Contents
“With the exception of space-dyed warps, all warps are either striped or solid.” When I read these words, in an article by Susan E. Horton, I mentally stopped in my tracks. Now while part of my brain immediately trying to think of other exceptions to the rule, the rest was ruminating on the important role stripes play in weaving design.
Stripes on their own, either in the warp or weft are beautiful, but you can also combine them to create checks, plaids, and countless other patterns. As I thought more about stripes, I took the time to look at two past issues of Handwoven, both dedicated to striped patterns, and was blown away by all the variations on this simple pattern. For example, what if we thought about stripes not just in terms of color, but also texture? A solid-colored fabric with ribs has stripes. You can also have stripes of lace or other hand-manipulated weaves.
The more I thought about stripes, the more excited I became. So of course when it came time to think of a theme for the Fall 2027 issue, I knew I only had one choice: Stripes!
Modern Stripe Tea Towels by Tammy Bast from Holiday 2021. Photo by Matt Graves.
What We’re Looking For
Project Specifications
For this issue, we’re looking for a variety projects that explore the different ways stripes can be used in weaving including all kinds of striped patterns (you can find a glossary of stripes here), checks, and plaids, as well as textural stripes. Stripes can be created using color, texture, and/or hand-semanipulation techniques. Stripes created using color pooling will also be accepted, as well checks and plaids created by using self-striping yarn in the warp and weft.
We value beginner-friendly projects just as much as those with more advanced techniques and try to have projects for all levels of weavers in each issue. If you have an idea for a plain-weave design, we’d love to see it! You also don’t need to be an advanced or previously published weaver to submit a proposal—all you need is a good idea.
All yarns need to be commercially available—projects made from handspun or discontinued yarns will not be accepted, with the exception of wefts made from garden materials. Hand-dyed yarns will be allowed as long as either the yarn is available for sale or instructions are given in the project for dyeing the yarn.
As usual, all projects need to be woven on a rigid-heddle, tapestry, pin, inkle, frame, or band loom—tablet and backstrap weaving count as projects woven on band looms.
Gathering of Plaids Thros by Kelly Sessions. Photo by Matt Graves.
Types of Projects
For this issue, we’d like to showcase a variety of project types as well as ways in which the theme is interpreted. We want a balance of item types including wearables, home decor, kitchen linens, and bags.
Examples of projects include:
- Projects inspired by traditional striped/checked fabrics such as mattress ticking, seersucker, pinstripes, gingham, and tartans.
- A set of towels or napkins woven on a striped warp where weach item in the set approaches the weft differently (pick-up, weft stripes, etc.).
- Rep-weave coasters or placemats
- Curtains with stripes of lace
- Scarves and shawls woven using variegated or self-striping yarn
- Crammed-and-spaced fabrics of all kinds
A few examples of past projects from both *Little Looms* and *Handwoven* that showcase different ways to use stripes in weaving. Click each photo in the gallery to get a closer look and more information.
Using the Palette
You can find the palette for the issue below or download it here. Please note that black, white, and all natural shades of wool are considered part of the palette, and you are welcome to use yarns that are darker or lighter versions of the colors in the palette as well as heathered yarns.
Articles and Tutorials
For articles and tutorials, only an outline is required for the initial proposal; however, we do encourage you to send any images you might have to better support your proposal. If you would like to both weave a project and write a tutorial for a specific technique used in the project, please submit the proposal for the tutorial and project seperately.
Please note, for this issue we will not be accepting articles on the history of tartans or on using the Fibonacci sequence for design.
Ideas for articles related to this issues theme include:
- A deeper look at the history of well-known striped patterns/cloth such as the history of pinstripes.
- An interview with modern weavers who are making traditional striped fabrics unique to their culture.
- A technical article on designing stripes and plaids.
- A tutorial on how to use a yarn wrap to go from idea to finished cloth.
Submitting Proposals
We base our project selections for each issue on contributor photographs. With each project proposal, please include a photo or photos of the finished item or of items you’ve woven that are most similar to the item you propose to weave for the issue. We will review the proposals and ask for additional photographs if needed. After the project-selection meeting, we will contact everyone whose project is accepted and ask that it be submitted along with the project paperwork.
Articles do not need to be written before proposing. Instead, please include the article’s outline as part of your proposal. Outlines should be submitted as attachments in Word documents, Pages documents, or as PDFs.
Key Dates
• Proposals for projects (including preliminary photos) and articles due: 8/10/2026
• Additional photographs of projects due: 10/5/2026
• Non-project article text and photographs due: 11/16/2026
• Physical projects with paperwork due: 11/16/2026
Submission Forms and Other Resources
Please use our Little Looms submission form for proposals. Note that we’ve recently updated our submission guidelines, and they can now be found here.
Use the email address below for any questions or inquiries that won’t fit into our submission form. Please contact us and ask for a physical address to send any pieces of your proposal that cannot be emailed.
Editorial email: [email protected]
We are looking forward to seeing your proposals for projects and articles!
Happy weaving!
Christina