Last year I had several Christmas events to attend where I needed a gift for a gift exchange. Since we live on a tight budget I have the "opportunity" to get very creative with these gifts. I usually prepare a gift basket based on a theme and fill it with several handmade items plus a few bought items. One particular event I was to attend required a gift for only ladies. This allows for an abundance of creativity. I started searching through my stash and came up with some plain dish towels I had purchased. Now all they needed was a "pink lemonade idea" to turn them from plain to fancy.
I decided to add some ruffled strips of fabric to the edge. I used three different fabrics and made the strips 2 inches wide. I cut the strips out with a pinked edge to prevent fraying. When I was stitching these up at quilt group one evening (about two days before the event) everyone was complimenting how cute they were. I knew then I had a winner of a gift.
I used the method of stitching a zigzag stitch down the center of the fabric over the thread tails. You can find several videos on You Tube for this method. It works really well and is very easy.
Using left over strips of fabric I tied the towels at the top to give them a nice presentation.
At the party we played the gift exchange game where you can steal a gift from someone else. These ladies were having a great time "stealing" my towels from the person who first chose them. The lady who finally won the towels was very excited. It is always nice to know that a gift you made is loved and appreciated.
This year I have plans for some new dish towels and I think I may take them to our quilt group Christmas party. So the next time you need a quick gift that everyone can use and enjoy look for a sturdy plain dish towel.
Danna
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