Guest Post: DIY Applique Dish Towel

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Today we have a guest post from Katie of Running With a Glue Gun! She’s going to show us how to applique a boring old dish towel to make a cute statement in your kitchen.

If you’re looking for a simple way to spice of your kitchen, then you may want to grab that plain old dish towel. Now you may be thinking that your dish towel has seen better days and can’t really be saved. However, with some pretty fabric and some sewing, you can easily give that dish towel new life!

The best way to do this is to simply sew on applique letters! Sewing on applique letters is a really fun and an easy way to transform that old dish towel. Now if you have never sewed on applique letters, then this a great starter project for you. This is because if you’re not happy with the end results, it’s ok since you only messed up on a dish towel and nothing really important (like a bag).

If you want to learn how to add applique letters to your own dish towel, then check out the full tutorial below!

Supplies

• Dish Towel
• Fabric
• Thread
• Embroidery Thread
• Sewing Pins
• Needle
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Felt Letter Stickers or Letter Stencils
• Sewing Machine (optional)

Before Getting Started:

For this project, I opted to sew everything by hand, but you don’t have to. If you feel more comfortable using your sewing machine by all means sew away. Also, the phrase I used in this project is ”Let’s Bake”. However, you could sew on your favorite quote, phrase or even someone’s name.

Step 1: Trace the phase that you want to add to your dish towel, onto your fabric. I traced around felt letters, but you could use letter stencils instead. Once you’ve spelled out your phrase, cut out each letter.

Step 2: Cut out any additional images that you may want to add to your dish towel. In this case, I chose to cut out six cupcakes.

Step 3: Grab the letters that you cut out in step 1 and arrange them onto your dish towel. Then pin down each letter and sew them into place.

Step 4: Now depending on the fabric you used, might determine whether or not you want to follow this step. If you chose a lighter fabric like I did, you may want to stitch around each letter to make them stand out a bit more. To do this, simply thread a needle with some embroidery thread and do a backstitch around each letter.

Step 5: Grab the additional images that you cut out in step 2 and arrange them onto your dish towel. Then pin down each image and sew them into place.

Once everything has been sewed on and you’re happy with how your dish towel looks, you’re all done!

I loved how this dish towel turned out and it was the perfect type of project to make over the weekend!

Also, while making this project, it might be helpful to break out your embroidery hoop if you’re sewing by hand. That way your dish towel can be more evenly stretched out and you can sew down each letter without the fabric ”pulling” as much.

For more awesome tutorials, don’t forget to check out Running with a Glue Gun!

If you made this dish towel, what phrase or quote would you sew on?

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Seams and Scissors

Seams and Scissors is a place where sewing and quilting are celebrated every day. It is a creative resource for those who both cherish these skills and those who want to acquire them. On Seams and Scissors the curious creator will find full sewing and quilting tutorials, project collections, tips and tricks, as well as endless inspiration.

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