What is utilitarian, personal, and decorative? Why hand stitched dish towels with my personal recipes printed onto them.
This is what I made for several close family members as Christmas gifts. My mom and sister especially appreciated them because we tend to use many of the same recipes. So, they had fun hunting up their favorites, recognizing hand writing, and such.
I scanned the recipes individually and created a computer file the right size. I found that it looked too much like a photograph, so I removed most of the color and tweaked it a little on my computer.
I had my computer image printed onto linen by Spoonflower.com . If I remember correctly, I had 2 yards printed and that gave me enough to make eight towels. I just hemmed them and added the hand stitching.
Which was quick and easy.
I changed the colors of thread for each towel, reflecting the colors of the recipient’s kitchen.
This project was super easy and everyone really liked them. (Me too. I have one in my kitchen drawer.)
Did you make any gifts this year?
Ellen Lindner
P.S. A little research revealed that hand stitched towels are very durable. They can be used and washed just like any hand towel. I was even told that the towel will wear out before the stitching.
What a great idea and beautifully executed….I’m going to be a copy cat!
Thank you for sharing & Happy New Year
Thanks, Ingrid. By all means copy! (But then I want to see pictures!)
Such a cool project, Ellen. Interesting about washing the hand stitching. One of my UFOs is a set of placemats I started in the spring and I thought about doing hand stitching on them, but decided it might not hold up in the wash.
I made several Christmas gifts: 2 owl pillows made of wool felt for 2 little neices, and I made and dyed a tablecloth and 6 napkins. I screen printed leaves on them with Color Magnet, and dyed them with a grayed out orange. They came out well, but I wish I had used less black and also wish that I had manipulated the fabric more in the bucket. I haven’t dyed that much yardage (in one piece).
Wow, Kristin you made a lot of gifts this year. I’d really love to see photos!
This is such a beautiful and thoughtful idea. You have planted a seed for a lovely way to preserve and share some treasured family recipes. Thank you for generously sharing.
Thanks, Sara. It was fun and very well received.
Thanks for another great idea Ellen. With this much lead time I might just be able to make a few of those for next Christmas!
Oh, yes, Susan, I think you can manage it! 🙂