Ticking Stripe Farmhouse Tea Towel DIY

Farmhouse ticking stripe kitchen towels make a quick and easy gift any time of the year. I also love using them in my own kitchen. Join me today for this quick photo tutorial as I sew one of these for the holidays.

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Ticking Stripe Farmhouse Tea Towel Tutorial

I grew up calling these dish towels, but I know that in other parts of our world, they are called tea towels. I lived in the southern USA for a little while and where I lived they were called tea towels.

What matters today, however, is that I’m going to show you how you can sew up a ticking stripe farmhouse tea towel, or dish towel of your own.

If you like farmhouse style, these would be great for decorating over the holidays. They also make neat gifts.

Plus, I’ve included a cute and professional way to package these if you want to use them for gift giving or even if you want to make them for craft fairs and shows. 

How can You Make a Farmhouse Ticking Stripe Towel?

Supplies:

• Ticking stripe fabric
• Sewing Machine
• Natural or off white thread
• Twill tape (optional)

You’ll also need your iron and other notions that you would normally use in your sewing room. I used my walking foot for this project. It isn’t essential, but it made a nice finish and I was glad I did.

How to Make Your Towel

I cut my fabric at 19 inches wide, by 28 inches long. There are more specific measurements out there. What I did is laid down one of my own towels and went from that.

I have a little confession to make before I start the tutorial. This red ticking stripe has been in my stash for at least a couple of years. I had purchased it at Joann Fabrics with a coupon and I’ve made several things with it in the past. Before writing this tutorial I checked online. They still have it.

Yes, this is exactly how it looked when I pulled it out of my stash. I keep my fabric in totes and it was just a bit of a mess. It’s going to look a whole lot better when we get done.

Hopefully, your fabric doesn’t look like this. I did a bit of ironing to prep my fabric for this project. 

But check out that salvage edge of this fabric. Doesn’t that look like it could add a sweet farmhouse touch to something? Maybe a package or something? I’ll have to work on that one! I ramble…

Sewing the Vertical Edge

After the fabric is prepped and cut, fold over 1/4 inch from the edge toward the back of the towel. 

Then fold it over again and press it into place. This is super easy on this striped fabric. You really can eyeball this process, but you can measure if that’s more comfortable for you.

Sew along the inside edge. I didn’t photograph this step, but if you sew, you’ve got this figured out already.

Now that you’ve sewn one side, you’ll sew the other vertical edge and add a twill tape loop.

Adding a Twill Tape Hanging Loop

Now, this is one of those things that you don’t absolutely have to do, but I really think it adds a nice touch! If you do this, your friends and family are going to think you’re telling fibs about this being handmade. They might think it flew into your cart while you were out shopping.

You can buy this twill tape, but if you’re a hoarder like me, you might just have some around. When I get a product wrapped with twill tape, I always save it. It’s awesome stuff! Why throw it out?

Sew the Opposite Long Edge

You’re working on sewing your other edge now. I’ve cut the twill tape at an angle and inserted it in the narrow edge before I sew it. Using a pin will help to anchor it.

I also wanted to check to make sure I had enough and so I folded over the top, horizontal width of the towel so that I could see how it would all fit together.

The top and bottom edges of the towel are folded and pressed at 1/2 inch and then folded over again at 1/2 inch.

Make sure your tape stays tucked in, sew down the long edge of your farmhouse tea towel.

Now trim the tape to fit in the top edge of your towel.

Sew across the top of the towel. Be sure your twill tape is tucked in.

Now you should have both side edges and the top edge of your towel finished.

Go ahead and fold over the bottom edge of your towel just as you did at the top. Fold over 1/2 inch, then again at 1/2 inch, and sew.

Your farmhouse tea towel is finished and ready to use in your kitchen.

Extra Touch for a Professional Product

To make the project look neat and professional for gift-giving, I used a few sprays of Best Press. This is a sizing for ironing that is just super awesome for getting out wrinkles and adding a professional finish.  It’s a recent discovery for me, but I love it. You can get unscented but the scented smells awesome and isn’t overpowering like some scents. It also leaves a nice soft finish instead of a stiff starch finish. 

Presenting Your Farmhouse Tea Towel as a Gift

Since I’m giving my towel as a gift, I decided to wrap it up a bit more. I folded my towel in thirds the long way.

Then I folded in half and folded in half again.

My Silhouette Cameo came in handy for the label. I designed a little print and cut, and tied it all up with my leftover twill tape, hiding the knot behind the label. See, I told you that twill tape would come in handy!

This farmhouse tea towel turned out adorable. The red stripes will look great for Christmas, and even Valentine’s Day and into summer.

Thanks for joining me today on Say It With Simplicity. I hope you’ll grab some fabric and make special towels for your home and family!