Tea Towel Time!

I have spent the last 6 weeks (not successfully) recovering from surgery, so last week I decided to that even if I am not able to do much, I could be productive in the sewing department.  So I went to the storage room and dusted off my sewing machine.  It turns out that I had an enormous bag full of fabric, and so my goal became to use them up (at least mostly) before I allowed myself to buy any more.

What is a great use of a variety of random fabric you ask?  Tea towels... lots and lots of tea towels!!  I also added some matching wash cloths and reversible coasters to some of the sets.

To make my tea towels, I cut a rectangle 16.5" x  21.5".

My trick is that I use an erasable fabric marker, so I use it to draw lines where I need to sew, so my towels all turn out as almost perfect rectangles, and they are all the same(ish) size.

If you like it visual like me, then add lines on the BACK of the fabric, showing you where you need to fold it. This line will be inside the hem, so as long as it's not too bright, no one will ever see it.

Sew along the fold, until you have a slightly smaller rectangle.

Now, do the exact same thing again.  This makes you create a double hem on your towel, so the ends  of the fabric is completely hidden, and it just looks best this way.  Here is a tutorial with pictures to better explain how to do a double hem.  It is exactly the same as on a towel, with only a difference in size.