Java towel

You know I like to embroider, right? And tea towels are so much fun because I can get really creative as I think about the person I am giving them to. Well, I just recently stitched a "Java Towel" (instead of a tea towel) for a friend's birthday. Yes, she loves her coffee too!


I've been busy with lots of other things, but sometimes I need a Needle & Thread Fix. Do you ever feel like that?

Don't ask me where these cute pots and mugs came from. My DIL brought over something she printed out on her computer. I enlarged them a little bit on my copier and then traced them onto the towel. Aren't they cute? I only wished that I had a little vintage rick rack to add to the bottom edge.

I do have a terrific source for sturdy flour sack dish towels. It's the best price I've found and the towels are of highest quality. American Chair Store offers a 30x30" flour sack towel that I love to embroider on and I use them hard in my own kitchen. For some fun, free, vintage embroidery patterns, go to Needlecrafter.com . The free designs are here and you'll find scads of designs in each category. Another hand embroidery pattern site is Pattern Bee . She's got some great vintage patterns for sale and some free stuff you can print.

What are you stitching?

Addendum:
Diana from Knit This Too asked in the comments how I colored in the mugs and things in my Java Towel. This is an old, old technique that people used to do in the 40's and 50's. You use a color crayon (yes, crayolas) and color in the pattern like a coloring page. Be sure to wash your towel first to remove sizing. You can iron a piece of freezer paper to the back to stabilize it as you apply the color. Go ahead and color in your pattern. Set the color with a hot iron using a pressing cloth so you don't get any crayon on your iron, remove freezer paper, then embroider. I have heard of this technique used for making quilt blocks too. Try it, it's fun!

Laughter is inner jogging.
~Norman Cousins