Behind the Scenes: Towel Embroidery

My daughter Jessica wants to grow up to be a mermaid.  So, since I can't help her with that...  I decided to embroider her some mermaid towels for the bathroom.  This is how it's done.

First, you start by hooping either the towel and the stabilizer, or just the stabilizer.  For anything without a smooth texture, such as terry cloth or polar fleece, you need a water-soluble stabilizer on the top.  That's what you see in the picture to the left.  This helps the stitches to remain visible and not sink too deep into the terry cloth.  Next, you start the pattern and it sews by itself.

My youngest girl, Claire, keeps asking me, "who's sewing on your machine Mama?"  because I can walk around while I embroider.  (It's loud enough to hear throughout the house!)  Jessica answers with all the authority of a General, as though she didn't just ask the same thing 10 minutes ago,  "It's magic Claire.  It's sewing by itself."  When it's time for a color change, the machine stops (the silence is nearly deafening after the racket of embroidery) and I change the thread out.

On the back you can use a tear-away stabilizer--the white stuff seen to the right.  It keeps the fabric from puckering.  Once the pattern is done, you trim the extra threads and then tear away the stabilizer.

 This pattern had three color changes: yellow outline, light green body, and cream over the light green.  It was pretty quick to stitch up and was very fun!  It looks great hanging in our bathroom.  Jessica loves it!  Here you can see the finished product.  










This weekend I made up a few kitchen towels as well.  Lots of fun!  If you have any interest in handmade embroidered towels, you can check out my Etsy shop for some for sale.  I love to do custom orders, so if you want something I don't have, just ask me!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewinthesnow?section_id=10800589


Feel free to ask my any questions you may have regarding embroidery.  Thanks for reading!