Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Salad Tea Towel - Completed!

I finished my salad tea towel!  And here is my "surprise" hem trim...


Ruffles! A double row of ruffles:


I love the way this trim finished this towel.  The green ruffle reminds me of curly lettuce so it is perfect for this towel's theme :)


I am really happy with the fabric color match to my embroidery floss too:


I have really learned a lot making this ruffle trim.


I followed directions from a basic sewing book.  There were so many options for making and attaching ruffles!  I knew I wanted a double layer ruffle and I wanted to sew the double layers in the center so that both edges of each layer would be free and ruffled.


To make the ruffles, I cut a strip out of each of the fabrics I wanted to use for the ruffles.  Factoring in the seam allowance,  I cut the bottom ruffle 1/2" wider then the top ruffle.  As for the length, both strips are the same length, but to allow ruffling, the instructions said to cut 3 times the finished length!  This is for a fully gathered ruffle.


I finished the edges of both of the strips:


Then I machine stitched two lines of stitches on each strip using a basting stitch:


Then I carefully pulled the basting stitch threads, gathering up all the length on each ruffle.


I pinned everything in place and sewed through all the layers with one line of stitching centered on the top ruffle.


I turned the ruffle strip ends under and hand stitched them in place:


I also decided to embellish the other end of the tea towel.


I used one of the border patterns from the Salad Fixings embroidery pattern packet:


and stitched it up!


I love this tea towel and I really like the ruffles.  I want to make this again and I really want to try out the other ruffle variations.

20 comments:

donna!ee said...

gorgeous beautiful...love it!!! :)

Makolina said...

WOW! To jest piękne!!!

Ana Love Craft said...

Lovely!!!I love ruffles and polka dots!
Hugs from Portugal

Ana Love Craft

Anonymous said...

Kim this is so pretty! So fresh looking!

Unknown said...

It looks super cute! good job!

Zova couture said...

wow..this is so pretty..and ur ruffles add more beauty in it...loved it..

Jenn said...

This is just so beautiful! I love your colorful designs :)

Kim said...

Donna!ee - Thank you :)
Kasia - Dziękujemy!
Ana - :) Thank you!
Miss Paula - Thank you - I like this fresh look - perfect for this time of year!
Chelsea - Thank you!
Vaheeda - Thanks! I really like the look the ruffles give.
Hi Jennifer - Thank you! :)

Unknown said...

LOVE how this turned out and the double ruffle that matches your thread perfectly is terrific!

Johanna said...

How cute!! And hmm I think I might have the same sewing book as you- Reader's Digest?
Those ruffles are adorable :)

Kim said...

Thank you Pam! I am really pleased with it :)
Hi Johanna - Thanks! Yes, that is a Reader's Digest sewing book LOL!

Angela Lee said...

Kim, those are simply precious!! I love them. Love,love,love the ruffles. Great job!!

Kim said...

Hi Angela - Thank you! I can't wait to try your gathering method from the tutorial on your blog!!! It looks so easy and :) reliable!

Rous Diamantina said...

Very nice, I like the colors!

Thank you very much for visiting my blog, you have wonderful things in your blog!

suz said...

the ruffles were the perfect touch!

Bits of Stitching! said...

Sooo Cute!!! They are the perfect embellishment, they remind me of curly leaf lettuce too :-). Love that you stitched both corners in the front plus the opposite side as well!

wenda said...

It looks fantastic Kim, great instructions!!

Kim said...

Hi Rous - Thank you!
Suz - Thank you, I am so gldad they turned out!
Monika - Thank you! I think the extra stitching really finished this too!
Hi Wenda - Thank you!

JennyPennyPoppy said...

The ruffles on your tea towel turned out perfectly and compliment your great stitching wonderfully well. You made adding a ruffle seem not that difficult after all.

Kim said...

:) Thank you Jenny! I love these ruffles!