dishtowels from Target
completed embellished dishtowels
I am going to show you how to transform three dishtowels from Target into something special and how to use all of the packaging (even the receipt) to create a one of a kind gift item for under $20.00! It is beebolt’s zero waste dishtowel tutorial.
Materials Needed:
- Pack of 3 flour sack dishtowels purchased from Target
- 3, ¼ yard fabrics of your choice to coordinate with towels (fabrics shown in tutorial are from the Farmyard fabric collection)
- 1 yard ribbon
- Glue stick
- Pinking shears
- Optional: decorative paper punch for tag
- A cutting mat, clear acrylic ruler and rotary cutter are recommended tools
- WOF = width of fabric
fabrics and packaging
Step 1: Carefully untie the ribbon from the towel package. Using a non-fabric scissors cut the tag and hanging hook from the ribbon. Set aside for future use.
Step 2: Unpack flour sack dishtowels and iron them. Measure the width of each (there are slight variations) towel along the edge of towel where the stripes run perpendicular to the edge. Add ½ inch to each measurement for seam allowances and record for cutting accent fabric strips.
dishtowels
red - towel A, white - towel C, orange - towel B
Step 3: Cut 4- ½” by WOF strips of each fabric. Cut one 2-½” strip for additional trim for towel B. Trim fabric strips to the measurements taken in step 2.
Step 4: For towel B, using a ¼” seam, with right sides together sew a 4- ½” strip and 2-½” strip together. Press seam open.
photo of stitching on towel B
Step 5: With a hot iron, press ¼” under along all edges of the 3 strips of fabric.
Step 6: On towel A, pin the fabric strip 4” from the bottom edge of the towel. Topstitch around all four edges. Cut the ribbon from the packaging long enough to add as a trim over the accent fabric strip and turn under the raw edges on the ends and pin onto the towel and fabric. Stitch ribbon to towel.
Step 7: On towel B, pin the fabric strip 4” from the bottom edge of the towel. Topstitch around all four edges.
Step 8: On towel C, pin the fabric strip 5” from the bottom edge of the towel. Topstitch around all four edges. Cut the ribbon long enough to add as a trim under the accent fabric strip and turn under the raw edges on the ends and pin onto the towel and fabric. Stitch ribbon to towel.
towel C accent fabric pinned for stitching
Step 9: Take hangtag from towels and sparingly glue the tag to a scrap of fabric just in the center. Sew the fabric and the tag together. Using pinking shears trim ¼” around the tag and use a sharp object to poke a hole through the fabric in alignment with the hole in the hangtag. Accent tag with a motif from the ribbon used in towel C and use remaining ribbon from packaging to loop through the tag.
utilize the hangtag
Step 10: Use ribbon or thread to use the packaging hook as a dishtowel hanger.
use the hook as a hanger
Step 11: Cut 1” x WOF strips from remaining fabric; sew 1” ends together to create a long strip. Wrap two of the towels up in the third towel. Use long strip as a ribbon to tie the package and add your hangtag to create a delightful zero waste project!
Step 12: You can even use a decorative paper punch to cut a piece of the receipt to create a tag!
dishtowel package
