If you still need something special for someone on your gift list, go the personal route. You can take a mundane item and transform it into a heart-warming and thoughtful gift. This might sound simple but you really can’t go wrong with embroidered towels, terry, linen or cotton.
Embroider linen or cotton towels for the kitchen with seasonal embroidery. Add the family name and you’ll add that extra touch. This week (right up until Christmas), our friends at Urban Threads are offering huge discounts on Quick Stitch Christmas designs. They not only stitch up in minutes but display beautifully. Here are two sure-to-please designs for Christmas.
And this pretty design will take you through February.
Of course, last minute stitching can be very stressful so when I’m crunched for time I use our Perfect Placement Kit (PPK) to place the design on each towel. Deborah Jones developed that product many years ago and it’s one I still use every time I embroider. Such a time-saver. The towel templates ensure every towel matches in the entire set! I don’t know what I did before the PPK.
Here’s how I stitch 3, 4 or a dozen towels. I mark the vertical center of each towel with a pin. Then I place the towel template on the towel, aligning the template’s horizontal border line with the towel border. I insert a target sticker into the opening, aligning the cross hair with the template’s cross hair. The sticker’s arrow points into the body of the towel indicating the top of the embroidery design.
Remove the template and repeat for all the towels in the set. Once I have target stickers on all towels, I won’t get confused if I get interrupted during the stitching process. And since it’s the holiday season, I probably will get interrupted!
How about you? Do you have a favorite last minute gift item that you embroider?
Last week’s winner of I Sew For Fun, Click, Print & Stitch software is Janet Rettig. Merry Christmas!
7 COMMENTS
Karin Callander
7 years agoTea towels that I can trim out/edge with seasonal or coordinating fabric and other embellishments are my go-to gift! Along with toilet paper rolls with lottery tickets stuffed down in the core & wrapped up in a cellophane bag tied with a pretty ribbon.
JD Cogar
7 years agoI like making candy cane holders from Embroidery Library.
Susan Herrington
7 years agoDear Eileen,
I so enjoy your blog. One issue is that the end of every line is cut off. So sometimes I miss whole words. Have a blessed holiday season.
eileenroche
7 years ago AUTHORSusan…I don’t know how to help you with that but it could be an issue with the browser you’re using.
Doreen Linehan
7 years agoI like stitching FSL projects. I sometimes stitch extras just in case, I forget someone or have an unexpected guest.
Sara Redner
7 years agoPersonalized gifts are more special, but I always have a few towels or other small items stitched up just in case I need a gift in a hurry.
Carolyn Morgan
7 years agoI stitch up FSL ornaments and attatch them to the top of gifts.