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.