How to Make Fall Themed Hand Towels
- By Alyssa
- 30 minutes
I am not a huge seasonal decorator, but hand towels are one of those things that are really easy to store and refresh every couple of months as the seasons change.
There are a few different styles that I was experimenting with and I really loved how they came out. There are SO many ways to personalize this project, be it the stamp or the type of leaves you use, or even the material you choose to make your towels.
Especially for this one, please leave us a comment down below to tell us how you made this project your own!
p.s. have a very happy spooky season
Materials
- Gauze Fabric
- Fabric Dye
- Fabric Paint
- Stamps
- Leaves & Branches
- Bleach
Related Products
Video
Instructions
Prep Work
Cut the towels to size, I am making mine 18×24.” For these towels, I will be using gauze fabric, because it has the look that I am going for, but if you want something a little more substantial or more absorbent you can use whatever material you’d like. Regardless of the material, don’t forget to prewash all of your fabric.
I am not going to do this, but you could also serge up all of the edges or even just sew around them on a regular machine with a zigzag or overlock stitch to stop the material from fraying.
Also, don’t forget to protect your work space with a drop cloth.
Bleach Stamp
Layer felt a couple of sheets high in a shallow dish and pour enough bleach in to soak the felt, but not to pool over the fabric.
Then, start stamping away. I recommend lightly tapping the bleach stamp on a dry piece of felt before going to the fabric, to get the most detailed result. You can measure and mark out where you want the stamps, or randomly place them. Make sure that you don’t push too hard on the bleach stamp pad so you don’t end up bleaching the square around the stamp.
Tie Dye
Mix a couple small batches of dye. In each bowl, I used about a cup and a half of really hot water, 4-5 tablespoons of dye, and one tablespoon of salt.
There are a lot of dye techniques that you could use, like ombre, shibori, or batik dying methods. If you are interested in learning about other dye methods, I am also going to link them here.
For the first two. I am going to do a classic take on tie dye. For one, I am going to swirl the towel up and with the other I am folding it into a square. Rubber band the towels up and then pour the dye over top.
I am also going to make an ombre towel.
After the dye has been allow to set up, apply dye fixative and let the fabric sit for about 30 minutes.
Rinse the dye out of the fabric using hot water first and then working your way to cold water. And as always, if you have any questions about fabric dying, you can always ask us in the comments.
Spraying Bleach
Collect some tree branches and leaves.
Place them on your towel in whatever pattern you would like.
Using a spray bottle, spritz a good amount of bleach all over the towel. Once it has lightened, rinse the remaining bleach out of the towel.
Paint Stamps
For this towel, I will be using an apple, but you can really use whatever you want, be it other fruits or leaves or if you are going with a more of a thanksgiving theme you could do those little hand print turkeys, whatever you want.
Just like with the bleach stamped towels, use the paint to randomly stamp the fabric.
Try out a couple of test stamps on a piece of paper to get the feel for what will look the best.
After you are done stamping, you can take a little paint brush to add in small details and a define the edges of the shape.
