teaching sewing confidence, tip by tip

Sunday 8 February 2015

Super Easy & Fast Make - A Dish Towel Tute


Have you seen the gorgeous rolls of dish towelling in our fabric stores?  So scrummy I just couldn't resist buying some.  It's gorgeous to work with and I'm thinking summer beach totes, pillows, and rug quilts but for now, I'm sharing the obvious: 

A Dish Towel Tute


Sizing:
This is a personal thing - I bought 1 1/8 yards of each of these two Moda towellings as this is a perfect amount for me to make a dish towel (finished size 19.5") and I'll be able to make 4 dish towels from my bought fabric.  I like small dish towels - don't know about your house but not that many dishes get dried around here we tend to leave that to the dishwasher, so these towels are actually for wiping hands when cooking.

NB:  Towelling fabric shrinks quite a bit (I haven't done a scientific % measurement but it's very noticeable).  If you're keen for your finished washed towel to be a particular size then I'd recommend prewashing your fabric before making your towel.

Materials:
Basically, the idea is to use a piece of  pre-sewn towelling fabric that's 1.5" longer than the finished size you require to allow for turning seams so: 
3/4 yard would make one 'standard' length dish towel - finished size approx 25.5" 
2/3 yard would make a slightly shorter dish towel finished size approx 22.5"
5/8 yard - finished size approx 21".

The side edges of dish towelling are pre-sewn making this project super easy and fast.


As my fabric length is long enough to make two dish towels I fold it in half


NB: don't do this if you've only enough fabric to make one dish towel.
and run the scissors along that fold.


giving me two dish towels.


I press back 3/8" making sure to match the pattern as I create the seam folds.

At the edge seam, I make sure the edge is folded down neatly in line with the pre-sewn side edge and doesn't stick outwards.


I press the fold back on itself again - another 3/8" - and ensure the pattern still matches and the side edges are even and neat
(total fabric folded in seam allowance = 3/4").


Everything's held in place with Clover Wonder Clips - how did we ever manage without them?!!!
If you don't have clips you can pin or even glue stick your seam in place.


I took note of the colour of the stitching on the pre-sewn side seam and matched it up with my own thread - Aurifil #2000 Light Sand.


I also checked the length of the stitching on the pre-sewn side seam (tricky to see but that's the original stitching in the pic below) and matched my machine stitch length to it - on my Bernina, I used a stitch length of 3.

Matching the thread and the stitch length is a simple way to achieve a professional finished look.


I sewed the seam in place using a 1/8" seam.


And here's how the finished edge looks.


Then I repeated these steps on the opposite end of the dish towel too.


And, of course, I added my label.


It took less than 30 minutes to make these 4 dish towels.

 

and I'm really pleased with how they turned out.


The fabric is very easy to work so I'm off to buy more, watch this space!





This tutorial is featured on:
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47 comments:

  1. Lovely tea towels Chrissie, I am totally in love with the wonder clips - off to visit Google and see where I can get them from.

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    1. Hope you had luck finding them Lucy - they're readily available over here but I know not everything makes it over the pond! - Chris :D

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  2. What lovely fabric. Lovely colours and texture.

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  3. Beautiful and useful makes! I don't think I've seen or heard of this type of fabric for sale in the UK, must check it out! Xx

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    1. If you find it somewhere Suze do let me know as others are interested in knowing too - I had a quick look myself but couldn't see anything. It's made by Moda so maybe if you know a Moda dealer in the UK you could ask them to stock it for you? - Chris :D

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  4. Lovely fabric, Im wondering if its for sale in the UK:) I'm ashamed to say our t towels are rather holey!

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    1. I've had a quick look at a few UK websites myself but couldn't see anything. It's made by Moda so maybe if you know a Moda dealer in the UK you could ask them to stock it for you? Please let me know if you manage to find some as others have been asking too - Chris :D

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  5. These are such beautiful tea towels you created. They would make a wonderful gift.

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  6. Love the fabric so much nicer than the ones I use

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  7. Oooh these look fab! You can never have too many tea towels in my book :) x

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  8. Beautiful dish towels and a great tutorial to make them. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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  9. Fabulous tutorial photos!! Im such a visual person... THIS is something I can follow! Thanks for sharing at the Clever chicks blog hop! :-)

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  10. These are great! Lovely fabric, I wonder if we can get it here in the UK, I can see all sorts of possibilities.

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    1. If you find it anywhere Sarah do let me know, quite a few people want to know how to get hold of it over there. It's by Moda so I guess anyone that stocks Moda could order it in if they were willing - C x

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  11. Beautiful work. I'll have to keep my eye out for the towlling fabric. Thanks

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  12. Beautiful! And they are well finished too! I also prefer smaller dish towel. I find them easier to handle. :-)

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  13. Great idea. I'm redoing my kitchen and think I'll make some too!

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  14. Thank you sew very much for sharing how you sew these kitchen towels. Your attention to details is what really makes them look professional. Creative Towel Bliss...

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment, it's wonderful to have one's efforts acknowledged - Chris :D

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  15. I love these fabrics. I'd never thought of making tea towels but it turns out that's because we can't get the fabric (or that's going to be my excuse now). These are lovely, and so beautifully made too.

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    1. Thanks Kaja, I enjoyed making them and they have great impact for such a quick make, you could try making them from a cotton or cotton linen fabric instead or maybe I should just stay quiet about that?!!! ;D

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  16. Very pretty towels. Great tutorial. Thank you for sharing.

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  17. Super cute, I love the colors you chose.

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  18. I already had this post saved to favourites but found it again at TGIFF. I intend to make some tea towels one day.

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  19. Beautiful towels and photos, Chrissie. Thanks for the tutorial!

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  20. I have not seen this fabric but I will be on the lookout for it now. Love those wonder clips!

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  21. Oh my if only I could sew. I have a machine and everything HA! Thank you for linking up to the Home Matters Linky Party this week! #homematters

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  22. These look awesome! Thanks for sharing at Totally Terrific Tuesday!

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  23. What a cool tutorial! Everyone can use dish towels! Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty - We hope to see you again next week.
    -Lorelai
    Life With Lorelai

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  24. belíssimos...parabéns pelos belos panos de prato!!!!

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  25. Lovely towels and the labels are a very nice touch :)

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  26. Hmmm... Never thought of making my own towels. And these are the kind I spend too much money on in stores. I love this idea! Thanks for sharing this tutorial. I love the labels too!

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  27. Beautiful towels! Though I've made my own towels before, I bought the fabric online. I've never seen or thought to look for towelling in the city. (I'm in Manhattan.) Following your link, I see that, of course, it must be available here! Thanks for the inspiration. :)

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    1. Thanks O, yes, I picked it up at The City Quilter, they've got several different designs available there :D

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  28. I'll be on the lookout for dish towelling fabric, Chrissie. I've never seen any here, but then again, I've never looked. These would be great for small gifts. And yes, I'd be lost without my Clover Wonder Clips.

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  29. Would love to know where you got your labels. So professional looking

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    1. Hi Dirinda, there isn't an email address linked to your profile so I can't email a reply to you. If you read this please send your email to madebyChrissieD@hotmail.com and I'll send you details about my labels - Chris :D

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  30. I also would like to know about the labels.

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    1. Hi, there isn't an email address linked to your profile so I can't email a reply to you. If you read this please send your email to madebyChrissieD@hotmail.com and I'll send you details about my labels - Chris :D

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  31. I would love information on your labels as well, if you don't mind. They are the cutest I have seen. Add
    the labels to the tea towels (my grandma always called then tea towels) and you have a perfect wedding shower gift. Wrapoed around wooden spoons would be great too. Or just use the towels as your wrapping paper for a gift. Thank you and I love your tutes! . Brenda Email is: Rhodesrunner@att.net

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    1. I've emailed details through to you Brenda - thanks so much for dropping by - Chris :D

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  32. I think I saw this tutorial back when you posted it, and have been wondering where can I get the towel fabric ever since. I will google it now I know what it's called. Thank you for the tute!

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  33. I have not seen this fabric, will be on the look out! Thanks for the tutorial!

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Chris Dodsley


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