Saturday, April 26, 2008

Java towel



You know I like to embroider, right? And tea towels are so much fun because I can get really creative as I think about the person I am giving them to. Well, I just recently stitched a "Java Towel" (instead of a tea towel) for a friend's birthday. Yes, she loves her coffee too!


I've been busy with lots of other things, but sometimes I need a Needle & Thread Fix. Do you ever feel like that?

Don't ask me where these cute pots and mugs came from. My DIL brought over something she printed out on her computer. I enlarged them a little bit on my copier and then traced them onto the towel. Aren't they cute? I only wished that I had a little vintage rick rack to add to the bottom edge.

I do have a terrific source for sturdy flour sack dish towels. It's the best price I've found and the towels are of highest quality. American Chair Store offers a 30x30" flour sack towel that I love to embroider on and I use them hard in my own kitchen. For some fun, free, vintage embroidery patterns, go to Needlecrafter.com . The free designs are here and you'll find scads of designs in each category. Another hand embroidery pattern site is Pattern Bee . She's got some great vintage patterns for sale and some free stuff you can print.

What are you stitching?

Addendum:
Diana from Knit This Too asked in the comments how I colored in the mugs and things in my Java Towel. This is an old, old technique that people used to do in the 40's and 50's. You use a color crayon (yes, crayolas) and color in the pattern like a coloring page. Be sure to wash your towel first to remove sizing. You can iron a piece of freezer paper to the back to stabilize it as you apply the color. Go ahead and color in your pattern. Set the color with a hot iron using a pressing cloth so you don't get any crayon on your iron, remove freezer paper, then embroider. I have heard of this technique used for making quilt blocks too. Try it, it's fun!

Laughter is inner jogging.
~Norman Cousins

9 comments:

  1. OK, I'm ordering towels today! I've said it before but this time I gotta have some and get into some embroiidery too. I love the Java Towel!

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  2. I meant to ask, did you use some fabric paint or markers too?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Diana,
    I should have posted about this, but I used color crayons to color in some of the mugs and muffin and things. I think I'll make an addendum to this post.

    Jody

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I want one! But I don't know how to embroider. I think it would be fun to learn, though. Is there hope for me? I particularly like this coffee one. I know my daughter, Aimee, would love it, too.

    Very creative!
    Susan

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  5. Love the towel!! Thanks for sharing the crayon technique - it's new to me.

    Deb

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  6. Thank you for sharing the source for a good flour sack cloth. The ones I buy here are too thin and don't really take to embroidery as well as I would like.

    Wonderful post Jody!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am a embroiderer too..these are lovely.
    ~Deby

    ReplyDelete

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