How to make cute tea towels


My sister-in-laws have just returned from New York.  One of the many things I received was a gorgeous tea towel from Anthropologie.  As I was needing to make a few handmade gifts for friends so I thought I'd make some tea towels with mine as inspiration.


What you will need:
  • base fabric: either a linen or white cotton waffle material as I used. Cut your piece 50cm x 75cm
  • some pretty floral contrasting fabrics
  • you can add trims, ribbons
  • embroidery floss
  • erasable marking pen
Instead of using trims, I decided to make my own bias tape.


All edges will need to be finished off with a double hem but as I was adding bias tape I needed to only fold the ends over once.


Finish off both sides with a double hem


Your ends and sides should look like this


Cut your appliques pieces and place them into the fabric.  I have used a Stitch n Tear stabilizer behind the appliques. You may wish to also use a walking foot.


Once appliqued, remove stabilizer backing.
Using an erasable marker, mark out where you would like your embroidery to go.
Use a large needle and double your thread. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is such a cute teatowel. I am needing some new ones and would much rather make them than buy them...thanks for this tute :)

x

Renee said...

Wow, I am loving the teatowels. What a great gift to make for christmas. Can I just ask where you get the white waffle cotton from?
I will be visiting Australia soon so might be able to pick up some.

Thanks for another wonderful tutorial and idea.
Kind regards
Renee

Tiff said...

I love the Anthro homewares! I can see what I am going to be up to on the weekend! Thanks for the idea! x

Jodie @ The Haby Goddess said...

Hi Renee, I purchased the waffle fabric from Spotlight, $19.95 per metre. It's 150 cm wide so 1/2 a metre will get you 2 tea towels.