May 16, 2011

A Housewarming Gift


When my husband and I's next door neighbors and friends were moving away *tear* I decided I wanted to do something fun for a housewarming gift.

Their new kitchen had a black and white theme going and a retro feel to it and they decided to keep with the theme. I saw the cutest idea out on the tutorial-sphere, lol, for some retro fabric themed dishtowels and I KNEW I had to make them!

This is a pretty basic tutorial, no measurements or pictures or anything useful like that, and I'm sorry. My tutorial addict title is deceiving if it makes you think I'm any good at actually CREATING ONE.

But here we go anyway!! :D

Supplies:
  • dishtowels - I like a set of 3
  • fabric - don't need much, a fat quarter would even be enough
  • ribbon - um ... like less than a spool lol
  • sewing stuffs - machine, thread, needle, scissors

OK! So here is the NONtorial -
  1. Wash your towels and fabric. Iron the fabric.
  2. Decide how big you want your band of fabric and then add about a 1/4" - 1/2" on top and bottom for the ribbon to lay over.
  3. Measure your ribbon length along the towel but leave some extra at both ends because the towel will stretch as you sew.
  4. Cut your fabric and your ribbon.
  5. Pin your fabric if you're a pinner. I don't pin ... I hate pinning. I hate it more than mayonaise ... and that's a LOT.
  6. I folded the short side under and just sewed it on without the pinning.
  7. When I got to the corner I put the ribbon on top and sewed both at the same time.
  8. When I reached the end of the towel I folded over the edge of the fabric to meet the edge of the towel and without lifting the needle, sewed that section.
  9. Go back down the other long side of the fabric with the ribbon as in number 7.
  10. Sew the other sides of the ribbon.
  11. Cut and burn the ribbon to be even with the edge of the fabric.

DONE :)

I love the lemon fabric! And the black and white polka dot! I tied the towels together with a green ribbon that matched the green in the lemon fabric and placed them on a black plate.

I also made these Lemon Raspberry Thumbprint cookies because they are HEAVEN ON A PLATE and they kept with the lemon theme :)


Tell me that ain't cute! They thoroughly enjoyed them and the towels looks just AWESOME in their kitchen!! You can totally customize this idea for holidays or any other gifty type occasion and they make a totally cute package!

Linking up to these awesome parties, go check em out!







10 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for checking out my fabric flower tutorial at Crazy Daisy! I am your newest follower!

Happy Day,
Jasey @ Crazy Daisy

Kara said...

This is really cute! I love the lemon fabric with the black and white ribbon too...I'm sure the gift was loved...it was so thoughtful of you! Great job!

Crafty Brooklyn Army Wife said...

This is a wonderful gift idea!! TFS!! Stopping by from Sugar Bee Crafts Linky Party and your newest follower.

Come on by my blog when you have a moment. This is the link I posted on the party too: http://craftybrooklynarmywife.blogspot.com/2011/05/wool-buffalo-check-coat-finished.html

Marie@Procrastinating in Pink said...

These are SO cute! What a fabulous gift!

Ashley said...

darling... love love love

Handy Man, Crafty Woman said...

very pretty project! Love the yellow and black. Thanks for linking this up to our Wicked awesome Wednesday link party.

Kimmie @ Hello Mess said...

Is it awful that I see these towels and think "hot glue"? Love these! And I love that you're a non-pinner, too. :)

Jessica said...

These are the cutest towels EVER! I love them! Planning to make them very soon. Thanks for posting such a cute tutorial!

Michelle @ Delicate Construction said...

Cute! Love the idea! I am visiting from Sugar and Dots and I am a new follower!
Hope you have a great day!
Michelle
www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

colorchic said...

Towels make such great gifts! I would love for you to link your project at Color Chic for a chance to win a giveaway!