Make a Mother's Day Gift - Decorative Tea Towels

From this

to this!

A Beginner Sewing Project

Adding a cute bit of fabric to some plain tea towels is a great way to add some pop to your kitchen.  It's a great beginner sewing project and can also make a lovely gift.  Mother's Day is next month, so you've got some time to follow this tutorial and make a colorful, useful present for your Mom!

You just need 2 tea towels and 2 rectangles of fabric that are 4-6 inches high and 2 inches wider than your towels.  I cut my fabric 6" high and 22 1/2" wide.

1. Cut 2 rectangles
2. Fold under the top & bottom long edges of the rectangles
   
3. Wrap the short ends to the back of the tea towel
4. Sew the rectangle to the tea towel

Step 2: Fold & Press

Fold the long edges under 1/4 inch along the top and bottom.

Measure and mark a line 2 inches from the bottom of the towel.  A Frixion pen is a fantastic way to mark on fabric - it erases when you iron the fabric.

Line the rectangle up along the line you just marked so it hangs over evenly on each side and pin it in place. 

Step 3: Fold the Short Ends

Wrap the short ends to the back of the tea towel, fold over 1/2 inch and fold over again and pin so it.

Fold over once more so it wraps around the towel

Step 4: Sew

Sewing close the the edge along both long edges, attach the fabric band to the tea towel.  I used a stitch-in-the-ditch foot to keep my stitching even along the edge.

Use a stitch-in-the-ditch foot

Sew along each short edge, keeping the right edge of the presser foot even with the towel so you catch the folded over bit.

Keep the presser foot even with the short edges

When finished, the fabric band will look like this:

Front of tea towel

Back of tea towel

Enjoy your color coordinated kitchen accessories!

Fancy tea towels

Christmas Color Kitchen Pop

Use some Christmas fabric to sew some fun gifts for your friends.  Wrap some home-baked goodies in the tea towels for an extra special gift.

Kitchen Color Pop

My kitchen is white, gray and black with red accents so these gray towels with pops of color in the fabric bands add a nice splash of color.  Red ric rac is a fun addition to the rooster tea towels.