issue, Kathy Bright used crackle, and varied the colors, blocks, and treadling sequences in her Country Rustic Towels (above).

Photo by Matt Graves

Susanna Day used spot Bronson for her Clouds of Alpaca Scarf in November/December 2021 (above). Off the loom, the slippery alpaca produced wavy lines and spots in unexpected places that weren‘t visible while she was weaving.

Photo by Joe Coca

Anita Thompson‘s Cornucopia Placemats and Napkins (above), from September/October 2014, are woven in overshot on opposites and plain weave with inlay. They‘ll look lovely gracing your table all year—but you also have plenty of time to weave them before next Thanksgiving‘s dinner!

Photo by Joe Coca

Judith Shangold‘s A Vest for Anni (above), from March/April 2021, is also woven in overshot, this time from a Bauhaus point of view.

Photo by George Boe

Tracey Kaestner's Meditative Rep Runners (above), from January/February 2018, alternate blocks of brown, two shades of blue, and mustard. In our book, brown and blue go together swimmingly.

Photo by Donald Scott

Patricia Morton harvested grasses and leaves from her garden to use as weft for her Grasscloth Journals (above), from May/June 2015. While the harvesting and drying should be done during the growing season, the weaving can happen at any time.

Photo by Joe Coca

You‘ll find the draft for Jane Fournier‘s Linen Shadow-Weave Pillows (above) in the Best of Handwoven: Reader‘s Choice eBook, or in November/December 1994. They would dress up a comfortable chair nicely!

Photo by Joe Coca

Liz Gipson‘s Raffia Tote (above), from Handwoven‘s Design Collection 20, uses log cabin color and weave in a project that can be completed over a single weekend. You can weave it on either a four-shaft or rigid-heddle loom.

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Brown Look-alikes

Thanks to the magic of interlacement, sometimes an item that appears to be brown includes only a small amount—or even none—of the color.

Photo by Joe Coca

Case in point: Rebecca Fox‘s Four Seasons Doubleweave Scarf (above) from September/October 2010, which uses a variegated burgundy, yellow, green, and blue Tencel in the warp, along with green and blue in the weft. How is it that the result looks like a medium brown?

Photo by Matt Graves

Whitlynn Battle‘s Threads to the Past scarf (above) from March/April 2022 is another of these color mysteries. This balanced twill piece, inspired by brickwork and basket weaving patterns, uses cream and tan in the warp. It repeats them in the weft, along with black and just a touch of brown—but the overall effect is of a rich and complex brown.

Photo by Joe Coca

Tracey Kaestner‘s Log Cabin Runner (above) from March/April 2006 uses burgundy and gold in color and weave, giving the overall impression of brown from a distance.