Trim your tea towels with colorful bunting! Layered fabrics turn an ordinary tea towel into a colorful, one-of-a-kind creation. Match to your embroidery for a stylish touch!
Supplies & Materials:
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- Tea towel or dish towel (mine is 18" wide by 28" high)
- 1/4 yard print quilter's cotton (for top trim)
- 1/4 yard print quilter's cotton (for bottom trim)
- 1/4 yard (total) solid-colored quilter's cotton (1/8 yard each, in two different colors)
- Medium weight cutaway stabilizer
- Temporary spray adhesive
- Rotary cutter and cutting mat
- Air-erase pen
- Bias tape maxi piping (optional, for top trim)
To get started, lay the towel flat with the right side facing up. Create a paper template of the design by printing it at full size using embroidery software.
We recommend Wilcom's Hatch software which comes in different levels depending on what you'd like to use the software for. Hatch Organizer works well to view your designs, print dielines and templates, change design colors, and create basic design layouts. (This is an affiliate link. We may earn commission on purchases made with this link.)
Place the template at the bottom of the towel with the bottom edge of the design about 7" up from the bottom edge of the towel. Center the design side to side by measuring equal distances in between the center point on the design and the side edges of the towel. Using an air-erase pen or other marking tool, mark the center point and the horizontal and vertical axis lines.
Remove the template and spray a piece of cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the towel on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the marks on the fabric.
Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly aligned with the center point on the fabric. Embroider the design.
When the design has finished, trim away the excess stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery.
To prepare the bunting, for each piece, (using a rotary cutter and cutting mat) cut two squares of the solid-colored quilter's cotton to 3 1/2" by 3 1/2".
Align the pieces together, right sides together, pin in place, and sew a 1/4" seam along three of the sides, leave one of the sides open for turning.
Fold the fabric of the open side in 1/4" and press - also, press the seams.
Top stitch a 1/8" seam around the entire shape. Then, cut the square in half diagonally. Repeat this process for a total of 7 bunting pieces.
To prepare the bottom trim, cut a piece of print quilter's cotton to the width of your towel plus 2" (mine is 18" wide, so my width measurement is 20") by 4 1/2" high. Align the bunting pieces along the top edge of the fabric, right sides facing up, leaving one inch open along each side and overlapping the bunting pieces 1 1/4". Pin the bunting pieces in place and sew a 1/8" seam along the top edges to tack them in place.
To prepare the top trim, cut a piece of print quilter's cotton using the same width measurement you used for the bottom trim (mine is 20") by 3" high. Align the top trim with the top edge of the bottom trim/bunting piece. Pin in place and sew a 1/2" seam along the top edge only.
Press the seam and top stitch a 1/8" seam along the bottom edge of the top trim.
Next, press all sides of the fabric in 1/2" to the wrong side.
Place the fabric on the bottom edge of the towel with the top edge of the fabric about one inch below the design and also leave about 1/2" of the bottom of the towel extending out past the bottom edge of the fabric. Fold the side edges of the fabric over 1/2" around the side edges of the towel and pin in place. Also, you can add bias tape maxi piping along the top edge of the top trim - cut a piece of piping the same width as the top edge of the top trim. Tuck the piping under the top folded edge of the trim and pin in place. Sew a 1/8" seam along the top, side, and bottom edges of the fabric.
Your tea towel is complete! Whip up a towel for every season to add a splash of color to your decor. They make great gifts, too!
