Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Bound Edged Tea Towel Tutorial

Saturday I needed a quick gift for a wedding shower at church the next day. I just wanted to do something simple and had a pack of plain tea towels on hand.  hmmm....

Mom had made me a couple of simple bound edged tea towels for my birthday several years ago and I LOVE them.  She made them to match my kitchen curtains, but I use them to cover up my sewing machines...because... well if I used them in the kitchen, they'd get ruined, you know!


Here's quick tutorial in case you want to make some up for yourself!


I edged two sides of my towels.  Start by cutting two long stripes about 2 inches wide and several inches longer then the towel edge you wish to bind.  Fold over 1/4 inch and press one side of each long strip.


Next, line your raw edge of the long strip against the towel about 1/4 inches from the edge of the towel with the right side of your fabric facing the wrong side of the towel.  The folded edge you just ironed should be toward the left.  Stitch it in place about 1/4 inches from the raw edge of the fabric (about 1/2 inches from the edge of the towel).


Once that's sewn, press the fabric strip open...it's looking pretty!


After pressing, flip the towel over, turn down the top and bottom raw edges that hang over a couple inches and then fold the pre-pressed edge over onto your stitching line that was just sewn, creating a smooth corner.  Pin along the length if necessary.


Finally, use a medium zig-zag stitch and sew the folded edge down, backstitching at the top and bottom. 


That's it!  You're finished!

Blessings,
Jessica

15 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 20, 2011

    Those are so pretty Jessica!

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  2. Thanks so much, guys!

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  3. Love this...it looks quick & simple ~

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  4. I love this idea and it's just so simple! Thank you for sharing.
    Paula

    P.S. I just became a follower of your blog.

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  5. Your tea towels are so beautiful ... what a fantastic idea for Christmas presents.

    Thank you so much for sharing.

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  6. These are so cute !!! I can not wait to make them !!!
    My daughter and both are christians and both love to sew !!!

    Thank you for sharing your idea !!!

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  7. very cute! we may use this in school this year for the girls. thanks for the idea

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  8. Beautiful! Where would I buy a plain pack of tea towels, though? I've been looking for some lately with no luck.

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  9. Just what I was looking for! I'm making curtains for a friend's kitchen & have a lot of leftover.

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  10. What kind of fabric did you use to make the dish towel or did you purchase the plain towels somewhere? I'm wanting to make some for a homemade Christmas gift exchange and not sure where to get the fabric.

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    1. We used purchased flour sack towels. You can purchase them at many stores including Target and Wal-Mart.

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  11. I also have had NO luck finding plain tea towels, or plain dish towels to embellish, until last weekend. I finally found some plain dish towels at Marshalls, but you never know what they are going to have so next trip they may not. I thought the flour sack towels were a lot bigger. Are they not or do you cut them to a "tea towel" size? LOVE your towels above!!! They are so pretty!! Thank you for sharing! I love to sew, but am very new, so I'm just wading in the water right now, but it's fun! :)
    I had no idea what to choose in the drop down box to post this, so I just chose anonymous. ha

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  12. Wow, they would make such classy gifts! Thanks for sharing.

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