How to Make Dish Towels

Thanks to Pinterest and a few other factors that hit us in November, I decided to make the majority of the gifts we gave out at Christmas this year. It was pretty fun, super cost effective, and I loved, loved, loved how everything turned out.


This first project was simple, but adorable. It also helped that I finally figured out the issue with my sewing machine the day before I started: a dull needle.


In case you need a cute and easy gift idea for the other holidays throughout the year, here’s how to make them.



This is what you’ll need: a sewing machine, iron, flour sack towels, 1/4 yard of fabric of your choice, pins, and pom pom embellishments (if you’re feeling fancy).


Before this project, I had never heard of flour sack dish towels, but apparently everyone else in the world had. Everyone I asked was like “Oh yeah. I know what those are.” Riiiight. When is everyone discussing things like this? Thankfully, I found them at Walmart in packs of 5 and 2.

After you assemble all of your supplies, you’ll want to wash and dry both the towels and your printed fabric to take care of any shrinking that may occur with your finished product. (Warning: You will also need to iron everything after you wash and dry it as it will be a hot mess when it comes out of that dryer.)

Then, cut your fabric to the thickness you prefer to stitch to your towels and iron down your seams.

Next, pin the fabric to your towel wherever you think it looks good. I ran mine even with the bottom stitch of the towel to make things easier. When it comes to sewing for me, the simpler the better.

After you have it pinned where you want it, start sewing it down.

And you’re done. You can add the pom pom embellishment if you want, but it’s optional. Aren’t these adorable?

I was so excited to have conquered the damn sewing machine. And you know what happened as I finished the last towel? The bobbin thread got all wound up inside the bottom and when I attempted to fix it, the insides fell out everywhere. I can’t friggin’ figure out how to put it back together either.

So yes, I’m back to hating sewing machines again.