Let's Make a Tea Towel!

This is a quick fun project that even a beginner can make! You will want to gather up the following supplies to make two tea towels:

1/2 yard main fabric

1/8 yard accent fabric

Thread

Scissors

Iron

Sewing Machine

Rotary cutting mat, ruler and rotary cutter

Pins or clips

To construct one tea towel; from your main fabric cut the following:

one -  18" x 21" rectangle

one -   5" x 21" rectangle

From your accent fabric cut the following:

one -  5" x 21" rectangle

Please read all instructions and watch the attached video before you begin.

IMPORTANT: All seams are 1/2". (there is a spot in the video where I said 1/4" in error)

Carefully place your accent fabric, right sides together, along the long edge of your larger main fabric piece. Be sure you are not placing it along the side. If you have a couple inches hanging off the end you need to turn your fabric so that you are stitching both long sides together. Press to your accent fabric. Repeat this for the remaining piece of your main fabric, stitching it to the bottom of the accent fabric. Press to the accent fabric.

There are many ways to finish the seam on the back of your towel. This is how I like to do it. At your ironing board, press under your seam allowance by 1/4" toward the stitching. Fold once more so that your seam is completely encased and pin in place. Stitch on the edge using a 1/4" top stitch. You can see this illustrated in the video tutorial. Press and repeat this process for both seams.  

Some other ways to finish this seam: Use your serger if you have one, pink the edges and top stitch from the right side of the fabric. You can select what pleases you.

We are ready to hem the tea towel now using the same method we employed for the napkins from the November 5, 2023 tutorial. Here is a link to that tutorial if you wish to refresh your memory: Let's Make Some Napkins!

Press under 1/2" all around your tea towel. Line up two corner edges and pin. Unfold your point carefully.  Line up your ruler along the folded edge of your fabric and close to the intersection of your ironed corner. Use a removable marker to mark a line from the folded edge to the open edge of your tea towel.  Stitch on that line. Trim kind of a wedge shape from the outside edge of your tea towel to the beginning stitch point, careful not to cut through that point. Repeat for all four corners. Turn your corners out and press. Press along the edges of your tea towel and pin or clip the hem in place.  Finish by stitching along the edge of the fold, press again and you are done! Finished size is about 24" x 19".

These make incredibly cute gifts, tuck them into a basket with a jar full of candy raspberries and blackberries. You can add them to a basket with some spagetti sauce and a fun pasta. How about some scone mix, a nice jar of honey or homemade jam. The options are endless and it will just brighten up someone's day. A perfect Valentine's Day gift!

You do not have to make these with an insert. If you just have a pretty fabric and you want it all one fabric cut your piece to measure 28" x 21". Finish your corners and hem as above and your are all done. A pretty piece of embroidery would be lovely. Vintage linen table cloths can be repurposed. Embellishments can be added, some pretty lace, rickrack, buttons, applique, the options are only limited by your imagination!

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Go have a great day and make something pretty!

Blue Bird of Happiness Quilt Pattern

This last week I have been working on this quilt pattern for you. With Valentine's Day coming, this is a perfect quick table topper, mini quilt or wall hanging. You could even take this quilt and continue with additional blocks and borders to create your own quilt the size you wish. The link for the pattern is here: https://sisterofthedivide.etsy.com 

This quilt has some Half Square Triangles, instructions are provided. It also has 2 pieces that are paper pieced. You will need to square up your border blocks before finishing your final border. The ruler that I used for squaring up is the Sew Kind of Wonderful Sew Square 4 ruler. You can use any ruler that has a 45 degree marking and a 1/4" marking on two sides. This will let you quickly square up your border blocks and maintain the seam allowance.  

This is a great pattern to use up your bits and bobs of fabric. It doesn't take much for the hearts and the bird. Gather up your scraps and have some fun. You can put this together in a weekend!

For the quilting, I wanted to create the effect of a vintage lacy doily or the kind of lacy effect that you see on lots of Valentine's Day cards. I used the Tulips B2B by Linda Matteotti and reduced the size quite a bit, cropped around the heart and the bird. On the heart I quilted a feather heart with some embellishments. In the first border I quilted pennies and the second border is pretty much left alone, the blue areas have an inverted square which was skewed to fit each area.

You can quilt it anyway you wish. This would be beautiful hand quilted.

I hope you enjoy this pattern, it was fun creating it. Happy Valentine's Day!