Some of the best gifts for holiday hostesses are those for the kitchen. I am constantly needing new kitchen towels, not only to use, but also just for seasonal decoration. For today’s projects, we’ll do some embroidery for special and unique gifts for ourselves and friends. It is easy to do some fun kitchen towels using towel blanks. These are a woven cotton fabric with burgundy stripes. Before I embroider on towel blanks, I wash them in hot water and then dry in the drier to pre-shrink them. When they are prepared, I hoop two layers of water soluble stabilizer on the back of the towel and one layer on top. My favorite brand is Sulky Solvy, and it comes in many different forms from sheets to rolls to bolts. Sulky puts these on sale regularly too.

I chose my design from the fun selection at Designs by Juju’s, and loaded it into the machine. I realized it was wider than tall, so I had to re-hoop the towel with the orientation turned sideways. I selected my colors, lining them up in a egg carton to keep them straight.

Ultimately, I changed the last color to a burgundy that matched the towel’s stripes from the blue that the design had. You can always change colors to suit your project.

When the embroidery is complete, remove the towel from the hoop and clip all your jump stitches.

Then tear away as much of the excess stabilizer as is easy to reach. Don’t worry about getting it all, it will wash away without difficulty.

Do the same on the back. Notice that I chose a neutral color bobbin thread that wouldn’t show on the top if the stitches pulled up. Plus it makes the back look nice.

Take the piece to the sink and run warm water over the embroidery. The stabilizer will wash away in moments. I will run a soft brush over the embroidery on the front and the back just to make sure I get it all.

You can dry it in a drier with a towel, or just let it air dry overnight. Press it flat.

All done, ready to be a gift for the Thanksgiving hostess, or a decoration in your own kitchen.

If you have some cute kitchen design fabric, you can make towels with an insert of white cotton with an appropriate embroidery to match someone’s kitchen colors. Once again, pre-shrink your fabrics by washing in hot water first.

Add a utensil for a complete gift. See a complete tutorial on this project including finishing the backside seams at Kitchen Towel Project.

I like putting a skimmer with towels, as many people don’t own one. I use mine a lot!

It would really be a nice gift to include a couple of matching pot holders. These with the bee theme would be adorable with the same theme on a tea towel for everyday use. Finish off the gift with a honey pot. These adorable bee and honey designs can be found at Juju’s.

All of these designs would look great as the center of a table topper with a scrappy border, like this one we made during last year’s Fall Fortnight.

And one last idea, first shown in 2023, make Embroidered Mason Jar Wraps for the season, and give them with a battery operated candle inside, a jar of your own canned tomatoes or other produce, or a mix for hot chocolate. Complete tutorial on that post.

To enter, just visit the website Designs by Juju and take a look at their Featured Thanksgiving Designs, then come back and leave a comment. Which bundle, design or In-the-Hoop project do you like?