Tea Towel - DIY

I have a friend's birthday coming up this weekend, and I needed a gift.  And unfortunately, time ran out on me, so it had to be a quick gift.  I found this tutorial on Sew4home, and I fell in love with all their tea towel tutes.  And this was a winner, because it took me an hour.  It would have taken me less time had I not been constantly interrupted (but that was my entire week). LOL  I felt like I was behind the 8 ball all week long. Anyway, I digress......

I bought a package of flour sacks at Walmart months ago, because I knew they'd come in handy.  I bought a pack of 5 for about $4.00 I think.  They are roughly 29" x 28".  That size was a bit big for me for the towels, because I was adding the ric rac and extra fabric.   So I folded it in half and did a rolled hem with my serger on all 4 sides.

Here is the before.

And after.

The rolled hem.

I pressed them really well, because as you can see, the edges will ripple.  So they should be as flat as possible before you add all the embellishments.

I won't go through the whole tute.  Click on the link above.  The instructions are clear and easy to follow.  The only thing I didn't like was the way the ric rac is tucked under.  But there really isn't a better way to do it.

I made two towels, folded the top towel making a little pocket behind, and bought some wooden spoons to tuck down in the pocket.  Then I tied my ribbon and voile!  A super cute gift in less than an hour.  What could be better than that?

I actually had another idea for my tea towels but didn't have time to test it.  I need some for my kitchen, so I'll try it then.  Stay tuned.

BTW, these towels are super absorbent and are great for cleaning granite with no streaks.

Thank you for stopping by.  And Happy Friday.
Angela