The next task was to finish beaming the next towel warp, which is light pink 20/2 unmercerized cotton in a point threading (1 through 20 and back, with the last 4 shafts reserved for the basket weave selvedges). The warp yarn is a mill-end from Webs - it was the last color they had at the "final sale" price, which at $5.00/lb was really a bargain. I still have 4 good-sized cones left after winding this warp; they'll get overdyed for future towel projects.
See this post for screenshots of some of the designs that will be used for borders on these towels. The weft for the 2/2 broken twill body and patterned borders of the towels will be 30/2 mercerized cotton in colors still to be dyed; the weft for the hems will be 40/2 mercerized cotton, also still to be dyed, in a pink as close as I can manage to the warp color.
The threading is partly done:
More photos as the dyeing and weaving tasks move along the production path.
5 comments:
I'm so pleased these are sellig so well in the current market. Lovely as they are, is there a danger you'll start to get bored with making these towels?
When an item is selling quickly at more than one location, it might be time to raise the price a bit.
Bonnie
I think the fact that towels are selling better these days is that people are cocooning (is that a word?). The world is coming down around their ears and they are seeking solace in their homes. Well, that's my theory:-)
Yes, there's a chance I might get bored...although I plan to weave some other things after the current towel warp, to avoid just that. For one thing, each of the warps has been quite different from the prior one, and for another, the warps are not so long that I begin to dread weaving the whole thing off.
As for pricing, it's tempting to hike the price, but I began weaving towels in order to have a lower-price-point item in the booth at shows, so I don't want to scare off the folks who can only spring $25 on a purchase.
And I think that folks who're feeling a budget crunch may be able to justify spending $25 on something for the home, but they can't justify $250 on something just for themselves. Maybe this is related to the "cocooning" thing, I'm not sure.
Good luck on your sales! Any sales in this economy are to be congratulated! I haven't sold any work since Christmas, but I am not doing shows.
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