The 3 Minute Tea Towel. Seriously.

If you like to hand embroider, chances are you are always on the hunt for tea towels. And us stitchers are sort of like Goldilocks when we are on the hunt for our tea towels ... they have got to be just right .... not too big, and not too small, not too thick and not too thin, not to expensive .... bright white .... etc, etc.  We demand a lot from out tea towels.  Now,  I have a great tutorial HERE  for some nice linen ones, but today I have another "tutorial" for you that is not only cheaper ... but easier to make.  I hesitate to even call this a "tutorial", because you could totally figure this out for yourself, but I thought I would share anyways.

So, how can it be that you could make a tea towel in just 3 minutes?  The answer is: huck toweling. This stuff is like magic because the edges are completely finished .... sort of like the selveges on other fabrics, but these edges actually look nice.  Check it out ....

So you only have to hem 2 sides!  Now, let me tell you .... huck toweling is nothing new, and I have seen it time and time again ... you can usually find it near the "utility fabrics", and at my local JoAnn's it is only $5.99/yard  ($3.60/yard with a coupon!) for the 16" width stuff.  I have always been hesitant to give it a try because it felt sort of thin to me, and I was not sure how absorbent it would be.  I must admit, I have been pleasantly surprised ... it is actually quite absorbent.   And, it has passed the rest of the tests as well ... it is bright white (I did not find any rust spots or flaws that you often find in flour sack towels and the like), just the right size, it was super easy to stitch on, and so on. 

Let's get started!

x-x-x  3 Minute Tea Towel x-x-x

Finished Size: 28.5" x 16"

Materials:

• 31" length of 16" wide huck toweling
• sewing machine, needle, thread (feel free to hand sew though!)
• iron

Note: 1"= 2.54 cm.

Instructions:

1. Trim about 1/4" off each cut edge to straighten out.

2. Fold both cut edges up 1/2" and press.

3. Fold both edges up another 1/2" and press.

4. Sew close (about 1/8") to the folded edge.

5. Press.

6. Done.

That's it! Shortest "tutorial" ever, right? Now add some hand embroidery ... I did ....see? I used my Grillin' Time embroidery patterns ....



One side of the huck toweling is smooth, and the other  has a slight texture.  I treated the smooth side as the "Right Side", and the textured side as the "Wrong Side". 



Go on and stitch a bunch up!

Hugs, Sara :)