Embroidering on ticking stripe kitchen towels?????

[pvwon]

So I want to embroider kitchen towels for my mother for Mother's Day (can you say procrastinate).  I bought these lovely dyed ticking striped kitchen towels from Martha's everyday collection at the Big K but now I'm having buyers remorse.  Will it look okay? 

There are seven towels: lavender with periwinkle stripes, light green with light blue stripes, yellow with periwinkle stripes, light blue with periwinkle stripes, light salmony orange with lavender stripes, pink with periwinkle stripes, and light red with dark red stripes.

They are all pastel-ish, so I think that they are okay, but I have never embroidered on anything but solid fabric (and haven't embroidered in years).

I came here fro expert advice.  What do y'all think.

Procrastinatin' in Alabama!

[melidomi]

you could always do the actual embroidery on a piece of white cotton fabric, and then sew that 'patch' onto the towels.

I would think that filled in embroidery would work better than outlines if you embroider directly onto the towels.  that way the stripes will be 'behind' rather than 'through' the picture.

[graciepetunia]

I think it would look awsome, maybe a swallow or bluebird!

Also in Alabama.. Steph

[pvwon]

Thanks for the zippy replies.  I already know the subject of the embroidery.  My mom and I both worked at Camp Winnataska growing up and now we are weekly summer directors there.  Singing is a big tradition at Winnataska and one of the songs goes like this:

MONDAY WASHDAY

Today is Monday,
Today is Monday.
Monday wash day.
All my loving brothers I wish the same to you.

Today is Tuesday,
Today is Tuesday.
Tuesday string beans, Monday wash day.
All my loving brothers I wish the same to you.

Today is Wednesday,
Today is Wednesday,
Wednesday roast beef, Tuesday string beans, Monday wash day.
All my loving brothers I wish to same to you.

Today is Thursday,
Today is Thursday,
Thursday soup, Wednesday roast beef, Tuesday string beans, Monday wash day.
All my loving brothers I wish to same to you.

Today is Friday,
Today is Friday,
Friday fish, Thursday soup, Wednesday roast beef, Tuesday string beans, Monday wash day.
All my loving brothers I wish to same to you.

Today is Saturday,
Today is Saturday,
Saturday payday, Friday fish, Thursday soup, Wednesday roast beef, Tuesday string beans,
Monday wash day.
All my loving brothers I wish to same to you.

Today is Sunday,
Today is Sunday,
Sunday church, Saturday payday, Friday fish, Thursday soup, Wednesday roast beef, Tuesday
string beans, Monday wash day.
All my loving brothers I wish to same to you.

Each of the cabins is a different day of the week and it turns lunch into a screaming match.  Ever so much fun, by the way.  Anyway, I'm doing a towel for each day of the week.

Thanks for the ideas.  I never even thought of the "sew a piec of white fabric onto the towel" idea.   Thanks for that melidomi.  WOuld you do a strip across the whole bottom of the cloth or just a patch?  Or, since this is my first foray into embroidery in years, would you make a little white strip for the front and the back of the the dish cloth to cover the back of the design?  (I could say to protect it, but we all know its to cover the mess!)

[melidomi]

Well, if you do the embroidery on the white cloth before sewing it on, the towel itself will hide the back. 

Why don't you try out your options on paper.  Get a piece of plain white (printer?) paper.  Doodle your design on it.  Cut it into a strip.  Do the same and cut it into a square.  place each option on a towel to see how they look and which one you like better.  My guess is that a strip across the whole bottom (with like an inch of fabric showing below it) would look the most tailored.  But that might not be the look you're going for.

[pvwon]

Well I've decided.  It will be patches 5" x 3.5" patches on the bottom of the towels.  I think that I'll do some decorative stitching around the patches as well.  Any edge stitches that y'all find particularly fun?

Melidomi, I must have read your mind because I cut out the patterns and laid them on the towels to see if I liked the patch idea before I read you post.  That is also when I realized that the towel would hide the back.  (Duh, I think I left my brain at home today.)  I agree that the strips would look more tailored, but I think that I want this to look more "campy" since it is based on a camp song.

Graciepetunia, good to see another Alabamian on the board.  May I ask where in our lovely state you are?  I'm in Birmingham.

I'll post pics when I'm done.

[GloryB]

So I want to embroider kitchen towels for my mother for Mother's Day (can you say procrastinate). I bought these lovely dyed ticking striped kitchen towels from Martha's everyday collection at the Big K but now I'm having buyers remorse. Will it look okay?

There are seven towels: lavender with periwinkle stripes, light green with light blue stripes, yellow with periwinkle stripes, light blue with periwinkle stripes, light salmony orange with lavender stripes, pink with periwinkle stripes, and light red with dark red stripes.

They are all pastel-ish, so I think that they are okay, but I have never embroidered on anything but solid fabric (and haven't embroidered in years).

I came here fro expert advice. What do y'all think.

Procrastinatin' in Alabama!

It will look fine.  I bought the same towels and did an embroidery on some of them.

[pvwon]

I've posted the finished product here.  Thank's for all your suggestions.