drop cloths, Citra-solv, and The Graphics Fairy—my favorite trio! Today’s feature is the tea towel/kitchen towel/napkin. Call it what you want. Use it how you will. I have bought some fancy-smancy (spelling???) tea toweling in the past. It was nice stuff…a little expensive (not overly so). It had a nice French Country feel to it. However, it just doesn’t do it for me when it comes to everyday use. I wash my kitchen linens in HOT water. It just makes me feel better about the kitchen culture. Anyway…the toweling kind of crinkles and just doesn’t look so great when washed in hot water (the care instructions said cold, but….). Plus my image transfers just didn’t take as well as I would have liked, and they faded quickly with washing---like two washes and you could barely see the image. What’s a girl to do? Go back to her favorite stand-by, of course. Yes, that humble drop cloth. With each wash a towel/napkin made from a drop cloth gets more absorbent and softer. Images transfer well using the Citra-solv method. I can usually wash them over and over and over—sometimes using bleach—and the image hangs tight. Note the “usually” in that sentence---I have used drop cloths that don’t take a transfer as well or whose images faded in the wash, but that has been the exception in my case. Who knows what the difference was…same brand, different results.
Anyway…here are a few of my latest creations:
Halloween Versions
Farm Animal Versions
Remember my machine sampler from last time? It was useful for deciding on some decorative detail for the towels.
Here is a close up of the pig towel detail:
It is actually four rows of stitches—two different styles combined. Remember: NO RULES!
Here is the detail on the chicken towel (it reminded me of chicken feet):
And finally, the detail from the skull towel:
It just looked Halloween-ish. Kind of like Frankenstein’s stitches.
Oh…one last detail….
a twill tape hanger sewn into the seams across one of the top corners. Hang your towel from a hook or from the pull on a drawer or cabinet door. Definitely not necessary, but a nice touch.
Okay, that’s it for now. So until next time…..
Sammi
Let’s Party:
Love these! Especially the chickens :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christine. I must admit...the chicken is my favorite also.
DeleteI love your results and wish I could get Citrasolve to work like that for me. I was wondering what you used to print out your color graphics. Did you use a color laser printer or color photocopies? I also really loved the embroidery stitching details you added. Very inspirational!
ReplyDeleteCan I ask what you printed your color graphics with? Did you use color laser printer or color photocopies? I wish mine would turn out so nicely. I also loved your embroidery touches. Very inspirational!
ReplyDeleteHi! Rose. I own a Samsung CLX-3185 color laser printer. LOVE IT!!! And thanks for your kind words about my towels!!!
DeleteLove, Love, Love your tea towels! I too tried the citrasolv on dollar store tea towels and they came out way to light and quickly faded. So glad I found your site. I am definitely going to try the drop cloth! I am going to blog about it on my blog http://compulsiveintexas.blogspot.com and will reference back to your blog to give you credit for the drop cloth idea! Thanks for sharing your find.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. Good luck with your towels. Remember to wash your drop cloth first. I wash mine in hot water with bleach and use vinegar in the rinse cycle...I read somewhere that it helps neutralize any bleach residue.
DeleteHi Sammi! I love your towels and never thought to make one from a drop cloth. It is good to know that they usually hold the print really well. I would love for you to come by and share at my party Totally Transformed Tuesday! I know my readers would love to see this post. Hope to see you there. Peggy http://pjhdesignsoneofakind.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peggy....both for the compliment and the invite (which I accepted!).
DeleteThese are great! I can't decide which is my favorite.
ReplyDelete