I love picking out presents for people. Taking the time to find just the right thing that will bring a smile to someone’s face, or a tear to their eye. So, when a friend and her fiance bought a house, I knew I wanted to find just the right housewarming gift, to help them make this new house their home. The problem? I hadn’t been to their apartment, so I had no idea what their style/aesthetic is!!!
Thankfully, they’re planning a wedding and I LOVE weddings. The promise to choose a single person every day for the rest of their lives? It gets me every time. Plus, add in fun decor, gorgeous clothes, and hopefully fun music, hell yes. I’m all in. So, my excitement for weddings, and crafts in general, means I always hope friends share wedding plans as they happen! Seeing choices for flowers and centerpieces, cakes and favors, makes me so happy!! This was also a great way to get an idea for their style. That’s what I call a win/win!
A little more back story, this lovely friend loves shopping at TJ Maxx/Home Goods and completely adores the Rae Dunn line. Super cute and fun! (If we didn’t already collect Fiesta, I’d fall down this rabbit hole so fast!) She found this mug while out shopping and picked it up for me!! I love it! It is a fantastic addition to the craft room!! (Plus, we’ve picked up a few other Rae Dunn pieces since!) And this gives me another clue for what she/they like in their home. Off to Home Goods we go!!!
We found a super cute Rae Dunn dish and a lovely vase, but something stuck with me when she gave me that gorgeous mug. She “had to get it for me because [she’ll] never find one with her name on it”. Not cool. Everyone should be able to find kick ass personalized pieces!! So, I have to make something personalized for her (and her fiance, obvs). What better for a housewarming than a lovely set of tea towels?! Virginia and I picked up some beautiful, subtly striped fabric (which is impossible to photograph without getting a headache!) Gave it a thorough wash, so it doesn’t shrink with the vinyl attached, and got to work!! Virginia tried a bunch of pretty fonts while I cut towels out!
This is a wonderfully simple sewing project. I cut rectangles at 19 inches wide and 29 inches tall. Since my fabric didn’t really shrink, I was able to cut three towels across the width of the fabric!! Then I ironed each side edge in a scant 1/2 inch twice. Then ironed the short ends 5/8 inch twice. This gives a slightly deeper folded edge to the ends, which I think looks really nice. A quick topstitch close to the inside folded edge of the towels, and they are ready for vinyl!
If all my friends could settle down with someone who’s name is a similar length, this would be way easier. Hah! We played with font size, direction of text, angles and just decided to go for the same width, and let her name be larger than his. Then we went for a simple combo of initials for the third towel. Weeding went really quick, a solid press to the towels and they’re done. I think I spent more time doing a pre-press to make sure the towels folded in thirds beautifully before adding the vinyl, than the time I spent actually ironing it on. It was wonderful!
I think these are super cute! I can definitely see some fun snarky ones for my kitchen, and more names for friends and couples. Plus, I can break out the embroidery machine to go even fancier if I want!!
With how fun and quick this project was, I might have to prep some towels and set them aside in case I need a last minute holiday gift. (But, for my friends, I totally planned yours super far in advance.)
Stephanie xx
