How to make a personalised towel that will wow.

I had a seasonal towel that I got cheaply in the January sale to use to dry off my kitten after a bath, but decided it was missing something...

Step 1: Materials

Needed:
1 towel
EITHER 1 piece of thick material per side OR 2 pieces of thinner material per side. These should be the size of the area to be covered plus 5cm to height and 5cm to width
Scraps of fabric for lettering
Pva glue
Disappearing marker/chalk/pencil

Optional:
Wonder web
Iron and ironing board

Step 2: Measuring and Preparing Main Fabric

Measure the area you want to cover with cloth. Add 5cm on to the height and the width before cutting your cloth. These will be to fold under for neat edges.

This is where I pulled out the wonder web to help hold the edges in place. Fold each raw edge under 2.5cm and press. Where you have sticking out corners, fold them again and use wonder web to hold them in place out of sight.

If using two thinner pieces of cloth per side, do this with each piece, then either wonder web or baste the two pieces together.

If using one thicker piece you'll only need to tuck under the raw edges using the method mentioned previously.

Repeat for cloth on other side of towel, and put the strips of cloth to one side.

Step 3: Lettering

Decide what you want your towel to say, and how high you want each letter to be. A good rule of thumb is to leave at least 1cm at the top and bottom for neatness.

Cut out the letters you need.

Draw a straight line where you want the letters to sit. Arrange your letters along this line in the positions you would like them to sit in when the piece is finished.

When happy with the way the letters are sitting use the ova glue to attach them in place. This is not permanent and will wash away once the piece has been washed, but it holds things in place nicely until you can sew them in place.

When happy with placing of lettering then sew it in place using your appliqué stitch of choice. For this project I chose a zigzag stitch set up to make it a satin stitch, but using a machine appliqué stitch would work just as well. If you're not worried about fraying edges then a simple running stitch may even suffice.

Step 4: Adding Fabric to Towel

Add completed fabric pieces to the towel. Hold each piece in place using glue, wonder web, or basting stitch so it is securely held while you prepare to sew it all together.

Stitch both completed pieces of fabric securely in place at the same time using a straight stitch. All four edges of the fabric should be stitched down this way. When it's done you should not be able to get your hand between the layers. This stitching will be what holds the whole thing together, so be careful about placement of both the fabric strips and the stitching lines.