Faster than Fast & Furious? Hard to imagine, but it's true. With a little creativity and a minimal amount of work, you can turn the 16" Wide Toweling into some fabulous home decor pieces. These projects are an inexpensive way to give your home a little refresh and make perfect holiday and hostess gifts. Add some embroidery for a personalized gifts, too.   

We have a variety of fun toweling that would look great as table runners, bags, aprons, and more! This fabric feels sooo good! It's 100% high quality, woven cotton from Moda. The long sides are already hemmed and ready for you. We decided to offer this in a 3 yard continuous piece so you can create multiple projects including long table runners and placemats. And for the record, none of these required a pattern. 

Below are some examples from older toweling we had, but would look amazing with any toweling.

*disclaimer, we're not all seamstresses. Some of us are more of the wing it type of crafters. We have provided rough estimations and instructions below. If you are looking for a pattern, we're sure you'll be able to Google for more precise instructions. 

Table runners 

This is so simple. The hardest part will be deciding how long to make your runner and whether you want to simply square off the end or if you'd prefer a pointed end. Because the two long sides are already hemmed this really is a snap. If you decide you want a pointed end, as we did here, join the ends of the cut sides and stitch together, turn the piece over and fold the two corners back until they meet. Iron your angled edge and instead of sewing the horizontal edge, we would recommend ironing a product like Wonder-Under to hold the two pieces to the back of the runner. 

Placemats & Napkins

The finished placemats measure 18"W by 13.5". Begin by cutting a 18"W x 15" rectangle. The top and bottom hems were double folded, ironed and stitched. Super easy, right? The napkins were created the same way, start with an 18" x 18" square, double fold the cut ends, iron and stitch. 

Pillows

As you can see, we mixed different patterns of the toweling to create these pillows. Both Gudrun and Carn started by measuring some pillow forms that they had at home. We're all serious up-cyclers when it comes to pillows. These aren't too fancy, there are no zippers or envelope pockets here, even the button is fake! No button hole, it's only stitched on for decoration. Measure and cut to match the dimension of the pillow form, ie. if the form measures 18", you'll want an 18" x 18" square. That's how you get that nice tight fit. In this case, Gudrun and Carn decided to use two pieces that were left over. One measured approximately 10" and the other 7". Remove the existing hem, sew your pieces together leaving an opening, insert the pillow form and tops stitch the opening shut. Bam, you're done. :) 

Next up, two projects which are NOT hard but do require a few more steps.

Tote Bag

(I'd seriously suggest you find a pattern online to follow as my instructions here are sketchy!)

From Carn: begin with a piece 18"W  x 16"H and cut off the hemmed sides. She took some smaller scrap pieces, sewed them together, finished the edges and added it to one piece for a pocket. Next step was to sew the two pieces together. She added a 3" gusset at the bottom to give it that flat bottom and stitched down the triangular corner pieces. It gives the bottom a little extra stability. Carn wanted a 32" strap, you can make this length whatever you want, so she cut a 33" x 5" piece, folded it in half, sewed it together inside out, turned it, tucked in the ends and stitched to the bag. 

Apron

(again, hit the internet for a real pattern if this is new type of project for you)

From Carn: Determine the width of your apron, the hip to hip measurement. This one is 23"W x 18"H. Keep the hemmed edge for your top and bottom edges. Double fold, iron and hem the side edges. Darts were added approximately 6.5" from each edge and pinned. The waistband was cut from regular quilting cotton, in this case Dimples Cool Grey. Decide the length of the ties plus the waist band and cut that measurement by 5", i.e. 41" x 5". Fold in half, right sides together and sew leaving an wide opening centered on one long side the same dimension as your apron, in this case 23". Sew one of the open edges to the back top edge of the apron, right sides together, centering and making sure to catch the folded darts. Turn the waistband right sides out, fold over, give a quick iron and topstitch to the front of the apron. Now add a pocket if you'd like. 

Dish Towel with Contrast

While this is the last project and it looks fairly simple, writing instructions is beyond me. Gudrun stayed up trying to figure out how Carn did this. Ever the master and unwilling to let it go, she figured it out and will shared a demonstration on Happy Friday, October 29th, 2021.  Therefore, no instructions are given. Just a pretty picture!

And last but certainly not least, one of our most requested tutorials - 

Hanging Towel

The tutorial of this fantasic hanging towel can be found here.

Toweling isn’t just for drying dishes—it’s a versatile, budget-friendly fabric that opens the door to a world of creative possibilities. Whether you're stitching up charming table runners, practical placemats, stylish bags, or functional kitchen aprons and hanging towels, toweling brings a cozy, handmade touch to every corner of your home. With a little imagination and a few sewing basics, you can turn simple strips of toweling into beautiful, functional pieces that reflect your style and brighten your space. So grab your fabric, fire up your machine, and start stitching—your next favorite project is just a towel away!