Sunday, October 18, 2009

Throwing in the Towel-or All Wiped Up.

There are many 'rules' for sewing monograms on towels- 3 inches up, 4 whiskers to the side & his before hers & don't forget to hold your tongue in the right position while you sew it!

For me- rules are meant to be broken-push the envelope I say & experiment- who says they have to be in a certain place anyway?

Gone are the days when to buy a mongramed towel the name was sewn diagonally across the corner-please- no more of that!, there are many more creative ways of embroidering on a towel.
Towels are the perfect gift for all ages. One size will work for anybody- it doesn't have to 'fit'-white or cream & it will go in any bathroom & lets face it-unless you live on the street - everyone uses them- from a newborn to a 100 year old. It's the perfect gift when you don't know the recipient all that well & perfect if you do.



I'm always putting names on towels-mostly for gifts & I think I've come up with some novel ways of doing just that, without it being all boring & definitely no names on the diagonal in the corner.

Most people opt for centering the name on the towel above the header. Consider if the towel will be hung up open, or folded- not everyone has the room to have the towels at their full width on a rail.

What about putting the names on the side-just above the header in a nice clean font (like the art deco one shown)- or below the header if the lower part of the towel is wide enough-this is perfect for the males in your life- they don't want all flourishes & flowers, well mine don't, that's for sure!

The fashion for towels at present is a wider towel end before the header- this lends itself to being embroidered quite easily & is a nice change from above the header. (the header is the fancy band on a towel, that on cheaper towels always shrinks & makes the towel go all out of shape, after the first wash!)
Can you incorporate something in the name -mice, flowers, small animals poking out of 'A's, Os's or Y's', all work well-or a small lion's head as with the Rory towel?

One request I had was just for the first initial of each family member in the corner-they didn't like the idea of anyone being able to see the children's names (or theirs) on the line-but wanted to make sure everyone used their own towels.
I've put frogs on baby's towels for a frog themed nursery, a monkey for jungle themes & everything else in between- a favourite of mine is Amazing Designs Bathtime alphabet-takes a bit of editing to do a whole name in it, but looks great when its finished.

For those pre-teens & young girls- you can't go past a curlz font- use a large single, applique letter behind & the full name in front of it- don't forget to change your settings in your software so it doesn't take out the overlap.
Boys towels can have a sport or an interest incorporated into their name-soccer balls, foot balls, sail boats, baseball bats-they will all go through a letter, at the end or beginning of a name, or sit behind the name.

For couples I use classic fonts- a large first letter & a more simple font for the rest of their names, I repeat the first initial on the hand towels & face washers.
One of my favourite towels is using a fairy & then sew out the design in variegated threads- the one shown is a licensed design so can only be given as a gift- Amazing Designs has a fairy that will work just as well & you can then use it on items that you wish to sell.
There's been names on musical scores for the musical ones, Chinese symbols for my Chinese friends, names that twist & turn-I've only shown a small sample of all the names I've done over the years & no one has not liked what I've come up with-they all get used.

Sew, have some fun, put the names in different spots- & sometimes it's fun to incorporate a little surprise, like the single bee at the other end of a towel for a friend who wanted bees, please!



HappyCrafting,
Oz-Tralien

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