From towelling to tiling

With the final day of annual leave from work looming, it was time for a spot of sewing.  Today the agenda was...bathroom towels!  I know this might not seem like the most exciting of projects, but stay with me.  With the cost of bathroom towels ranging from £10 upwards, I thought I would attempt to beat the high street and make my own.  Or at least add that personal touch to our bathroom!

Materials you will need:

• Towelling material (I bought a piece 56x64 inches costing £10, this was enough to make 2 towels)
• Matching thread

Step 1 - Cut your material

A stroke of shear luck meant that I could divide my material in half to make 2 large bath towels, but a standard towel measures at 26x53 inches so I used that as a guide.

Lay your material on a large suface, and simply fold the towelling in half.

  

Next cut your fabric along the fold line.

Now you have two towel pieces ready for finishing.

Step 2 - Hem the edges of the fabric

Starting with a shorter edge, turn up 1 inch of fabric and iron to create your fold.

Next, tuck the raw edge underneath to meet the fold you have just created, and pin.

Step 3 - Mitre the corners of the fabric

Fold the next longer edge of the fabric as above.  Then unpin around the corner of the fabric.  As you unfold the fabric place a pin at the point where the creases cross.

Fold the corner in at a 90 degree angle towards the pin.

Cut away the corner of the fabric leaving a small allowence.

Re-fold the side hem and the bottom hem, fold the mitre in place and pin.


Step 4 - Sew all sides of the hem in position

Using a straight stitch, sew along all the edges of your fabric to secure the hem in place.  I also altered direction slightly to close the mitred corners.  The corner sections can be a little tricky with the amount of fabric going through the machine, but I didn't worry too much if this wasn't the neatest of finish.

And there you have it, your very own bath towel made in minutes. Happy drying!

After finishing this sewing project and feeling a little parched, I decided it was time for a good old cuppa.  So, I popped out for milk and then shortly after this I heard a knock at the door.  My lovely landlady wanted to use my flat as a photo shoot for a local artist, and of course I wouldn't say no to a fellow crafter!  A cup of coffee, several personal props and a couple of light dancing hours later, the photographs turned really well.

  

 

The moasiacs are utterly beautiful and hand made by Amanda McCrann.  You can find more of her work at: http://gallery.me.com/amandamccrann.  I would definately recommend taking a look as I can imagine the craft world will be seeing much more of her work to come!  Good luck with everything Amanda!