Towels Customized with Vintage Ribbon {An Easy DIY}

In my jadeite bathroom reveal yesterday (thank you so much, by the way! you all know how to make a girl feel goooooood!), I alluded to a quick, sewing project that adds a one-of-a-kind touch to affordable Target hand towels.

Even if you're a novice sewer, you can make your own customized ribboned hand towels in 3 easy steps!

To start, I recommend choosing a ribbon--vintage or otherwise--that is about as wide as the dobby trim on your towels. Dobby trim is the decorative band on towels that appears about 2-3" from the hem of the towels.

When shopping for my hand towels at Target, I brought my vintage ribbon with me to make sure the dobby trim and ribbon were approximately the same width. Using ribbon as the dobby trim makes for easy sewing. Let's get to it!

Step #1: After winding the bobbin and threading my sewing machine, I lined up the ribbon over the dobby trim and did not cut the ribbon. I folded approximately 1/4" of the ribbon's end under and began sewing with a straight stitch. I didn't use pins to hold the ribbon on place--I just held both the ribbon and hand towel taut as I sewed.

Step #2: When I reached opposite end of the towel, I lifted up the presser foot on my sewing machine, cut the ribbon about 1/4" longer than the towel and and folded that 1/4" of ribbon under for another clean edge.

Step #3: Placing my presser foot down, I stitched the ribbon in place and continued until all 4 sides of the ribbon was secured. I repeated the process twice for each towel, which took about 15 minutes to complete. By following the existing dobby trim, the ribbon is sewn on straight without pins!

Here are my customized hand towels in all their glory:

(all images via Meet Me in Philadelphia)

Knowing how easy the process was, I'm itching to customize more of the plain white hand towels around the house. 

Wouldn't a customized set make a great housewarming present, too? The effect is huge even if the effort is minimal!