Easy Sewing Project - Adding Decorative Fabric Trim To Hand Towels

I needed some new hand towels for my master bathroom but I didn't want to spend a fortune for them. All of the ones I spotted at the local bath store were expensive or too gaudy in design for my liking. I wanted simple cotton white hand towels with just a little something extra to them.

I ended up purchasing some inexpensive but nice quality plain cotton bath hand towels and decided to spruce them up a little bit myself. I went to the fabric store and purchased some cotton fabric.

Here is how I added a little extra touch to my inexpensive towels.

Supplies Needed:

4 Bath Hand Towels
1/4" Yard Cotton Fabric (I went with a tiny floral calico print)
Sewing Machine Plus Basic Sewing Supplies
Measuring Tape
Iron and Ironing Board
Scissors

Tip: Your top thread (spool) color should match your fabric strip and your bottom thread color (bobbin) should match your towel color. In my case, my spool thread was baby blue and my bobbin thread was white. You want to make sure your bobbin thread matches the towel color so that your stitches are not seen on the reverse side.

The first thing you need to do is measure the width of your hand towels. Once you get the measurement, add on 1/2" an inch. Next, decide how wide (thick) you want your band to be. I wanted mine to be 1 1/4" wide, you will then add on a 1/2" inch to that measurement. In my case, I needed a fabric strip that measured 17" by 1 3/4" in size. You will need to cut out eight strips to make four towels, one strip for each end of your towel.

Once you have the strips cut out, you need to iron them. You need to press under 1/4" on all four sides (both short ends and both long ends). Do this step for all eight strips.


Using straight pins, pin down your fabric strip onto your hand towel in the position where you would like it. Mine are approximately 4 1/2" from the end. As you are pinning down the strip, make sure your ironed edges are under the fabric.

Using a straight stitch on your sewing machine, sew about 1/8" in from your fabric edge the entire way around your fabric strip, removing your pins as you go along. Continue this process until you are completely done.

Pretty easy and adds a nice little touch to your plain cotton hand towels. You can buy holiday printed fabric and quickly make yourself an inexpensive set of holiday bathroom and kitchen towels to decorate your home with or to give away as holiday gifts.

Pattern and Project Idea is Copyright Shelly Hill, 2009, All Rights Reserved.