DIY kitchen towels - ideas. Waffle towel fabric: properties, production features How to sew towels from waffle fabric

We often throw away old things and don't even look for alternative ways to recycle them and use them for other purposes. With just a little imagination, all the things you threw away before will get a new life.

For example - towels. Bath and beach towels deteriorate very quickly and need to be replaced, but instead of throwing them away, try some of these simple ways transformation.

1. Lemon and dust cloths

Lemon and dust cloths are great for cleaning hard surfaces. You will need: old towels or washcloths, lemon, vinegar, olive oil, water and an airtight jar or container.

First, cut your towels to fit your washcloth. Next, mix white vinegar and water olive oil in a bowl, and soak rags in the mixture.

Place rolled or folded towels in an airtight container and store them until you need them. Simply open the jar, discard the lemon zest and use.

2. Bath slippers

You can transform any pair of slippers or flip-flops into luxurious fluffy slippers with just the help of a towel. Make the right patterns and sew a towel on slippers.

3.Reusable mop brush cover

To avoid buying disposable mop covers, you can sew them from old towels. First, measure the fabric to the size you need and cut out the towels.

Sew the edges and place tightly on the mop. Create several pieces to change if necessary.

4. Braided rug

Old towels can be turned into a thick fluffy rug with a few simple steps. Fold the towel and cut 1.5-inch strips.

Take three strips and sew the ends together, then braid them all the way to the end. Continue until you have a long rope.

Curl the rope like a spiral and, using strong thread, sew them together. You can braid the same rug with different colors.

5.Fabric bathroom holder

If your bathroom is a little cluttered, you can use an old towel and make a fun holder. To start, take an old towel and simply fold 1.5 inches over the top. Pin and sew the flaps like pockets.

Fold the towel one more time and sew the bottom edge of the pockets!

6. DIY dust cloth

You only need an old towel, a wooden dowel, scissors, Velcro, and a silicone gun to create this DIY dust collector.

Start by cutting the towel into a square. Place the dowel in the middle of one square, then apply a little glue to the outer parts and place the other square on top of it.

Then cut several strips, tying each one around a dowel. Finally, secure the Velcro around the dowel.

Now you can start cleaning! Simply remove the Velcro from the towel and get started.

7.Fluffy rug

To do shaggy rug You only need three things: old towels, rubber mesh and scissors.

Cut the towels into small strips and thread each strip onto the rug, tying in knots to secure.

Repeat the process until the entire grid is filled with stripes. You will have the most shaggy and fluffy bathroom rug.

8.Baby bib

Making a baby bib is very simple. Just take an old towel and make a hole the size of a regular disk.

A kitchen towel is the key to clean and dry hands of the housewife. It is used frequently, and, unfortunately, also wears out quickly. In order not to spend extra money on purchasing a much-needed item, you can sew kitchen towels with your own hands from various fabrics. We will tell you how to do it yourself, what you will need, and how you can decorate an ordinary towel.

Material and size

The first step to making your own kitchen towel is choosing the material. The main requirement for fabric for any towel, be it a bath or kitchen towel, is good moisture absorption. From what manufacturers offer us, three types of fabric fit this characteristic: waffle, terry and linen. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Waffle fabric is a fabric made from 100% cotton and processed in such a way that squares are placed on it. It is the squares that improve the hygroscopicity of the material. It has long been used for sewing towels and its quality has been tested by time.

Terry cloth is also suitable for a kitchen towel, but there is one condition: it is better to take terry cloth with a thin and short pile. It is easier to process on a home sewing machine, it absorbs moisture well and washes well.

Linen is good from all sides. It has a beautiful structure, it is hygroscopic and suitable for any decor.

The traditional shape for a towel in the kitchen is a rectangle. The optimal size is considered to be 60 x 30 cm, but a slight deviation from these figures is unlikely to create any particular difficulties in using the product. You can sew both a square with equal sides and a 50 x 70 rectangle, the main thing is that the towel suits you personally.

There is nowhere in the kitchen without stains on towels, so this article will help you cope with the scourge.

Types of finishing

Since we are going to sew our own kitchen towels, it is right to give them some personality. The good thing about the work is that it allows you to experiment. On an industrial scale, towels are sewn according to predetermined patterns, but we can deviate from the clichés and create products to suit our own tastes and desires.

Such types of needlework as embroidery, applique, and patchwork are suitable for finishing. In addition, towel holders made of the same material or sewn in the shape of a doll can serve as decoration. Towels with knitted loops and holders made of contrasting fabric material look stylish. The edges of the product are trimmed with braid or fabric of a different shade.

Actually, everything you know in terms of home crafts, you can use to decorate a kitchen towel. In addition, it is possible to deviate from the classic shape of the product. Why not make it oval or round if you really want to. How practical it will be, decide during operation, and maybe you will like it.

Some housewives equip their creations with plastic buttons and do not hang them on hooks, but roll them up. Some decorate them with lace, but for others this is not enough, and they create real works of art by decorating the edges of the towel with funny rag animals. In any case, build on your capabilities in sewing and handicrafts.

We sew ourselves

Even sewing beginners can easily master sewing a kitchen towel. Let's start with the simplest option.

Simple waffle towel

For work we will need:

  • piece of waffle fabric 61 x 31 cm
  • thread to match the fabric
  • sewing machine
  • lace or braid

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a sewing machine; you can finish the edges of the towel by hand, using a regular backstitch or hand stitching.

It is no coincidence that we indicated the sizes 61 and 31 cm; we use 1 cm for hemming the towel, so we get the standard 60 x 30 cm. The edges must be folded twice, bending 0.5 cm each. To make them easier to sew on a machine, you can iron bends with an iron or baste them by hand.

First, we sew the edges along the length of the towel, then we sew the bottom and top. We make a loop of the required length from braid or lace and sew it in the middle of one of the long edges of the product. Our towel is ready.

Towel with original holder

If you plan to hang the towel not on a hook, but on a rail, then it should be equipped with a stylish holder. And then we need the following materials and tools:

  • a piece of fabric (choose any of the types above) measuring 51 x 31 cm
  • 2 pieces of colored fabric 20 x 20 cm
  • button
  • scissors
  • pencil and ruler
  • thread in the color of the towel material
  • sewing machine

Having measured and cut out the fabric, we begin the main work.

  1. We hem the main flap on three sides, along two lengths and widths.
  2. Fold the two holder flaps right sides together. We measure the middle of the top edge, draw two oblique lines from it to the middle of the sides.
  3. We cut out the parts, adding an allowance of 0.5 mm along the oblique lines.
  4. We sew the edges, leaving the bottom of the parts unstitched.
  5. Turn the resulting triangle right side out.
  6. We measure its width at the bottom.
  7. We assemble the raw top of the towel into a large assembly so that it is equal in width to the bottom of the holder.
  8. Sew the top of the towel into the bottom of the holder.
  9. We sew a linen loop on the triangle.
  10. We try on the product on the railing and mark the place for sewing on the button.
  11. Sew on a button.

We have created an original and comfortable kitchen towel.

For a housewife familiar with the patchwork style, we will tell you how to sew a kitchen towel yourself, decorating it with a patchwork finish. Prepare the following materials and tools:

  • piece of waffle fabric 51 x 71 cm
  • several scraps of colored fabrics, different in pattern and color or combined in color, but with different prints, 12.5 cm wide and 15 cm long
  • scissors
  • sewing machine
  • ruler and chalk or marking pencil

Stages of work:

  1. We sew a waffle towel following the example of the first lesson.
  2. We cut the flaps into squares and rectangles, with sides 12.5 x 5 or 12.5 x 10 cm. The length dimensions can be changed at your own discretion.
  3. We make a long strip, arranging the flaps in random order, but joining them in width.
  4. We sew the flaps together so that the length of the strip is 1 cm longer than the length of the towel.
  5. Smooth all edges of the strip.
  6. Mark on the towel where the strip will be sewn.
  7. Attach the strip to the main fabric.

In this style, you can sew several towels, placing patchwork strips both along the length of the product and on the transverse line.

A terry towel for the kitchen is inexpensive, stylish and unusual.

Taking as a basis classic version kitchen towel made of linen or waffle and terry fabric, you can radically change its appearance by adding all kinds of decorative details to the fabric.

If you are interested in embroidery, turn your towels into an elegant towel with your own hands. This is what our great-grandmothers and grandmothers did, decorating ordinary linen towels with picturesque ornaments.

If you are familiar with the technique of sewing tilde toys, apply your skill and sew a towel holder in the shape of such a toy.

If you know how to crochet, decorate the edges of the towel with openwork from air loops.

You have a little helper growing up, sew a kitchen towel for her with a funny applique. You can do this together, trusting your child to choose the drawing. To reduce the need to process parts, choose low-fraying material for appliqués. This decor fits very well on terry fabric.

Towel holders provide a lot of room for imagination. They can be made in the form of small potholders, sewing large ones to them, so you get an exclusive set. Use hand-knitted flowers or leaves as holders.

It doesn’t take much time to create a kitchen towel with your own hands, and the materials won’t cost you much. And thanks to your skill and patience, your kitchen will receive an unusual and stylish element decor that no one else has.

Learn how to sew your own kitchen towels. These hand-sewn products will appeal to housewives who love their home to be decorated in an original way.

No housewife can do without oven mitts and towels in the kitchen. Keeping your hands clean is important, but that's not the only function they serve. Towels also play a big role in the decor of the room. The room will look much more cheerful if you sew such napkins with your own hands from a suitable fabric. different decorations in the form of ribbons, embroidery, applique, patches with bright designs.

How to sew a beautiful kitchen towel with your own hands as a gift for beginners: ideas, photos

In fact, sewing a towel is not such a difficult job. For the process you will need everything: imagination, material, threads, scissors, machine, needle. If you want it to look different than usual, then you can embroider a real work of art using different colored threads on a regular waffle base or linen fabric.

Even such scraps of colored material, as in the image below in the form of an applique and lush frills at the bottom of the towel, will decorate your kitchen with a festive atmosphere for the New Year.

DIY towel

In almost any home in the closet you can find an old dress made of cotton fabric, which a fashionista will no longer wear, and maybe also pieces of braid and lace. This material will make a towel, and more than one, which can be sewn in the form of a fluffy sundress, as in the photo below.



Instructions for sewing a regular kitchen towel:

  1. Take the material. Cut out a regular rectangle measuring 62 by 32, leaving two centimeters for hems.
  2. To get a perfect edge, iron the edges of the product (5 mm twice on each side).
  3. Secure the folds with needles and stitch the edges using a sewing machine.
  4. If you don’t want to waste time on hems, then sew the edges with a zigzag.


What fabric are kitchen towels made from?

Potholders and towels are in use all the time in the kitchen and that is why they quickly become unusable. Ordinary rags do not look as attractive as products sewn with love. Before you start cutting towels, you should decide on the material. The fabric should absorb moisture well and wipe dirty surfaces well.



Fabric for kitchen towels

Most often used for towels wafer material, which is made from 100% cotton. Thanks to the small squares that are located throughout the material, its hygroscopicity improves.

To ensure that the towel washes well, use terry material. Only fabric with low pile will be convenient for sewing. You can decorate towels made from this base with an insert of another material or with embroidery or applique.



If you prefer bright colors, patterns and textures, then choose chintz And linen for towels. Natural fabrics good for wiping hands and tidying up the room.

IMPORTANT: To make your towels different from others, trim it with edge tape, make fluffy ruffles or stitch lace, and press finished appliqués.

What size are kitchen towels made?

A good housewife always has a lot of oven mitts and different towels in her kitchen. And if a woman is also a needlewoman, then almost all of her things are sewn with her own hands. Moreover, for this you only need a piece of fabric and a pattern is not necessary. After all, this practical item can be made in the form of an ordinary rectangle. There are different sizes. The most convenient towel for hands or for hot pots and pans is a cloth size 40 cm by 70 see either 60 cm by 30 cm.

If there is not so much material or you are sewing a product from leftovers old clothes, then the size of the canvas can be adjusted. Don't forget to leave one centimeter at a time to decorate the edge of the finished product.



Kitchen towel - how to sew?

Do I need to fold the edges of kitchen towels?

The shape of the finished towel may vary. For convenience, women sew such products with loops or “purses” with a clasp at the top, on which an unusual towel is hung. The edge of the canvas can be folded (twice), then stitched so that it does not fray. You can simply cover it with a special tape for finishing the edges. The bottom, top and sides of the product are also trimmed with a zigzag or trimmed with other fabric in the form of ruffles, frills, etc.



When processing the edges, so that the corners do not turn out too thick, it is advisable to cut off small pieces of fabric in these places with scissors, then all the folds will come out extremely neat.

If you decide to trim the edge with a special ribbon for this type of work, then choose the color of the ribbon to match the towel itself. Then everything will be in harmony.

Sewing a towel from terry cloth: ideas

Terry cloth does not get dirty so quickly and is perfect for kitchen work. Having chosen a fabric for sewing a product in the store, do not immediately forget to buy threads, and maybe some other auxiliary materials: appliqués, ribbons, other fabric, braid, buttons for decoration.



The towel can be any shape - even an oval. The main thing is that you feel comfortable using it. The edges of the towel look beautiful when they are crocheted in different openwork patterns. Also, the edges are made in the form of small bells from ordinary threads, etc.

Embroidery on terry cloth looks wonderful. It is enough to choose the right image, threads that do not fade and embroider the product with high quality without flaws. Try to ensure that your embroidery is the same on both the front and back sides.



When you decide to make convenient loops so that the towel can be hung on a hook, stove handle or in another place, use ribbons, pieces of fabric, laces, strings, buttons, snaps.

IMPORTANT: Terry fabric can contain not only natural fibers, and also synthetic. Thanks to this, towels made from this fabric will have an increased service life.

How to decorate a towel with your own hands?

How to sew a waffle matryoshka kitchen towel: patterns, photos

To decorate your home, you can make your own Matryoshka doll from a waffle towel and other auxiliary materials. To do this you will need to make a dress pattern. This pattern is shown in the figure below.



Dress for Matryoshka

You can also use the head, torso and arms of an old doll as material. The dress, made from waffle fabric, ribbons, and chintz inserts, should be the size of your doll.



Matryoshka made of chintz fabric

How to sew a dress?

  1. Transfer the pattern details onto the fabric, taking into account the seam allowances of the dress.
  2. Use the fabric rationally, cut out the details of the dress using scissors exactly along the lines.
  3. There should be five parts in total: two sleeves, two skirt parts and one part with a folded back and front.
  4. All that remains is to sew the cut details, overcast and decorate beautiful embroidery or stripes, tuck the bottom of the dress so that it does not fray.

How to sew an interesting kitchen towel in the form of dresses: ideas, sizes, patterns

Towels in the form of a sundress and dresses are sewn without a pattern. At the top they make a yoke in the form of a rectangle from one fabric, for example calico, denim or any other.

Below it is enough to make a rectangle full skirt, tightening it with tape, as in the picture below. Then sew this skirt to the top of the product.

To make the towel convenient to use, make a loop at the top where you can hang it on a hook. Or you can make the top part of the sundress from two parts that fasten like a wallet.



You can decorate the most ordinary towel with embroidery, as in the image below.



As you can see, you can decorate a room even with simple things like towels. It will be very pleasant to walk into such a cozy kitchen, where even the oven mitts match the overall interior and delight the eye with their splendor.

Video: Sewing a kitchen towel

What are kitchen towels used for? To keep your hands clean, you say. But this is also one of the important decorative components of the entire room. Moreover, they are easy to make with your own hands, adding the necessary shades or patterns to the interior.

To sew your own towels, you will need very little - suitable fabric, absorbs moisture well, and a sewing machine. Using a simple piece of fabric will require minimal effort from you, and if you want to create a textile masterpiece self made for the kitchen, you can use buttons, ribbons, colored threads, appliques and shreds.

Design ideas

The traditional shape of a kitchen towel is a rectangle. But add just a little imagination and you’ll get other interesting variations:

  • Kitchen towels for hands with holders– they can be hung on the handle of a cabinet or oven as in the photo below (scroll);


  • Small rollable towels. They are fixed together with buttons. The buttons must certainly be plastic, because kitchen towels are often washed. This roll is designed for a special napkin holder (vertical or horizontal);

  • Products with children's appliqués, embroideries, prints- especially for children, to instill cleanliness and neatness.


Choosing fabric for a practical towel

To make not only beautiful, but also practical kitchen towels with your own hands, you need to choose the right fabric. It must absorb moisture well and dry quickly. Cotton and waffle towels work best.

But linen will acquire the necessary softness only after several washes.

  • By the way, waffle fabric is the same cotton, but specially processed, due to which it has even squares over the entire surface, improving hygroscopicity.

Thin terry would also be a good choice.

Master class: how to sew a simple towel

So, let's move on to the most crucial moment - how to make sure that a piece of fabric turns into a high-quality finished product?

To work, you will need the selected fabric, sharp tailor's scissors and a sewing machine. Using scissors, you can cut out colored patches for appliques, as well as remove threads. Well, the machine is useful for hemming the edges of the cut and fixing the decor.

Colorful, variegated fabrics are more suitable for kitchen towels, since ingrained stains on them will be less noticeable.

The optimal size of a kitchen towel is 30x60 cm. This product will be enough to wipe your hands and table, as well as take hot dishes if necessary.

Work on sewing kitchen towels begins with a pattern. We decide on the dimensions of the napkin and add 5-10 mm to them as a seam allowance on each side.

After this, carefully bend the edges before stitching them. To do this, the fabric is folded twice, 5 mm thick, after which the strips are carefully ironed.

You can also use basting or sewing pins for fixation.


Once the edges have been determined, they are sewn together with a regular seam. After stitching on 4 sides we get a finished towel.

This is a very simple and traditional method without finishing the corners. But in this case, hemming the corners is not necessary, because this is not a serving textile, but a “working” one.

And don’t forget to sew a wide loop in the top corner so that the towel can be hung on a hook, and not just on the stove handle. The same fabric can be used for the loop, satin ribbon or braid.

But here’s an idea that’s more interesting than a simple loop – a towel holder with a button. It is very easy to sew it with your own hands. Here is a visual master class.

Decor ideas

And don’t forget that you can embroider a finished towel for the kitchen with threads, decorate it with appliqués, paint it, apply photo printing, embroider a monogram, etc. Here are decor ideas that are easy to make with your own hands (scroll the photo to the right).


Just choose the right threads for decoration and paint - they should not fade hot water! Otherwise, oddly enough, the most ordinary kitchen towels provide enormous scope for creativity and self-expression.

Waffle fabric: reliability and hygiene

Towels with a “waffle” texture are well known to more than one generation of our compatriots. This is a common attribute in the kitchens and bathrooms of practical housewives; they are used for railways, in healthcare institutions. Although waffle fabric is considered unpretentious, it is the leader in hygroscopicity among other cotton materials. This is due to the special structure of its front side, which consists of raised cells reminiscent of waffles.

Types and properties of waffle textiles

This material is made only from cotton, less often flax (although cheap Chinese-made products may also contain synthetic fibers). A special combined weave of threads creates a relief of cells on the front side with raised borders and a deepened middle. This texture increases the total surface area, as a result of which it intensively absorbs moisture, removes dirt from the surface well, and also massages the body. The wafer fabric presented on the market can have a density value from 80 to 240 g/sq.m.

The denser the waffle fabric, the higher its quality is considered, and the more expensive it is.

The main properties of this textile are:

  • naturalness;
  • hypoallergenic;
  • environmental cleanliness;
  • high hygroscopicity;
  • breathability;
  • thermal insulation properties;
  • durability;
  • strength (depending on density);
  • possibility of processing at high temperatures;
  • lack of lint when wiping;
  • low price.

According to the type of processing, wafer fabric is divided into:

  1. Severe, which is made from unbleached threads. It has a gray-beige color, is quite hard and absorbs water worse than waffle fabric of other categories, therefore it is used for technical purposes or as a semi-finished product for further processing.
  2. Bleached, obtained from harsh material. This is the most common waffle fabric and has a wide variety of uses. It has high absorbent properties and is quite soft when touching the skin.
  3. Plain dyed, which is obtained by dyeing bleached. It has beautiful colour, although not washable at high temperatures.
  4. Printed, onto which various designs are applied.

Depending on the production method, the wafer sheet can have a width from 45 to 80 cm. In addition, it differs in the size of the cells, the side of which can be from 1 to 10 mm. Fine mesh textiles have a low density and are soft, and are used for personal and kitchen towels because they absorb moisture well and do not chafe the skin. Material with a medium cell size is used for various towels, cleaning textiles, and napkins for technical purposes. The coarse-mesh “wafer” is very dense and quite hard. It is well suited for massage towels, bathrobes, shoes, and bath accessories.

Applications and care

The most extensive area of ​​application for fabric with a waffle surface is, of course, towels for various purposes. Their advantage is low price, hygiene, as well as small volume during storage and transportation. White towels are widely used in medical institutions, railway transport, budget hotels - wherever the rules require processing linen at high temperatures.

Plain-dyed thick fabric is used for bathrobes, slippers, and various bathroom accessories. The printed material is used for kitchen towels, potholders, napkins, etc. In addition to household use, waffle fabric is used as a cleaning textile, napkins for wiping components of various industrial equipment, as well as glass and other surfaces.

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