My mission for this past week has been to embroider some tea towels. More specifically, my mission was to embroider tomatoes onto a tea towel.
Success. I took the towel with me this weekend and we used it, instead of paper towels, to wipe off our cutting board. The towel was a little stained by the end of the day, so it did its job well! Last week we had a bunch of semi-used paper towels in our trash; this week, just tomatoes too squished to sell.
The tomato design is from Sublime Stitching. If you haven’t checked out this site, please do so. They offer a lot of really cute designs, from cowgirls to hedgehogs, at reasonable prices; when you purchase a pattern, you get a bunch of iron-on designs that can be used multiple times on whatever your little stitching heart desires. Plus, their site has a bunch of tutorials that can get even the most needle-clueless stitching away. If you’ll notice, all of my stitches are split stitch, which is explained on the site. Easy peasy!
This will be the first of many embroidered tea towels I’ll be making. I’ve realized how quickly I jump for paper towels if there’s a spill in the kitchen, or to dry off veggies I’ve washed. Embroidering tea towels to use for cleaning up and drying off is functional, but it’s also economical. I know in the past I bought paper towels as regularly as I would buy toilet paper, and feel the same sense of panic if I ran out of either. With reusable towels, I’m saving money over the long haul – a set of three tea towels cost a little under $9 from a local kitchen supply store – and I’ll save myself the time of running to buy more paper towels.
I know one perceived drawback to the towels lies in having to wash them, because of the inconvenience and possible threat to your handiwork. I’ve washed other embroidered garments multiple times to no ill effect, and getting them clean is as easy as tossing them in with any old load. (I guess I just revealed that I commit the sin of not separating my laundry.)
Added bonus of embroidered kitchen paraphernalia? Way cuter than paper towels. If there aren’t designs out there you like, you can draw your own design on to the towel with pencil. Alternately (or even additionally), you could just add a fun border to the towel, if you’re more of a minimalist in the kitchen. Check out Purl Bee’s great stitch tutorial.
Give it a shot! Embroidering your own tea towels takes almost no time, costs almost nothing, and is a real way you can take steps towards reducing your consumption. Get your green on. Make your kitchen cuter in the process. Game, set, match.
I’m going to buy mine tomorrow to embroider!!!
How do we know what the net benefit of cloth v. paper is? Yes, the cloth is reusable, after washing. But washing involves water, electricity and soap. And at the rate I make messes, it’s at least a load a week. What about paper towels made from (OK, partially from) recyled paper? I just find all this hard.
But I love the embroidery!
Lee,
I can’t claim to have the knowledge to answer your question, although it is an important point. My main focus in the tea towels (along with recycling, composting, reducing my consumption) is to reduce the waste I produce, because it ultimately ends up in a landfill where it will never, ever break down. I like the idea of cloth instead of paper because it also cuts my paper consumption (although recycled paper would help). Things like washing in cold/cold will reduce your energy use (and electricity bill!), and drying without the help of a dryer would also help in that area.
That having been said, I just have to clean up after myself!
I think the important thing is all of this is not that it has to be all or nothing, but rather that small steps to reduce consumption — maybe using cloth for smaller messes and being able to use that cloth a lot before washing? — will make big impacts over the long haul in terms of waste.
kwc
where can i buy tea towels? i smell christmas presents…
julia,
i bought mine at a kitchen supply store. sublime stitching sells them, and i’m sure they’re great, but also not cheap. check around! probably can also find one online. i found one through a website advertising them as something good for a young girls’ hope chest. yesssssssss.
two points: one these towels are adorable. welcome to simple life blogs!! would you read mine?
secondly: i am planning on buying a vintage tin tub and washboard for washing underwear and “tea” towels by hand. this is what i use most, so i’ll almost never need the laundromat…and when i do, it’ll be one much smaller load! (i only use cold water anyway). i’m also going to buy a drying rack to hang the cloths and underwear, as i live in an apartment. just an idea …. you can buy these washboards/tins at ubid.com and ebay, for starters!
These are great! I’ve been trying desperately to be less wasteful in the kitchen and have almost completely stopped used ziplocs but I’m still guilty of paper-toweling every little mess! I’ll have to try these! And BTW I made myself some Knitting with Carrots inspired tomato soup last night and it was delicious! Enjoyed the rest for lunch! YUM! So jealous of your big crate of tomatoes! :)