Love Applique Tea Towel - Sewing Tutorial

See how to sew an Anthropologie-inspired love applique tea towel using home decor weight cotton and your fabric scraps!  It's easy to sew and makes a great housewarming or wedding gift!

I have a love/hate relationship with Anthropologie.  I love walking around the store….they have such pretty clothes and cute home décor items…. BUT, everything is sooo expensive – and their clothes aren’t made to fit pear-shaped middle aged women.  So I can look all I want, but I can’t ever bring home that Anthropologie look into my own house or wardrobe.

So, a few weeks ago I needed to kill some time, and I decided to see what was new at ol’ Anthropologie.   And I saw this tea towel with the word LOVE appliqued on it.  I was drawn to the bright colors and bold geometric prints… But it was $22 and really the more I looked at it, it was not quite the right fit for my home anyway.  I love me some mixed prints, but I couldn’t help think that there was a little too much print?

So instead of leaving Anthropologie with a $22 tea towel, I left the store with the inspiration for my next sewing project.  And I’ve got a free pattern for you below so you can make one of your own!

This project literally cost me NOTHING.  Everything I used for this project came from my stash.  I love it when that happens!!!  It makes me feel less like a hoarder for all the fabrics I’ve stashed over the years.  Ha!

I used a vintage home décor cotton to make the towel.  I think the vintage print gives it a quirky Boho kind of look.  I love the energy of that bright yellow!  And the large scale print allows me to mix prints without overwhelming the eye. 

I’ve got a pretty good stash of vintage fabrics to choose from, but if you don’t you can also find some really cute home décor weight cottons at the fabric store.  If you buy a yard, you’ll have enough fabric to make two towels.  That’s perfect for a housewarming or wedding gift!

I created the applique also using vintage fabrics.  I have a scrap bin just for vintage scraps, and it gave me great pleasure to go digging through it to find just the right prints for the applique.

Supplies

22” x 30” home décor weight cotton fabric  (1 yard will be enough to make 2 towels.)

White fabric scraps

Colorful fabric scraps

Fusible webbing

Gold thread

Free pattern – Love Applique Tea Towel

How to make a Love Applique Tea Towel:

First, press in a 3/8” double fold hem around all sides of your fabric.  Miter the corners for a finished look.  If you don’t know how to miter corners on a double fold hem, use my tutorial here. 

Sew around all four sides close to the folded edge to secure your hem.

You’ve got a basic tea towel now.  It really is just that easy to make a tea towel!! Now to add the applique.

Trace all of the letters on the pattern on to your fusible webbing.  The letters are already reversed for you. 

Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse the larger set of letters to the back of your white fabric, and then cut the letters out.

Fuse the smaller set of letters to the backs of your fabric scraps, and then cut the letters out.

Remove the paper backing from the white letters.  Place them on the towel in 2 rows of 2 letters, as below.  Center the letters across the towel horizontally, with the bottom row of letters 2” from the bottom of the towel.

Top stitch around all of the letters to secure.  I used a matching thread for this top stitching because I didn’t want it to show.

Now, layer the scrap letters on top of the white letters.  Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse them down.

Top stitch around all of the scrap letters in gold thread.

DONE! 

Stand back and admire the cuteness of your Love Applique Tea Towel.