DIY "Paperless" Towels- Easy
Under the picture tutorial, I will tell you about how I use these daily! If you're not the sewing type, feel free to just scroll past the pretty pictures... that I worked so hard to make. It's fine, really.
Advanced Sewer TL;DR - One yard of flannel. Cut 7"x8" rectangles in pairs of two. Wrong sides together, close raw edges with zig-zag or blanket stitch.
Materials and Notions needed:
- One yard of flannel per one dozen finished towels.
- Sewing machine (Or serger!)
- Coordinating thread
- Rotary cutter with mat and ruler (You CAN use scissors, but will take a LOT longer)
- Sewing pins (Optional. This lazy crafter did not use them)
Let's jump in!
All you need for this is one single yard of fabric. You can even ask for a half yard for six. Get a few different 1/4 yard cuts to make a stack of mixed prints, if you're feeling advanced.
Start with your yardage folded in half longways. There should be one fold on the bottom, one fold on top that is sitting on top of two layers of fabric. See the above picture for clarity. If you are right-handed, the rest of it should be hanging out to your left.
After trimming the end to a straight edge ( Like I did NOT take a picture of. SO sorry. Ugh.) Start cutting 7" strips. 7 inches because there are 36 inches in a yard, this will give you 5 strips with an inch or so leeway to straighten up the end, depending on who cut your fabric for you.
Ta-da! I knew you could do it =D
After making a clean cut on the right side, you will cut every 8 inches. (See picture below)
If you are not feeling as confident as was... Please only cut these one strip at a time! I cut these in two batches; first two and then the other three. It's important to lay these with the fold to the left. The way that we are getting 5 squares out of one strip, is through magic. And math. Mostly math.
After you cute the two 8 inch strips, you will need to make a 4" cut coming from the fold. This will give you ONE 8" rectangle. (Noted that it is only one because all of the other rectangles have a pair at this point. )
Due to the fact that 5 is not an even number, I had one lone rectangle without a partner. It will not be wasted! We will use it as a test scrap because we are ready to hit the sewing machine now. Set your machine to a Zig Zag stitch, and let's use the scrap to play with the length and width of the zig and the zag. I liked the wat a medium length and a large width looked.
When testing, you will need to make sure that when it "zigs" to the right, that it goes OFF the fabric. This is what will close in the raw edge and keep it from unraveling. I used a piece of washi tape to keep myself in check, but you can see the gap I left to let the needle go through.
I started in the middle of a side and ended a few inches over it. Including a backstitch (Sewing backward for a stitch or two) will help secure it from coming unraveled in use and the wash.
When coming to an edge, just sew to the edge, stop, then turn your whole project and keep going.
And there you have it! A dozen "paperless" towels! You can even see the JoAnn's logo sticking out, where I didn't want to take off too much in the trimming process. I promise you no one will mind.
How I use them:
I keep them on my table as napkins for meals. I even grab one if I'm going to eat a quick lunch in the living room.
I tried to use them for other things, but here are the problems I ran into:
1) I need 1,000 of them for someone who washes her hands a LOT.
2) Though they wiped off the counters fine, they just aren't "tough enough"
How I combated the problems:
1) I now keep a cookie jar full of utility washcloths. Just add a little soap and water for small cleaning jobs like wiping things down.
2) I still use Clorox Wipes to disinfect. I used to use a TON of these on the daily for clean up; now I only use them to clean up after raw meat.
3) I hang a thick kitchen towel on the oven handle for drying hands.
FAQ
"What's the point in making these if you need other towels for other jobs?" A- Because they are pretty and reusable. Save the turtles. And Earth.
"You must go through a ton of extra laundry from all of those towels" A- Not really. When they are dirty I throw them in the washer, so a few of them get washed at a time with each rotating load of clothes.
"Can I just buy some from you?" A- Sure! I'm making them to-order for now, so just shoot me a message and I will make you some! My current going rate is $10 a dozen, $2 off every additional dozen, free shipping. I'll message you back my current color options.
Thank you!!
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