When I first started sewing, one of my initial projects was the hanging hand towel. I remember when I posted it to my personal Facebook page, gobs of folks wanted me to make these towels for them. I’m not a fan of selling finished items so I politely declined. Fast forward to 2019 and the idea to create a tutorial popped into my head when I couldn't find a towel to dry my hands for the umpteenth time. Seriously I need these hanging in every room and I hope y’all feel that same after perusing this post.

What you’ll need:

• 1 fat quarter cut of your favorite fabric
• 1 coordinating hand towel (I used a 16” x 26” towel)
• Washable 1/4” wonder tape
• 3/4” button
• Thread
• Lightweight woven interfacing
• Hanging Dish Towel Template

Products Used:

• Brother SE1900 (AKA Alfonso)
  
• Brother Buttonhole Foot
• Brother Button Sewing Foot

Bottom Trim:

• I cut the bottom strip for the towel to intentionally fussy cut the design, which landed at 18” x 2.5”. However, feel free to make this trim as wide or narrow as you’d like. Just make sure the length extends slightly beyond the bottom width of the towel.
• Using the wonder tape, affix and heat set it on the right side of the fabric along the bottom and top raw edges. Fold this toward the back, remove the paper and heat set with a steam iron 1/2” from the bottom of the towel.
• Lift and fold the side raw edges under with the fold 1/4” from either side.
• Edge stitch around the perimeter of the trim, backstitching at the beginning and the end.
• Trim the towel to your desired length. I used 10.5” for the length because the proportions looked right to me, but you can make it as long or short as you’d like.

Hanging Top

• Print the template at 100%, making certain the square box is 1”. Use this template to cut two fabric and two interfacing pieces.
• After affixing the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric pieces, fold the bottom raw edges under at 1/2” and press.
• Right sides together, sew the remaining raw edges together at 1/4” seam allowance.
• Either use pinking shears or manually cut little triangles periodically around the perimeter of raw edges.
• Turn right-side out and press flat.

Attaching the Top

• Fold the towel in thirds with an approximate 6” for the visible front. Insert 1/2” inch off the top raw edge of the towel into the hanging top and use wonder tape on the front and back to heat set in place.
• Stitch two lines on the bottom edge of the hanging top: one as an edge stitch and one slightly below 1/2” edge from the fold.

Attaching the Button

• Fold over the top and mark a 3/4” centered vertical line 1/2” from the bottom. This will be where the button hole is stitched. On the towel, mark a centered dot 1/4” below the fabric fold line. This will be where the button is attached.

• Using the buttonhole foot and appropriate button hole stitch, place the button in the back section, line up the foot and stitch the button hole.
• Using scissors or a seam ripper, carefully open the button hole making sure not the accidentally snip the stitches.

• Center the button over the marked dot on the towel. To keep the button in place, I use a small dot of glue on the back of the button and place it before I sew.
• Using the button sewing foot, center the holes at the edge of the foot. Set the stitch to a zigzag stitch with the length at 0 mm. Before using the foot petal, hand crank the needle to set the width until the needle no longer hits the button. Once this is set, use the foot pedal to stitch for 8 stitches & backstitch. Trim excess thread and enjoy your new hanging hand towel.

Now that I’ve made this towel for the kitchen, I fully intend to make one of these for every room in my house and I hope that y’all wanna make a couple as well. Happy stitching folks and keep it positive.