One of my favorite crafts to make is decorative tea towels. Why? Because the possibilities are endless and you can never have enough tea towels.
If for some reason you do, they also make wonderful gifts. So this weekend when I needed a little break from the master closet remodel and playhouse build, I partnered with Spellbinders to make this decorative summer tea towel DIY. And it is perfect for some summer baking!
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Fun decorative tea towels always make me remember gathering around the kitchen with my mom and 5 sisters in the summer. As all the produce was coming out of the garden, we would spend hours together preserving it.
I remember days canning my mom’ famous salsa; hours spent cutting corn off the cobs to freeze for winter; and all the time surrounded by fun dish towels.
We used our towels to clean up spills, carry pans, and to rest the hot jars on fresh from the canner.
Maybe the memories of preserving the summer harvest is why I love having a drawer full of decorative summer tea towels. And as the produce in my garden is starting to ripen, I am getting ready to use all those towels to start the summer ritual at my own house.
You can never have too many tea towels! I love them so much I can’t stop making them. Like these gorgeous and super easy DIY tea towels made from custom printed fabric or these fun bakery tea towels painted with a stencil.
Since I have been having so much fun cutting different materials with my Spellbinders Platinum 6 machine, I decided I wanted to use it to make some more tea towels to get ready for canning season.
So far I have tested the cutting strength of the steel rule dies and cut metal, denim, and leather. And last month I used the etched dies to cut vinyl. But it was time to see what else I could cut with all the fun varieties of etched dies (there are so many).
I have a ridiculous amount of fabric stashed in the corners of my craft room, so I decided to put it to use!
After falling in love with this sweet bicycle die from Spellbinders, I knew had the perfect rustic stars fabric to make this decorative summer tea towel DIY. Combined with the cute vintage bicycle, it looks like the perfect summer day at the farmhouse.
How to Make a Decorative Summer Tea Towel DIY
Supplies:
- Spellbinders Platinum 6 machine
- Die D-Lites Bicycle etched die
- You can use any etched dies you want. There are so many different options to choose from!
- Flour sack towels
- Cotton fabric
- Wonder-Under fusible webbing
- Scissors
- Iron
Cut out squares of fabric big enough for the die.
Cut a piece of fusible web the same size as the fabric. Iron the fusible web to the back of the fabric with a hot dry iron.
Use a pressing cloth (a scrap of cotton muslin works perfectly) to protect your iron from any webbing that may try to stick to your iron. Leave the paper backing attached to the fabric.
Create your cutting sandwich with the platform on the bottom, then a cutting plate, the fabric (with fusible web ironed to the back with the paper backing still attached), the etched die facing down, then a second cutting plate on top.
I learned that some fabric was slightly thicker than the others. It didn’t cut as clean, so I added a scrap of cardstock to the top of the die to create more pressure when cutting.
Since I chose a very detailed die, I kept a pair of small snips on hand when removing the die from the fabric. If there was a thread that didn’t get cut, I could snip it before the thread pulled the delicate cut fabric apart.
Once all the pieces are cut, pull the paper backing of the fusible web off the back of each design. Then lay the fabric designs out on your tea towel where you want them.
Iron the designs to the towel with a hot dry iron. Use the pressing cloth again to protect your iron and design.
Now enjoy your beautiful decorative summer tea towel DIY. I put mine to use with a batch of snickerdoodles to pair with our ice cream dessert!
And if you drawers full of pretty tea towels make you as happy as me, you are going to love these beautiful apple & pear print DIY tea towels too.
Thank you to Spellbinders for sponsoring this post. I only recommend products that I use and love and all opinions are 100% my own. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
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FABULOUS die and WONDERFUL project!
Thank You for sharing and inspiring me to get decorating 🙂
Yeah for inspiration! I hope you have fun decorating.
Love this idea and your choice of fabric.
Thanks so much Sue!
I love this.. I might just have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you do Annette! Have fun.
I don’t think I’ve seen a machine do so much.These are so fun.Id have them all over my ????,LOL????
This machine really can do so much, all you need is a little creativity!
What fun tea towels! I need a new set for my kitchen… perhaps I’ll try making my own. Thanks for the inspiration!
I hope you give it a try! Have fun with it.
so cute! loving your blog!
Thank you Miranda!
I just love this idea and your backstory is awesome too! I love hearing the stories behind a project!
These would make great gifts! Baby Showers, Housewarmings, Bridal Showers, Christmas or just because! Just change the die cut images to fit your theme and you are ahead of the game! TFS!
Thanks so much! There are so many different ways you can create custom towels. Enjoy creating!
I found myself wondering how you got the stars on those bicycle die cut outs, they look great! Thank you for the tutorial so easy even I could do it!
Ha ha! I definitely didn’t put all the little stars on.
Wow!! This is so cool, now all I need is getting plain white cloths to make it my own unique ones!
Luckily plain white cloths are super easy to find 😉
Adorable. I love the idea of making custom towels.
I love any excuse to make custom tea towels too!
Beautiful DIY!!!
Thank you!
Super cute and sure is quicker than machine embroidery.
Definitely quicker than machine embroidery 😉
Love you original idea! TFS
Thank you Shir!
Love this tea towel design
Thank you Janet!
What cute tea towels. I really love that bike die. Really clever!!! Thank you for sharing!!! Carolyn
YT:SirPounceALot
Thanks Carolyn. I love the bike die too!
Thank you for sharing this towel idea.
You’re Welcome 😉
Love your tea towels. They’re super cute! TFS!
Thanks Evelyn!
Love these towels! I remember my mother and grandmother with theirs!
Thank you Sharon.
Another wonderful project. Tea towels are so cute. Thanks for sharing…
Thanks Jeanne 🙂
<Love your tea towels. What a cute idea. Thank you so much for sharing. Sue (msmartinigirl1) on You Tube
Thank you Sue!
Love your fresh and fun tea towels! I love to put them in baskets full of fruits and sweets! Am going to use this great inspiration!!
Perfect for a basket of goodies. Thanks Beverly!
Such a fun project!
Thank you!
Super cute. . I love this project. Great for Wedding gifts as well. Thank you for sharing and Thank you to Spellbinders for this Giveaway.
Thanks for stopping by Gail. I love these for wedding presents!
Hi Kati ~ I TOTALLY love the idea of making tea towels! I’m not really a seamstress (I “mend” things though!) but the idea of making the sweet towels as gifts takes my homemade gift-giving just that much nicer, especially when offering up home-baked goodies. Thanks for the inspiration….I’m definitely going to be giving this a whirl! ~HUGS~
#kindnessmatters
I love these for handmade gifts. You could make so many beautiful towel combinations. Thanks for your beautiful comment!
Love that little bike!! The material you chose is adorable! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Cathy! The little bike die is one of my favorites. So glad I found a reason to use it.
I remember using the tea towels. Still have some
around that my grandma and mother made.
Wouldn’t use them so I could make some new
and bring back the nostalgia.
thanks for the directions and the idea.
Tea towels are so nostalgic. Definitely make some new ones to use!
Beautiful projects tfs hugs from Germany D
Thank you! I’m so glad you are visiting all the way from Germany!
Another great idea! Never thought to use fusible web! Thanks for the inspiration! Hugs, Christine
Thanks so much Christine!
These tea towels turned out so good! Love the bicycles and star fabric!!
Thank you Miranda! I love the star fabric too 😉
Hiya! This is Sandi, Decor8yourlife, your fellow BlogHopper. Nice to meet you! Love your blog and oh what great ideas!
Crafty hugs, Sandi
Thanks so much for saying hi Sandi!