Here's another of the handmade gifts I made this Christmas. These tea towels were sent to faraway friends who live and work in an RV park on the west coast. They liked these a lot and have them displayed in their kitchen. My friend told me she's not using them to dry dishes just yet!
These are just ordinary flour sack towels from Walmart (cut in half and raw edge hemmed). For the vintage camper design, I used the Camp Out transfers available from Sublime Stitching. Although the edgier designs on this site don't appeal to me, some of the transfer sets like Camp Out, Forest Friends, etc. are cute. I have used this camper design a bunch of times and the transfer is still working perfectly.
For the fabric trim, I followed this tutorial at Sew4Home: Fancy Border Tea Towels. For this project, I chose to use only one fabric for the border. When I used the same pattern earlier, for trimming bistro towels for my giveaway last fall, I used the two fabrics. Here is how that looks:
Embroidery is so much fun ... and I love dish towels! Guess I have simple tastes.
These towels are just precious Mrs. T! I love the way you choose the designs to suit the person who is receiving the gift. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your sweet comments, Arlene!! I am glad you like the towels. This is a fun design to stitch.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you've been making some very creative stuff :) Love the embroidered tea towels. I have been hunting for a pattern I like because I'd like to make some, too, but so far haven't found the right one.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lynn!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you like the tea towels. You can find some wonderful free embroidery patterns online. You can try googling "free redwork patterns", or check Tipnut. They have some nice vintage patterns. I also have found a lot of inspiration at Crabapple Hill Studio . For patterns to sew tea towels, Sew4Home has some great free ones. So many ideas, so little time!
Hi :)
ReplyDeleteI saw you on Linda's Prairie Flower Blog. I LOVE your travel trailer tea towels! Did you make the pattern up? I would like to know where to get the pattern. I enjoyed looking at your blog!
Susan Montgomery
Hi Susan,
ReplyDeleteI emailed you with the info on the pattern, but will add it here too just in case anyone else is wondering. As mentioned in the post, the vintage camper design is from the Camp Out by Sublime Stitching. I certainly don't love all of their designs, but the Camp Out! one is very cute.
For those interested in how to make the edged tea towel, the instructions are here: Fancy Border Tea Towels but for this design I used only one border fabric rather than the two that Sew4Home uses. Hope this info is helpful to you!
Thanks for stopping by my kitchen table, Susan! Please visit again. There are lots of posts in the archives that would likely interest you.
God bless,
Mrs.T