Make Your Own Valentine Kitchen Towels

This post for Valentine Kitchen Towels contains affiliate links. I make a small portion when these links are used, at no additional cost to you. 

My oven doors were looking a bit bare after I took down the Christmas towels. I put together these Valentine Kitchen Towels to take their place and they make me smile whenever I see them. They're simple to make (if you can do a straight stitch, you're good!). See the tutorial below.

Anyone else love a good ricrac embellishment? That was my starting point for these new towels. Then I dug in my felt stash and found a square of pink that was destined to be a heart shape. It's a simple little design, but it really makes the perfect seasonal statement piece. See how to create your own Valentine Kitchen Towels below.

And...yay! It's Thrifty Style Team day. It's that one day a month where I get together with several of my favorite blogger friends to share budget-friendly projects with you. All of my friends' lovely ideas are linked towards the bottom of this post.

Valentine Kitchen Towels

Anyone else feeling like their house looks blank after the holiday stuff gets put away? Just throwing this little towel on the oven door handle brought some color and fun to the kitchen. The jumbo ricrac will always have my heart. I originally saw jumbo ricrac used on towels in my friend, MaryAlice's Instagram photo of her bathroom redo (it's ADORABLE!). I knew ricrac was destined for some towels around my place stat.

See how to make your own Valentine Kitchen Towels below.

How to Make Valentine Kitchen Towels

Before you begin, the blanket stitch around the heart is totally optional. If you're not a stitcher, you can leave it off. But, it's really a super simple stitch, if you want to give it a try (plus, added cuteness for the win!). 

Supplies:

• white cotton flour sack kitchen towel (I bought a big pack here on Amazon)
• red jumbo ricrac (grab a spool here on Amazon)
• pink felt
• Heat N Bond Lite Sewable Iron-on Adhesive (if you're not going to do the blanket stitch trim, grab the Heat N Bond Ultra Hold instead, or the Fabric Fuse Glue, as pictured above)
• If you're doing the optional blanket stitch, grab some red embroidery floss and embroidery needles.
• You'll also want to grab the free printable heart template below.
• You'll also need the usual sewing supplies...thread, scissors, sewing machine, iron, etc.

Free Printable Heart Template:

• Download the heart template here via Droplr, (readers' preferred method).
• Download the heart template here via Dropbox.
• Download the heart template here via Google Drive.

Directions:

• After prewashing your towel, lay out one length of ricrac along the bottom seam, iron down, and pin.
• Tuck a tiny end of the ricrac around to the other side (make sure there is enough to catch when you sew). Instead of pinning this end, I used a sewing clip, to make it easier.

• Take your towel to your sewing machine and use a basic stitch to sew down the ricrac, making sure to catch and do a backstitch over the end.
• Sewing ricrac is easier than it looks...just stay in a straight line down the middle of it.

• Repeat the ricrac process with a second row. I spaced mine one inch apart.

• After your ricrac is sewn in place, cut out your heart from the felt (use the provided printable template above, if you like).
• I also used my favorite FriXion pen that erases with the steam of the iron.
• Follow the directions on the package of adhesive to adhere your heart to the towel (I just eyeballed where I thought it looked best).
• You may notice I did not follow directions, but rather cut out my adhesive before adhering it. It worked fine this way, too. I'm kind of a rule breaker, y'all.
• If you're not doing the blanket stitch, use the hardier adhesive or fabric glue, instead.

Optional Blanket Stitch

• If you'd like to add the blanket stitch to the perimeter of your heart, now is the time! I really do like the look of it...I think it really sets the heart off.
• I don't recommend the blanket stitch setting on your sewing machine, this looks much better by hand using embroidery floss.
• If you've never done a blanket stitch, follow this thorough tutorial over at needlepointers.com.

Is this your kind of project? Would you do/add anything different? Let me know in the comments. I love learning from you all!

Please note: this towel is really more for decorative purposes (the back isn't as pretty as the front). But, if you do want to use it for kitchen work, wash in your delicate cycle (especially if you did the extra stitching).

And, be sure to visit all of my super talented friends to see their projects through the links below.

Thrifty Style Team Projects:

Redhead Can Decorate –Turn Boring Christmas Wreath Into Beautiful Valentine's Day Wreath

Our Crafty Mom –Yarn Wrapped Hearts Valentine Garland

The How to Home –DIY Cricut Valentine's Day Jar

DIY Beautify –Vintage Valentines Tree

2 Bees in a Pod –Create Vignettes With Thrifted Finds

Songbird - Wine Cork Heart DIY

Simple Nature Decor - Watercolor Hearts Tea Towel

Zucchini Sisters - Dollar Tree Linen Closet Organization

Sonya Burgess - Creating Simple Silhouette Art

Happy Hearts Season!