How to Sew a Tea Towel from Flannel (with Fringe!) DIY Tutorial
Use my tutorial to see how to sew a tea towel from flannel, with soft fringe across the bottom. It’s an easy project that makes a great hostess or housewarming gift!
I don’t do a whole lot of fancy in my house. We’re pretty practical around here, and our furnishings and décor reflect that. But I do love a nice tea towel for my kitchen. And that makes sense, I guess, since towels have a practical purpose in just hanging around. These fringe flannel tea towels are the latest addition to my kitchen.
I've got a tutorial below showing how you can sew a flannel towel for yourself.
I usually use a home dec weight cotton fabric for my tea towels, but I’ve recently discovered how nice a flannel towel is.
Flannel is so soft and absorbent, important for a towel. I went with a classic plaid for a more traditional look and then pulled threads to create a lovely fringe across the bottom.
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I cut the fabric to make these towels a week before Thanksgiving. Then I got busy and didn’t actually get around to sewing them until well into January. But now that I’ve started to use them, I’m thinking I may need to make more.
Finished dimensions are approximately 20” wide x 30” tall. A yard of flannel will make two towels.
If you’re looking for more handmade tea towel ideas, check out some of my other tutorials:
Vintage Ornaments Christmas Tea Towel
Applique Pumpkin Fall Tea Towel
How to Sew a Tea Towel with Fringe
Supplies
Flannel fabric – 22” wide x 31” tall
You can make 2 towels from 1 yard of fabric.
Sew the Towel
Sew a straight line across the flannel, 1 ½” from the bottom.
Press in a ½” double fold hem on the sides and top of your fabric. Don’t press a hem on the bottom edge – it will be left raw edge to create the fringe later.
If you don’t know what a double fold hem is, it’s basically just pressing ½” to the back side of the fabric, then folding and pressing another ½” to encase the raw edge.
I prefer to 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 the hem in place, starting and stopping at the line of stitching across the bottom.
Pull threads from the bottom edge to create fringe. I can usually snag the threads at the edges using just my fingernails, but if you’re having trouble getting those threads to start pulling a seam ripper might be helpful. Continue pulling threads until you’re about ¼” away from the stitch line.
It can take a while to pull all those threads, but luckily it’s easy to do this step while sitting on the couch watching some TV.
Your fringed flannel tea towel is finished!
