Pages

July 21, 2012

DIY Unpaper Towels Tutorial


DIY Unpaper Towels are a great way to be stylish and eco friendly at the same time! It all started when my friend Sarah posted something on Facebook that she wanted someone to get these for her wedding present from etsy. They were over $50 plus shipping! I told her I would make them for her instead! She loved the idea. These are ones I made for another friend for a wedding gift!

Materials:
Terry Cloth about 1/2 yard
Cotton or flannel fabric about 1/2 yard
Matching thread
velcro

Step 1: Cut out 10 equal squares that are 10 by 10 of both fabrics. Make sure they are very even!

Step 2: Pin right sides together and sew like a pillow leaving about a 3" gap to turn right side out. Sometimes I like to cut off extra fabric on the corners. To make this easier and skip a couple steps you could just surge the whole thing and leave the surged edges out.


Step 3: Turn right side out and then iron flat.


Step 4: Top stitch around the whole thing about 1/4'' around. Then through the middle  sew a wiggly line from one corner to the adjacent corner. This ensures when you wash it that they fabric in the middle doesn't come apart which is very annoying.


Step 5: Hand sew on velcro. I sewed the soft velcro on the terry cloth side and the rougher velcro on the cotton side. Sew two of each on each side. If you have a snap applicator it would be a lot easier to use snaps instead of velcro!


Sew two of the same velcro on two corner and the opposite velcro on the other side on the other corners without velcro. Sounds kind of confusing but hopefully the picture above helps.



Step 6: Put the velcro together and roll up like a paper towel roll. Every time you need a towel just "tear" one off. Use and wash. 

Aren't these towels really adorable! I wish I got to keep them! This is a great weekend project and so eco-friendly! Have a great Saturday

Homestead Barn Hopthe Morris TribeSew ChattySew Can DoCraft-O- ManiacHomemaker on a DimeFrugally SustainableThrifty Decorating, Destination Craft, tiptoe thru tuesday


51 comments:

  1. Now this is a very neat idea. Lovely fabric choices!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Libby! I love this fabric too!

      Delete
  2. Yay! I am excited about these :) You're the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These ones are Meg's not yours :). We will go shopping for some fabric for you! Love you!

      Delete
  3. Those are cute! I just have a rag drawer that holds 2 king size cotton flannel sheets that were cut into 6 by 6 inch squares. This is much cuter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's perfect you could just make mini ones!

      Delete
  4. I absolutely love this. I'm going to try it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I saw those on Etsy but there was just no way I was spending $50! We're using old towels, socks, etc. now for most cleaning. I wondered how the roll worked, I never thought of velcro. Awesome.
    Janet.

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOVE this idea. I keep trying to get rid of paper towels in my house and this look like a fun way to do it. Very cute fabric too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have to agree with everyone else, this is an amazing idea! We don't use any paper in our house, and instead have a drawer that is overflowing with rags - which are all just washcloths we bought on sale at Target :-) I think this would be a great help in our kitchen, since my youngest is now opening up the top drawers, taking all the rags, and then hiding them about the house!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is an AWESOME idea! I love it!! I'd love for you to share these at my link party:

    http://www.destinationcraft.blogspot.com/2012/07/destination-cutesy-monday-25.html

    Thanks!!

    Kathryn
    destinationcraft.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love these and can't wait to make some of my own. Thanks for a great tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow what a wonderful idea!! :) Thanks for sharing! Happy Monday xx Holly

    ReplyDelete
  11. That fabric looks very familiar... ;)
    Beautifully done!

    ReplyDelete
  12. LOVE this idea! Thanks for sharing:)

    -Julie
    http://www.thechirpingmoms.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a fantastic idea - and they are so cute too!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you everyone for such encouraging words! Much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great tutorial! A neat idea for those who love paper towels...we don't use them since I'm used to cloth towels already, but what a great way to transition from paper to no paper!! I just found your blog and became a new follower (: Can't wait to come back for more posts...Hope you have a lovely week!!

    Michele xoxo
    The Homesteading Cottage

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for coming by! I agree its a great transition and totally adorable!

      Delete
  16. Wow-this is so neat!! I have really been thinking about the amount of paper towels that we use-pretty unnecessary!! I am just learning to sew, maybe this could be a good project to practice on!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. fabulous. Can't wait to make some of these.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is fabulous! Maybe if I put something like this on the paper towel roll, my future father in law will have less to complain about not having paper towels around.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is such a great idea! And they look so pretty. Unpaper towels is a fun name too, I need to make some just so I can say it ;) I would love if you shared this {and anything else you'd like to share} at my Throwback Thursday party. Hope to see you there! :) http://www.hubbymademe.com/throwback-thursday-no-3/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would love to share it! Since I just saw this I will post it to next weeks party! Thanks for coming by!

      Delete
  20. Found these on Pinterest and love the idea. I'd like to try these using recycled garments, towels and such. Would fit well as an upcycling idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This would be great as an up cycled item! great idea

      Delete
  21. Amy, these are terrific! I'm featuring it on the Homestead Barn Hop today! Come check it out...
    Blessings,
    Amy @ Homestead Revival

    ReplyDelete
  22. These are GREAT!!! I'm gonna have to try to make these!! I pinned this and shared on my fb blog page. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. have you tried washing these? I have seen these done with snap buttons. The velcro would be much easier but I wonder if it would snag the terrycloth in the wash? Just curious if you have tried them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Amy I haven't had a problem with them yet. Although I could see possibly having one in the future (after many washes)! I wish I could do snaps but I don't have a snap machine or whatever it is you need to put snaps on :). Sorry it took awhile to respond back I've been on vacation!

      Delete
  24. What a great idea! They look so stylish but are functional. They look nice enough to use at the dinner table to wipe up those quick spills, or to use as a burp cloth. Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Fantastic idea...can't wait to get the machine out & make some! :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thank you so much for this tutorial. My granddaughter and I made these this past week and we just love them. We used material from some old towels and a pretty but old cotton shower curtain that had been in my linen closet for years. She learned how to sew and this was a great and simple project for her to start with. I am going to have to post it on my rarely used blog. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww that's awesome! What a great fun project to learn how to sew! Such a great way to be frugal! Thanks for sharing!

      Delete
  27. I made these over the weekend (sans the velco). http://handavinnublogg.blogspot.com/2012/07/unpaper-towels.html

    Can't wait to try them out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awesome! Love all the different fabrics you used! Thanks for sharing!

      Delete
  28. I really need to get somebody to make a roll of these for me! Great tutorial and a really beautiful roll of unpaper towels! The only thing that would make it better would be if you had used snaps instead of velcro. But I'm biased, lol!

    Judy @ KAMsnaps.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank Kam! I totally agree! I wish I had a snap machine thing… It would make it a lot easier too!

      Delete
  29. I'm hoping to make these as Christmas gifts for my sisters but I am trying to decide between the snaps and the velcro. Could you tell me about washing them up? Here are my thoughts:

    I think velcro would be the easier fastener to "tear" off of the roll but I find that anything with velcro has a tendency to get "stuck" on things (even itself) in the washer/dryer and eventually the velcro fills up with lint, making it less sticky.

    And then I think that maybe the "snaps" might end up being more of a hassle to put together as well as "tear" off...

    What a wonderful project! Thanks for any feedback :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Amanda. I agree with you there are pros and cons to both. If I had a snap machine thing I would totally use it!

      Delete
  30. WOW! I would love to make these for my mom for christmas.

    Emma
    http://emmavogelsang.blogspot.com
    P.S I love eco friendly things

    ReplyDelete
  31. Love them. I've been thinking of doing some for myself, maybe I'll jump on that now. I co-host a weekly link party. I wouldlove to have you link this up, if you have time. Have a great week.
    http://christyscuties.blogspot.com/2012/10/tip-toe-thru-tuesday-link-party_30.html

    ReplyDelete
  32. I love this idea, definitely on my to do list, so much prettier than paper towels!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you love them! Totally agree! It makes cleaning things a lot more fun!

      Delete
  33. Thanks so much for linking up with tip-toe thru tuesday! We would love to have you back anytime. Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the invite Christy! I'll definitely keep stopping by!

      Delete
  34. I love this idea, will defdo this weekend! Thanks for th diy!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Great idea to use stuff you already have! You are one patient woman I don't think I could sit and hand sew them all! Thanks for coming by!

    ReplyDelete