Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Dish Towels -- TUTORIAL

I could have sworn I'd posted this earlier this week! It's the Christmas madness getting to my head, I suppose!


Anyway. Last Saturday (the morning of our family Christmas party!) I whipped a pair of these together in about 20 minutes -- one for my sister-in-law and one for my aunt! Simple and festive!


SUPPLIES:
~ flour sack tea towel
(you can find them at the dollar store!)
~ Christmasy fabric scraps
~ trim (optional)


STEP ONE: Cut off the hem of one of the short sides of your towel. (You may use this opportunity to square it up a bit if necessary!)


STEP TWO: If you are using pom-pom trim, attach it to the WRONG side of your cut edge using a narrow seam allowance.


STEP THREE: Cut your fabric scraps in 4" strips, then cut in different-sized pieces.


STEP FOUR: Sew them together, alternating prints, and press the seams open. Be sure the total length of your fabric strip is at least 2" longer than the width of your towel.


STEP FIVE: Lay your pieced fabric strip face down on top of your towel and trim, as shown. Leave at least one inch overhang at the top and bottom of your fabric strip.


STEP SIX: Carefully sew. I chose to take a greater seam allowance than the band of my pom-pom trim so the band wouldn't show, but you can do it however you choose.


STEP SEVEN: Turn your fabric strip around to the front of your towel and press. Almost done!


STEP EIGHT: Turn the long edge of your pieced fabric strip down about 1/4" and press. Flip it again to the right side of your towel.


STEP NINE: Tuck in the two sides of your fabric strip, aligning the folded edge with the edge of your towel.


Press in place.


STEP TEN: Carefully pin along the edges of your fabric strip. I usually avoid pinning whenever possible, but it really will give you better results in this case!


STEP ELEVEN: Sew along all the folded edges!


STEP TWELVE: For extra stability, sew one more line just above your pom-poms. If you like, throw on some rick-rack -- you'll be sewing that line anyway, so you might as well add a little more trim! Just be sure to fold under the edges at the start and end.


Ta-Da! Quick, easy, and SO festive!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2 comments:

Crystal Hendrix said...

Very Pretty! If I had the supplies I would make them tonight! Merry Christmas!

Aniky said...

Wow! It's so easy...thanks! I'll copy it!