dishtowels

Some fabric stores actually carry dish towel fabric, its the right width already, so you just need to hem the ends.

Dish towel fabric used to be cotton "huck" but I see some ready-made dish towels in catalogs now that appear to be a birdseye cotton fabric. Older ones I have are a mid-weight 100% linen and I love them!

Jean M.

I keep saying I'm going to make kitchen towels with this cotton fabric found at JoAnns:

I thinkI will hem the sides and fringe the ends.maer

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (Sara Lorimer) wrote in news:1h8hpcm.10iykco1ricwfoN% snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com:

dishtowels can be cotton terry (not my preference!), cotton waffle weave or linen. linen is the best for lint free drying as long as you don't get 'cottonized' linen, which lints worse than almost anything. i'll have to leave the where to get it to those more knowledgeable :) lee

Any 100% plant fiber will do. (Synthetics tend to be water repellant.)

It was traditional to use the cheapest fabric: slackly spun, loosely woven, and in the state it came off the loom in, all of which made it better for dish towels. Slack spin and loose weave help it take up water, and "unbleached" (which is what they called loom state back then) meant that it wouldn't fade when sanitized with hot water and bleach. Alas, all those properties cost extra these days. On the other hand, nowadays it's comparatively easy to find a 100% plant-fiber fabric somebody got stuck with and will sell very cheap.

I prefer a large, thin towel to a small thick one, because it dries faster.

Linen is more absorbent and quicker-drying than cotton, but "cottonized" linen sheds lint. Unfortunately, cottonization is regarded as an esoteric detail of manufacture that is of no interest to the consumer.

Used fabric is better than new fabric, because washing makes plant fibers more absorbent. My old osnaburg curtains will provide me with a lifetime supply of dish towels. If you lack such a resource, washing the towels with hot water and rinsing thoroughly before putting them into service will suffice. Expect them to improve with use.

For more details, see

,scroll down to the bottom of the "Plain Text Files" whereyou will see "Other Projects", and click on " householdlinens, scarves, handkerchiefs, flat things". Then use"find" to locate the discussion of dish towels. (I see nowthat I called it "Kitchen Towels", but searching on "dish"turned it up on the fourth or fifth click.)> and any suggestions on where to buy it by the yard? (I'm in the> US.)

I get my bargain linens from

. There are many other on-line stores, but until we build a fabric-storage barn, I dare visit only one.

Joy Beeson

Ooh, they have "woven cotton stripe" for $5.56 a yard -- that's cheaper than buying dish towels. Thanks!

Thanks also to everyone else for the information. It's all new to me...

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (Sara Lorimer) wrote in news:1h8hpcm.10iykco1ricwfoN% snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com:

I've made dishtowels from recycled bath towels. You can trim them however you like.

I too, make dish towels from older worn bath towels, and use an existing dish towel for a pattern to get the size like I want it. Then I make wash cloths from the remaining bath towel. Guess you could also buy a new towel for this. Barbara in SC (now FL)

THis is a bit off topic, but DH's grandmother used to give us dish towels every Christmas. She bought towels, and then crocheted (I think) the top so that they could be attached to the drawers. Like this:

never had any desire to learn knitting or crochet, but now she's passed away, and my dish towels sure are looking ratty. I might have to reconsider.

A

Oh! I have two of those in my kitchen and must admit they are just for decoration. I have an apple themed kitchen and I got mine at the local flea market and I'm pleased as punch with them. They do add that extra little something.

Since I don't crochet, I have just cut the towel , then added a cloth thingy on top with a button and buttonhole to hang on the handle of the oven or on the frig. Barbara in SC ( and FL)

That's what I do as well, Barbara. I have the pattern, if you can call it that, somewhere in the melee of my sewing room(it is also my bedroom when DD and family come). The only thing is I have nowhere in this kitchen to really hang those type towels. Emily.

Angela, and joannotjoann:

You can easily make two of those hand wipers with one dish towel, and a bit of fabric. I've started to buy bathroom quality hand towels for kitchen use. I think the quality is way better.

PAT in VA/USA

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote:

I've seen towel-tops of the same design sewn from printed cotton.

Scraps of drapery-weight linen would probably be better -- but a lot of home-furnishing fabric fades when washed.

Joy Beeson

(Mouth DROPS open..)

Now why didn't I think of that?!? Joy! You're a genius!

Shoot - I'll probably just use my old towels. I might even use new towels. I bought a *bunch* of bath towel sets really cheap from some internet place. The sets came with so many hand towels....I have them stacked 20 high by 3 deep in my bathroom closet.

And the color is right - they'll coordinate with the kitchen just fine.

Oh I'm so excited! I'm going to go pop in a NetFlix movie and toy around with this.

And it's great buttonhole practice too!

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!

Angela

I have two young boys. We don't decorative towels at the moment. :)

Angela

Well, I posted to Joy...

but thank you all for pointing out to me that that I could make some on my machine.

I'm so excited!

Angela

I understand what you are saying, but the buttoned-on part of these towels might be helpful to keep them from pulling them off and leaving them on the floor. I have 3 boys (and 1 girl) and I got really tired of them pulling the towel off the fridge or the oven.

That's what I like about this style. Plus, if they're just drying their hands they don't leave it piled up on the counter.

I was just saying that if it hangs in my kitchen, it will be used.

Angela