At some point last month, I alluded to having had a very productive weekend and finishing up a few projects that had been languishing for months on end. Having finally uploaded the photos of one of those projects, I can now proudly unveil it! My first foray into embroidering:
When I made my Design Resolutions for the year, this embroidered tea towel was one of the first projects on my mental list. As you can see, I still need to wash and iron it. But isn’t it a cute pattern? It’s from a 7 days of the week set produced by Aunt Martha’s that I found in my grandma’s box of antique patterns. The tea towels themselves are also from Aunt Martha’s: I bought a pack of 2 from Hancock Fabrics when they were on sale. I thought the fabric was pretty decent (if a little expensive), but of course Grandma thought it “just wasn’t like they used to make them!” (She thought the weave was a bit on the knobbly side.) In any case, I may try ordering from Herrschners for future tea towels: a little more cost effective and Grandma-approved fabric. (Although, to have truly Grandma-approved fabric, she and I decided we will probably have to buy the fabric from JoAnn’s and hem it ourselves…as I’m not too great at hemming, I’m not sure how that would work for me.) Anyone know of other suppliers of tea towels or doilies for stitching?
Grandma also swears by the old metal, spring-loaded embroidery hoops. Above is a (slightly crappy) photo of it in action. Having tried other hoops back in the day when I used to cross-stitch, I can vouch that these are the best. I’m now on the hunt for some hoops of my own: I was able to find some antique metal ones on etsy and some on eBay, so am watching for a bargain. The trick is to make sure the cork is in good shape and the tension is good…unfortunately not a lot of suppliers show photos or give information of either. I think I may try to buy a lot of them and hope that at least one is in good shape!
A question I’m currently researching, but having a hard time finding an answer to: When you want to frame and hang a piece of needlepoint in those hang-able hoops, how do you finish off the back? I’ve never seen anyone post a photo of what the back should look like. Do you just trim the fabric close to the edge of the hoop?
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15 responses so far ↓
1 Sarah Jo // Mar 10, 2009 at 9:35 am
I love your little snail! And I’m totally jealous that you’re learning to embroider; it’s one of those cutesy crafty things I want to learn to do. I just don’t have anyone to teach me. You may have inspired me to find a class…
2 Lorraine // Mar 10, 2009 at 9:58 am
Yeah, it’s one of those things that I’ve always wanted to know how to do, so now that my grandma lives next door, it was the perfect time to learn. So I’m glad you like it, and I hope you can find some classes down there!
3 Cindy Krause // May 26, 2009 at 11:34 am
Love your towel. I have been doing towels for a while. There is a great site from Sublime Stitching.
Retro patterns. I get my towels from Fleet Farm. Not sure if you have one near you but they are very well made.
4 Lorraine // May 26, 2009 at 12:26 pm
@Cindy: Oo! Thanks for the suggestion: I’ll have to look around to see if there are any Fleet Farms near by. I just got a towel order in from Herrschners: the fabric’s great, but the hems are slightly lopsided. Too bad I’m rubbish at hemming (and sewing in general), or I’d make my own.
5 Cathy, Hill City, SD // Jun 13, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I’m almost 70 so I can remember my mom making us girls learn how to do this type of needle work. She’s 91 now and can’t hold the needle anymore because of arthritus. I still have dish towels she made and also some from my grandmother. Precious! I’m thinking about making a set for a wedding gift. Of course I will give a more substantial gift, but I hope the bride will understand the love and caring that goes into something like this. Too bad we have stopped teaching our daughters the “gentle” arts of being a woman.
6 Carri // Aug 19, 2009 at 7:13 pm
very cute! that is really neat that you are learning from you grandma!!
And how COOL that you have free patterns at your disposal!
I’m curious - why are lopsided hems bad? I’m SO new to embroidery - I’m learning on my own with a kit and pictures posted.
7 Lorraine // Aug 28, 2009 at 11:27 pm
@Carri: Well, lopsided hems are bad because then the fabric won’t lay flat or straight. Luckily, these aren’t posing too much of a problem, but as Grandma says, “Everything should be nice, neat, and straight.” You’ll have to share your final results of teaching yourself soon by posting pictures somewhere! I’m starting work on my second towel once I’ve finished moving to a new apartment.
8 angela // Mar 30, 2010 at 3:34 pm
To finish off the back, cut the edges short, and then trace a piece of brown paper the size of the hoop and hot glue it on. You may want to play with the idea of cutting it long enough to turn to the inside of the hoop and glueing it in place first and then glueing on the paper to determine which is better for you.
9 Lorraine // Apr 8, 2010 at 1:07 am
Thank you so much, Angela! You are the first person in all of the internet to give me an answer! Where do you get your brown paper? Is it acid free?
10 Darbiene // Apr 30, 2010 at 9:34 pm
<<>> — - What type of fabric would your grandma buy?
11 Lorraine // May 2, 2010 at 11:47 pm
@Darbiene: When Grandma buys tea towels from Herrschner’s, she gets the 7-pack of white flour sack tea towels that are ready to be stamped. We’ve since decided that these are the best ready-hemmed towels available to individual crafters, and they come in 3 different sizes. (She has declared that hemming your own towels isn’t worth the work. Ha!) If anyone knows of wholesale suppliers that have a better product, please share!
If she were to buy fabric for a tea towel at Jo-Ann’s and hem it herself, then she recommended a nice thick cotton muslin. It should be thick enough that you can’t see your hand through it, but not so thick that it would be hard to pass the needle through. I now use this type of fabric for creating my hoop-framed wall-hangings. Unfortunately, I’ve thrown away my slips, so I don’t have a thread-count on hand to share with you.
12 Darbiene // May 7, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Thank you!
13 Debbie // Jun 13, 2010 at 8:54 pm
I’ve put cross stitch into hangable hoops, and I
left about an inch all around. I cut out a piece of muslin and ironed under a hem and hand
stitched it on. I have even hand washed this and it
came out great!
14 Stacie // Jun 23, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Great Job.. I too have Aunt Marthas transfers from my grandmother and am right now doing the bunnies set for a girls baby quilt. My grandmother taught me how to do this many years ago and I actually have tea towels put away that she finished. This week I finally after many many years just figured out how to do a french knot to add to my embroidery work. I love trying new things and accomplishing new ventures. Great job
15 Debbie // Jul 7, 2010 at 4:08 pm
I have bought both Herrchner’s, Mary Maxim, and Aunt Martha flour sack towels. I must say that I have found the Aunt Martha towels far superior to any other towel on the market. They are hemmed on all sides with a loop for hanging sewn into the corner. They are great for cutting into quilt blocks too! I buy them here: http://www.colonialpatterns.com/product_info.php?cPath=40_32&products_id=698
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