How to sew a patchwork kitchen towel

I love to gussy up kitchen towels and plain cotton burp cloths with a little patchwork to be given as gifts. This is the way I do it. And, like everything I do, it involves as little math or measuring as possible — guesstimation is your friend. Or my friend, I suppose.

You’ll need: A towel, fabric for patchwork (2 or more prints/fabrics), thread, sewing machine, rotary cutter/mat (or scissors), ruler.

And: Prewash! Prewash the towel and prewash your fabric. Towels are the sorts of things that get used hard and washed often, and prewashing everything will mean that your creation won’t warp out of shape the first time it’s washed.

OK, to start. First, your towel. I am using a microfiber waffle-weave kitchen towel that’s super soft. It’s very nice. I still might recommend more of a cotton feedsack-type towel, but this is entirely up to you.

Measure your towel to get a rough estimate of how much fabric you’ll need. This towel is about 15” wide, a pretty typical size. For this project, I am using 5” charm-pack squares for patchwork — four squares are enough to reach across the bottom of the towel and still leave room for your seam allowances (1/4”). If you’re using scraps, lay them out and overlap them by 1/4” to get an idea of how many you’ll need.

I also trimmed the squares to be about 3.5” tall, which will result in a 2.5” strip of patchwork. Lay out your chosen fabrics to get an idea of how deep you want your patchwork strip to be and in what order you’d like the prints to be arranged. Also decide if you’d like to leave a little breathing room under the patchwork strip or sew it right along the bottom edge. I like to have mine a couple inches away from the bottom.

Now, the good part. Start sewing. Take the leftmost piece (let’s call it A) and sew it, right sides facing, to the piece next to it (call it B). Use a 1/4” seam allowance. Don’t worry about backtacking at the beginning and end of your seams when piecing.

Press the seams open.

Continue sewing pieces together, right sides facing. Then, join your pieced pieces to form one long strip. Be sure you join your pieces in the order in which you’d like them to appear.

All right! Now, double check your work. Is your patchwork as wide as you estimated (or, you know, measured, you silly person you) it would be?

Excellent! A-plus for you. Now, to get rid of all those nasty raw edges before attaching it to the towel. First, press under the long top edge about 1/2”. Then press under the long bottom edge about 1/2”. Don’t waggle the iron, just press down. If you are using 100% cotton (recommended), set the iron pretty high, but not scorching. Maybe at about a 7. Spray a little water if you like a good crisp edge (and who doesn’t?).

Carefully fold in the short edges at either side and press. If you have more than, say, 3/4” hanging off the edge, trim it before you fold. (I always save what I trim, because you can later piece the saved bits together for a matching coaster or potholder.)

Now, pin the short ends to the very edge of your towel.

Make sure your patchwork strip is parallel to the bottom edge, and pin along the length if it makes you feel better.

Starting at one corner, stitch close to the edge with a medium-length stitch. You do want to backtack at the beginning of this. Stitch all the way around, being careful not to let your line of stitching waver off the patchwork or too far in from the edge. Go along the long side, the short side, the other long and the other short side, meeting where you started, and backtack to finish.

Ta da! Pretty!

Now, wouldn’t you like to dry dishes with that? Or at least set it next to the dishwasher to be admired?

October 24, 2007 | Filed Under create, sewing

Comments

22 Responses to “How to sew a patchwork kitchen towel”

Elizabeth on October 24th, 2007 3:00 pm

cute!

(and i found the instructions easy to understand)
Keely on October 24th, 2007 11:19 pm

Oh, how this makes me wish I had a sewin machine and the know how! I’m liking this a lot.
stephanie on October 25th, 2007 7:44 am

I love this idea and can’t wait to try it. Thanks for the tutorial.

Love your new header! (wait a minute…did it just change?) cool!
stephanie on October 25th, 2007 7:46 am

no way! I love the bird one. I want to hang here all morning and see them all!
supa on October 25th, 2007 8:43 am

yay! glad you guys like the towel. And yes, stephanie, new headers! half a dozen or so. I can’t bear to change my template because I love Drunkey Love so much, but the headers are little and fun to make. My favorite is the plaid.
HVM on October 25th, 2007 10:41 am

I just want to point out that you could just as easily do this by hand, with a hand-sewing needle and thread, it would just take a little longer.

Supa, you are indeed, super.
Rachel on October 26th, 2007 9:09 am

Sooo cute! I love to sew…I’m totally making some of these! Not just making them…but TOTALLY making them!

Thanks!
minnie on October 31st, 2007 2:36 pm

where do you get the plain kitchen towels?
supa on October 31st, 2007 2:40 pm

I got these at Wal-Mart, but I don’t recommend that as a source (made in china, man-made fibers, few plain towels, etc). I have seen plain 100% cotton barman’s towels at Target, but other than that I don’t have a good source yet.

You could also make your own, if you were so inclined.
e on November 12th, 2007 4:32 pm

Thank you so much for posting this tute. It’s exactly what I was looking for today.
supa on November 12th, 2007 11:53 pm

Happy to be of service.

There were some cotton made-in-India towels in the Martha Collection at Macy’s, for anyone looking for a source. I am apparently all about macy’s this week. Am not usually so.
kerflop on November 14th, 2007 2:07 am

Now I know what I’m giving my mother and mother in law for Christmas. I’d sideblog this, but then they’d find out. Fabulous, thanks!
Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog » » November 25 ~ For the Kitchen on November 25th, 2007 3:57 am

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Erin on November 25th, 2007 10:37 am

Thanks for taking the time to share, these are really cute, I’m off to make some now!
Emily on November 26th, 2007 12:42 pm

I love this and I plan to make some for gifts this year. I have one question, how do you wash your charm pack squares? I’ve never washed mine before because I’m afraid of them completely unraveling.
supa on November 26th, 2007 2:22 pm

Thanks, Erin!

Emily, it depends on the charm pack and the project. These moda pieces I bought on ebay, prewashed and pressed and the edges were pinked. Other precut pieces I have washed, but then needed to square up again since the washing did such a number on the warp. You might consider pinking or zigzagging the edges before you wash them to keep the fraying at a minimum, but I think skipping a prewash for charm squares wouldn’t be the end of the world. Also, if you’re making a bag or a purse, something that you’re not going to be tossing in the washing every week, that could be a good reason to skip the prewash too.
Lorissa on December 5th, 2007 8:51 pm

Thanks so much! This is perfect for my needs right now!! Take care and happy holidays
supa on December 5th, 2007 9:55 pm

Glad to be of service!
Sheryl-lyn on December 10th, 2007 9:44 pm

I have been scouring for little projects to make for my momma for her Christmas package. These towels will go great with the placemats I made her last year. Thanks for the easy tute!
Ali on March 3rd, 2008 8:50 am

What do these look like on the unquilted side?

Thanks!
supa on March 3rd, 2008 7:51 pm

On the reverse side of the towel it is just blank towel, with two
lines of stitching where you have stitched the patchwork strip down. I use white bobbin thread to match the towel.

Hope this helps!
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