3.25.2010

Ribbon Towels Tutorial


So we've moved onto working in the girls's bathroom again.
We did some fun new wall treatments yesterday!  I'm so excited to show you guys... but first... I have to paint. blahh. Story of my liiiife...

A couple weeks back I was at Walmart and they had these plain white towels on sale for $2.00 each.
So I took a friends lead and decided to make some cute ribbon towels for the bathroom.
For someone who doesn't sew... these were Seeeew easy!

I'm sure that  Miss Shey B and V and Co. would be snorting with laughter right about now, at this tutorial that I'm about to throw down, but I'll be really honest... for a girl that just barely learned how to TURN ON the sewing machine about 3 months ago... even the SIMPLEST tutorials are a MUST... when it comes to sewing, anyway. :)
Sew here's to all the Simple Singer ladies... wa-uh, uh, oh, oh, uh-oh, ho-oh...



Plain Towel


Lay ribbon down on the rib of the towel

Sew down each side of the ribbon... no pinning necessary!

tuck the end of the ribbon under the other side of the towel, and run a stitch along the edge... so you have a finished look like this.


Take a washcloth the same color as your towel.
Cut about a one inch piece along the already finished edge.


Fold over a small piece and sew down the unfinished edge.  To make a finished seam.


Mine was long enough for two towels.  So I cut it in half.

Before you sew on the loop, make sure it can fit over your hook/fixture that you'll be hanging it on.


Pin and sew.

Ta-da!
A hanging, slightly pimped out, girly, ribbon towel!

Please ignore the floating towel fixture. lol.
I'll show you the completed wall that this will be hanging on, soon!

TIPS:
* Make sure you sew the ribbon on the RIGHT side of the towel.
ya... I totally sewed the whole first towel on the wrong side... ugh.
Luckily it's just a pretty boring plain white towel... and once I cut the tag off.. hee hee.. you couldn't even tell!

* Buy your ribbon by the YARD.  If going to Walmart at least.
I was going to buy 2 rolls of ribbon, for $2.93 each, and then saw that if I bought it by the yard, I could get my 5 yards for only $2.36!

23 comments:

  1. You crack me up! "floating fixture" haha! Love it! Doing this to towels is sooo cute! We did this to my daughters in her bathroom and then she told me I picked the wrong ribbon! Oh well, can't win all the battles haha! I have a new embroidery machine so come over one time when you're feeling brave and we'll whip out your Monogram!

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  2. Cute, simple, personalized, and HOOKS. It doesn't get any better than this! Great job!

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  3. Sewing really doesn't have to be scary. I am impressed that only 3 months in you aren't afraid to tackle towels (which can be hard to sew through!).

    PS I am also surprised that you can still buy ribbon by the yard at Wal-mart. No craft depts here anymore.

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  4. Too cute! Just coming to the end of remodeling my boys' bathroom and in need to some towel inspiration. Might need to change out the pink and poke-a-dots ;)

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  5. Great project! This would make a nice gift as well. I’ve done a few like this on cloth dippers and given them as gifts at baby showers to be used as burp clothes.

    Kendra "Domestic Princess in Training"

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  6. Oh, it looks sew easy, ha and I don't sew either. I just don't think my son would appreciate girly towels in their bathroom. Its actually a frog theme so I guess I could look for some green ribbon. Can't wait to see the bathroom when its all finished! I'm almost done with the Laundry Room, yea!

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  7. So pretty! I love polka dots. Lovin' the crystal knob too.

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  8. SO cute! I want a sewing machine so bad...maybe for Mother's Day, huh? lol :)

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  9. Cute! I need some nice towels for our new bathroom, but I'm too cheap to buy the ones that match. I should just make my own!

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  10. Great job Shelley! I should do that for the baby's bathroom and just get ribbon to match the cute stuff you bought me. I might even try to tackle the hooded towel. I think all you do is use a hand towel for the hood.

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  11. fun and yeah for learning to turn on your machine! :)

    was totally like "huh?" at the hanging fixture until you mentioned it. LOL

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  12. I love them! I would have never even thought of this. Love it.

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  13. This is fantastic! I am going to include a link to this post in my Inspire My Saturday Post today. Thanks so much for sharing.

    XO*Tricia

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  14. I am LOVING the hanging loop!! Sadly, the towels at our house seem to live on doorknobs and not folded up neatly where they belong.

    I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing:
    http://houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/2010/03/ribbon-towels.html

    --Anne

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  15. I wish we had hooks to hang our towels on! I may sew the ribbon on them anyway, it's just so cute. These would make such fun bridal shower gifts for my cousin who is getting married this summer too!

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  16. Do you need to prewash the towels before sewing the ribbon on? I'm getting ready to make a set of these for a graduation present for a friend's daughter!

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  17. Do you need to prewash the towels before sewing the ribbon on? I'm getting ready to make a set of these to give as a graduation present for a friend's daughter!

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  18. Too cute! I think I will try these but with a ribbon loop for hanging. Probably not as sturdy, but terry cloth can be difficult to sew so the less terry the better. Oh, maybe I'll monogram them in a color that coordinates w/ the ribbon. Thanks!

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  19. Love this. Thanks. This would make a great gift, especially monogrammed in coordinating color. I think I'll try that, and I am thinking I'll try the loop in ribbon instead of terry cloth. It may not be as sturdy, but it seems easier than sewing through extra terry cloth, and cheaper b/c I can just use a tad bit more ribbon instead of cutting a washcloth. Thanks again!

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  20. I love your towels! I did something very similar with a plain white, tailored dust ruffle in my daughter's room! Made it look so expensive and coordinated perfectly with my daughter's room. Then I used the leftover ribbon on her lampshade. One question, though: has the ribbon buckled up after you've washed and dried the towels? Does anyone out there know? I'd love to do this to some towels and plain white pillowcases, but I'd be so sad if the ribbon buckled!!

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  21. You have a nice idea of sewing ribbons on the towel, I can make color coding of ribbons for our towels instead of a name on it.

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  22. I have plain white towels that buckled up at that rib area from being in the dryer too long. So I could cut out the rib area, and replace it with ribbon and the towels would look like new again. Great idea!!! Thanks.

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