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I started a new hobby this past winter and have continued as I wait for spring and all of the outdoor activities to begin – embroidery. Now that the outdoor activities have begun, I’ve set this aside for now, but am enjoying using these tea towels.
Embroidery is a quick, easy thing to occupy my hands in the evenings while watching TV.
When I was younger, I did counted cross-stitch and because of having that experience, it helped make embroidery much easier to pick up.
I picked up some embroidery books from the library for ideas, have hand drawn a couple of the patterns and use quilt patterns (something like these) to draw on the towels.
Here’s how I did it:
1) Start with a laundered cotton or linen towel.
2) Using a washable pen or pencil (I have a couple specific for quilting and used those), draw a pattern onto the towel. If you’re using a pattern from a book, you’ll have to place the pattern under the towel and then trace it thru the fabric. (If you can tape it up to a window or have a light box, that would make things a LOT easier). If you’re using a quilting pattern, set it on top of the towel and draw the pattern on the fabric.
3) Start stitching.
For the books I got from the library, I took a picture of the instructions page so I could reference back to it after I’d returned the book. That also worked great in taking some embroidery on vacation and packing just needles, thread, small scissors, hoop and towel.
Here are a few of the towels I’ve finished:
I have a few ideas for future towels, but I also need to have somewhere to use them 😉
Happy crafting!