Cut and sew tea towels

KMLeon Cut and sew tea towels
   
     

What do you need?
•    Your ready-to-use printed fabric, pre-washed, dried and ironed (*See washing instructions at the end of this work description)
•    Regular sewing machine with a needle for woven fabrics
•    Thread in a matching colour (Tip: seen that the towels have different colours, it might be necessary to have different colours of thread available.)
•    Pins
•    (Fabric) scissors
•    Iron
•    Measuring tape
•    Tailor’s chalk
•    Work description

Desciption:
 

1. To begin, cut off all the white borders around, but do not discard them—you will need them later. You are cutting along the outer edges, along the edge of the print with the white border. 

 
2.  Now, separate all 6 towels by cutting along the dividing lines. 

You now have 6 individual pieces. 

 
3.  Next, take the white borders you cut off earlier and cut out 6 pieces measuring 10 by 5 cm. These will serve as ribbons for hanging the towels. If you don’t want them, you can skip this step (and step 4 and 11). 
 
 

 
4. Mark 1 cm along the long sides of the white pieces, fold these inward and iron them flat. 

 
Then fold them once more, iron them flat, and pin everything in place. 

Now sew the pieces closed, only along the long side (you can leave the short sides open and unfinished, as they will later be hidden in the seam). Sew close to the edge. 
 
5.  Next, we will finish the towels by trimming the edges at an angle. Take the 6 towels and mark 1 cm around all the edges. 
 

Iron that 1 cm inward. 
 
 
6.  Now, mark an extra 2 cm and also fold this inward and iron flat. 

7.  Unfold the 2 cm and iron the 4 corners of the towel inward along the cut line of the ironed lines. 

8.  Now, place the right sides (printed side) of the towel together and ensure that the ironed marks of the corner line up nicely and that the folded seams (the 1 cm ones) remain folded. You may choose to mark the ironed fold with chalk so that it stays visible.

 
Sew the corner along that line. 

9.  Trim the seam allowance of the corner, about 0.5 cm from the seam you just made, so that the corners do not become too thick later. 

 
Now iron open the remaining seams. 

10.  Turn the corners inside out and carefully push the corners out with the tip of your scissors (carefully!), which will yield a nice result later. You will notice that the 2 cm folded edge automatically folds to the correct side as well. Iron those borders flat. 
 

11.  Take one of the loops you made and place it in the top right corner. Ensure it is set in deep enough so that the unfinished edges are completely hidden under the borders of the towel. 

 
 
12.  Pin all the borders and the loop in place, and sew everything along the inner edge. 
 

13.  Done!

* Washing instructions:
When you receive your fabric, you should always wash your fabric, to prevent it from shrinking once it has been cut and sewn.

Make sure to wash your fabric (preferably in a washing net, to prevent discoloration from abrasion in the washing machine). Use a mild detergent. Make sure your washing machine is set to 800 Rpm or less. Do not tumble dry your fabric, but hang it open to dry.

Once your fabric is washed and dried, make sure to iron it (on the reverse side of the print), so that, when you cut it, the fabric will be nice and flat.

After cutting and sewing, keep washing and drying your finished piece the same way. This will keep the colours of your print vibrant for as long as possible.