A frequent saying of mine is, "nothing plain is safe," and this is a perfect example. Everyone loves fluffy, new towels. If you say you don't, you're lying. One of my best friends recently had her second child, and I wanted to make her something she didn't have, but it had to be useful. Having had two kids myself, I know that with a new baby around you wind up washing your hands every three seconds or so. Everyone who visits your house does the same.
Plain towels are simple and lovely, but a bit boring for hand towels in a guest bathroom. While I was washing and ironing my fabric stash (see this post), I pulled out some fabric that I knew would go nicely in my friend's bathroom. Embellishing a couple of plain white hand towels is a quick, fun project that's a unique gift.
Step 1: For the patchwork effect, choose five fabrics and arrange them in the order you prefer. I love polka dots!
For the second towel, I pulled this Alexander Henry fabric out of my stash. I love the little summery buildings and thought they went well with the polka dots.
Step 2: Measure the width of the towel, from just inside the side seam. This pattern is based on towels that are 14.5" wide.
Step 3: For the patchwork style, divide the width of your towel by 5, in this case 2.9". Adding 1/4" seam allowances, cut five 3.4" squares. If you're using one piece of fabric, cut it 15" by whatever you'd like the height to be. Be sure to make it tall enough to cover the woven band of fabric on the towel.
Step 4: Patchwork - with 1/4" seam allowances, sew your squares together in a row. Turn and press the seams toward the darker fabric.
Both towels - fold and press 1/4" on top and bottom. Then fold and press 1/4" on the sides, making sure it's the correct width by placing it on top of the towel.
Step 5: Pin, topstitch with 1/8" seam allowance and you're all done!
Notes: It'd be cute to do both ends of the towel; I know that in our house I flip them around when the front gets damp. The kids tend to wash their hands a lot!
This is great for a new mom, as a hostess gift or as a simple way to dress up your bathroom. It's a fun way to play with fabric combinations or use up scraps of your favorites. I hope it will help make washing up less of a chore!
xo Karin
For my tutorial on hand printing tea towels, please go here. :)
