Even Better After

Karen

Many, many hours of work have gone into making these handwoven towels. Their stunning capacity as beautiful, absorbant, and useful things isn’t realized, however, until the cloth is subjected to the finishing process. Wet finishing never ceases to amaze me. These towels! They are transformed from special to spectacular!

Cottolin tea towels just off the loom. Ready for wet finishing!
Towels have been cut apart, ends secured with the serger, and weaving errors repaired. It is time to throw them into the washing machine. Towels with red weft threads go in a separate load — just in case…
Handwoven cottolin handtowels just washed. Ready for one-time pressing.
Towels are removed from the dryer while they are still slightly damp. Now they are ready for pressing. If only I could hand them to you to touch…

I may be intimidated at the thought of wet finishing other items (as I talked about in Weaving Experience), but not towels. Especially cottolin handtowels like these. They are made for a lifetime of everyday use. I do not hesitate to throw them in the washer and dryer, because I know the towels will improve with the washing. And after the washing and drying, they’ll be ready for pressing (the only pressing they will likely ever require).

Handwoven cottolin towel - wet finishing.
Out of the wash, the towels have a delightful texture that is slightly puckered. Pressing will flatten the towel, but subsequent washings will renew the desired textural element.
Wet finishing and pressing of new handwoven cottolin towels. Karen Isenhower
Normal people do not press their handtowels, right? This is a one-time occurrence. Pressing after the first washing helps set the threads into place (or so I’ve been told). Happily, there is no color bleeding of the black or red threads!

When I drop the towels into the wash, I am making an exchange. I give up the unwashed, rough cloth, and get a softened, fulled fabric in its place. I lay down a burden, and receive a blessing in return. Jesus takes our soul’s heavy burden, a lifetime of self-imposed work, and exchanges it for his light load. You can put your heavy load down. And receive in return a softened fabric, washed, pressed, and ready for daily use.

May your load become lighter.

Softly,
Karen

12 thoughts on “Even Better After”

  3. Hello Debbie, that they were beautiful! look, just as a suggestion, why not open a space on your website and put the drawings (DRAFTING) so we can make them.

    Greetings from Brazil!

    Reply

    1. Hello Amaryllis from Brazil,

      that is a wonderful suggestion! I will see if I can figure out how to set up a page that shows the weaving drafts.

      For these towels, I started with a draft I found for silk scarves, and I adjusted the sett for the threads I wanted to use, and I also changed the threading to make it more interesting. I write all my drafts on paper, so I would need to transfer them to weaving software, which I do have. So, it is possible, but it may take a little time to get it done.

      Thank you for asking! and Happy weaving,
      Karen

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Wende! I’m often surprised to find bits of insight to think about as I go about my weaving. I’m glad the things I think about mean something to other people, too, like you.

      Love,
      Karen

      Reply

  6. Hi Karen, thanks for an inspirational woven towel and message! I too would love to see your drafts. Thanks for all that you do
    Bruce

    Reply

    1. Hi Bruce, and I am thankful that you and others keep coming back. It’s great to have weaving friends across the miles.

      I will seriously aim toward putting my drafts up. I can’t promise how soon that will happen.

      All the best,
      Karen

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *