What better way to get back in the saddle of craft blogging than with a tutorial? I'm a big fan of this one; not only is it a great way to reuse my beloved vintage tea towels, but the project is so fast and so easy that it requires only three steps and less than an hour to make an entire set of napkins.
Very few supplies are needed for this one: a tea towel (obviously), something to cut it with, and a bit of thread in a contrasting color.
Step 1: Using a rotary cutter or scissors, cut 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch squares out of your tea towel (as many as you want and can fit onto your towel - I made a set of six).
Step 2: Topstitch around your square, about 1/4 inch from the edge. I used a straight stretch stitch to make the stitches nice and bold. Using a stretch stitch on woven fabric caused some puckering, but it was nothing that a quick press couldn't fix.
Step 3: Now for the fun part. Starting at one corner, grab a single thread from the weave and pull it free. Keep pulling threads to create a frayed edge. Resist the temptation to pull more than one thread at a time - that could lead to tangles. Also be careful to stop fraying when you get about halfway to the stitches. If you fray all the way up to the stitches, they might come out, especially if you plan to machine wash your napkins.
And that's it! You could find endless ways of embellishing these: embroidery, stenciling, stamping, bleaching, etc; although a pretty towel doesn't require anything at all. I think a set of these napkins would make a perfect hostess gift. They would also be great to give with a bottle of wine - I love giving (and receiving) wine, but it can feel a little bit impersonal (or maybe I just have a weird obsession with giving handmade gifts). As they say in Italy, cin cin!
On a completely different note, I also have a long overdue thank-you to post. Back in June, I won a fabulous giveaway from the wonderful Sweet Jessie. As I sorted through my giant stack of mail yesterday, I was so excited to see her package emerge from the ubiquitous credit card offers. She sent me two pieces of vintage fabric, along with elastic, piping, hem facing, and buttons (!), all of which were color coordinated in two of my current color obsessions, mustard yellow and olive green. Many, many thanks, Jessie - I love it all!
5 comments:
I love the tutorial!!! where do you find such amazing vintage tea towels??
I'm glad you like it! I pick them up at thrift and antique stores, but I also have a huge collection of tea towels from my grandmother's kitchen. The towel pictured here was one of hers.
Oh, that's so nice and fun!
Thanks for this tutorial! I pick up fun towels here and there like you, so this is a great use for them...especially when they're damaged.
Thank you for a great tutorial! I made a set to send to a friend and was really pleased at the finished product. I blogged about it here: http://seaschell.blogspot.com/2010/04/swapping-with-mia-part-2.html
(My friend loved them, too!)
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