FREE Last Minute Christmas Gift Project

Last Minute Christmas Gift Hanging Dish Towels

Copyright 2008 Sewing Expressions LLC. This project may be freely shared, but may not be sold or used for profit. The instructions included herein, may not be copied in any part, either printed or digital, for profit. If used in a classroom setting, the instructions must be distributed to each student in its' entirety and unedited from its' original format/layout.

Need a quick last minute holiday hostess gift? These are so quick, you'll want to stitch up bunches for yourself & friends! You can never have enough towels handy in the kitchen or bath. A quick, easy project just perfect for gift-giving, bazaars and craft fairs.

Supplies

• Fabric scraps large enough to cut 2 pattern pieces
• Sewing Thread
• Pattern
• Light to medium-weight fusible interfacing large enough to cut 2 pattern pieces
• Standard Dish Towel
• 1/2" - 3/4" button (1 for each towel you will construct)

Directions

1. Cut towel in half across the narrow width, leaving both ends uncut. The uncut ends become the finished bottom ends of your towels.

2. Serge or zigzag the raw edge of the towel.

3. Fuse interfacing to the back of your fabric scraps.

4. Using the pattern, cut 2 (1 front, 1 back) from the fused fabric/interfacing pieces.

5. With right sides facing, using a ½" seam allowance, stitch around the curved edges of the pattern, leaving the bottom open. Trim and notch seam where necessary.

6. Fold up 1/2" along open edge and press.

7. Turn tab right side out and press.

8. Gather or pleat raw edge of towel to fit the open area at the bottom of the pattern.

9. Pull up gathers to fit opening on bottom of tab.

10. Tuck gathered edge of towel into opening of fabric tab. Sew 2
    rows of topstitching, through all layers, close to folded bottom edge of tab.

11. Wrap end of fabric tab around your door handle. Using marks on pattern as guides, mark exact position for button and buttonhole.

12. Stitch button to mark. Sew a buttonhole, sized to your button.

-OR-

13. If your cabinets have knobs that make it difficult to wrap the tab end around, sew a buttonhole long enough to go over the cabinet knob and do not attach a button.

14. OPTIONAL: Add lace or other trim to the end of your towel.

Click image below to open the full-size pattern in a new window:

FREE Table Runner project from Sewing Expressions

Our Table Runner is posted courtesy of LikeSew - a creative, fun quilt program perfect for everyone!

Sewing Expressions for more information...

Finished Size: Approximately 62" x 26"

Fabric Requirements

Fabric A (dark print) - 1 yard

Fabric B (medium print) - 1/4 yard

Fabric C (light print) - 1 yard

Backing - 1 1/2 yards

Binding - 1/2 yard

Like Sew

www.LikeSew.com

Copyright 2007

Cutting Directions

1. Fabric A: Cut 4 strips 3 1/2" x width of the fabric. Cut the strips into 40 squares measuring 3 1/2" x 3 1/2". Cut 4 strips 3 7/8" x width of the fabric. Cut the strips into 40 squares measuring 3 7/8" x 3 7/8".

2. Fabric B: Cut 2 strips 3 7/8" x width of the fabric. Cut the strips into 20 squares measuring 3 7/8" x 3 7/8".

3. Fabric C: Cut 6 strips 3 7/8" x width of the fabric. Cut the strips into 60 squares measuring 3 7/8" x 3 7/8". Cut 5 strips 1 1/2" x width of the fabric. Set these strips aside for the border.

4. Binding: Cut 5 strips 2 1/2" x width of the binding fabric. Set these strips aside for the binding.

Half-square Triangle Instructions

1. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the lighter colored fabric.

2. Place this square, right sides together, with the other square to be sewn.

3. Sew a seam exactly 1/4" on BOTH sides of the drawn line as shown:

1. Cut directly on the drawn line.

2. Press the seams open.

3. Clip the "dog ears" to make a perfect square:

Piecing Directions

1. Draw a diagonal line on the back of each Fabric A square measuring 3 7/8" x 3 7/8". Match 40 of the squares together with 40 squares of the same size cut from fabric C. Draw a diagonal line on the back of each Fabric B square measuring 3 7/8" x 3 7/8". Match 20 of the squares together with 20 squares of the same size cut from fabric C.

2. Follow the directions for making half-square triangles on the previous page. You will have 120 half-square triangles when this step is completed. 80 will be with fabrics A and C, 40 will be with fabrics B and C.

3. Following the diagram, sew four squares together to form a block. All of the blocks in this quilt are made exactly this same way. Continue with the remaining squares until you have 40 completed blocks.

4. Following the diagram below, take four of the completed blocks in step 3 and sew them together in the exact order shown. This will make a larger block. There will be 10 of these larger blocks in the quilt. Continue with the remaining smaller blocks until you have 10 completed larger blocks.

Quilt Assembly

1. Sew 5 completed larger blocks together in a row. Repeat until you have 2 rows. Nowjoin the 2 completed rows together, one on top of another.

2. Sew border strips onto both sides of the quilt. Press. Now sew the remaining border strips onto both the top and the bottom of the quilt.

3. Layer the quilt back, the batting, and the quilt top together, in that order.

4. Machine or hand quilt as desired.

5. Use the 2 1/2" strips of binding fabric cut earlier to bind the quilt using your favorite method.