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'Tis the Season Towel Cozies

Dress up your towels for Christmas or any holiday or season with these unique towel cozies. Festive and elegant when hanging on a towel rack, and cute as a button to boot. Stitch a design for the center of the fabric bow, and add a coordinating border to the towel. Mix and match towels and fabrics to create a unique, personalized creation.

Read below for these free and festive project instructions!

Supplies Needed:

**Bath towel or hand towel (our
   bath towel is 30 inches wide
   by 54 inches high, and our
   hand towel is 16 inches wide
   by 27 1/2 inches high)

**1/2 yard print cotton fabric (for
wrap-around section)

**Small pieces of quilted cotton
   or cotton fabric (for center
   medallion; we used quilted
   cotton fabric)

**Medium-weight cutaway
stabilizer

**Temporary spray adhesive

**Water-soluble stabilizer (we
prefer Sulky Super Solvy or
Sulky Solvy)

**Air-erase pen (or other
marking tool)

**Two "alligator" clips or safety
pins

**Needle and thread for some
hand sewing

Designs used:
A Sparkling Christmas Critters (Mylar) Design Pack - Sm
Holly and Ribbon Border - Lg
Holly and Ribbon Border - Md
Lacy Leafy Snowflake - Sm
White Christmas Snowflake 1 - Sm
White Christmas Snowflake 2 - Sm
White Christmas Snowflake 3 - Sm

Finished Size:
Bath Towel - 14 inches wide by 9 inches high
Hand Towel - 8 1/2 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches high

Project Tips:
We embroidered the Sparkling Christmas Critters (Mylar) designs on the center medallions of the cozies using gold Mylar. To learn more about embroidering with Mylar designs, click here.

To begin, we will embroider a border design along the bottom edge of the towels. Create a paper template of the designs by printing them at full size. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the designs to help with placement and centering. Arrange the template along the bottom edge of the towel where you want it. We positioned the template with the bottom edge of the design about 1 1/2 inches from the bottom edge of the towel. Be sure to center the design from side to side by measuring the width of the towel and dividing by two. Using an air-erase pen or other marking tool, poke a hole in the center of the template and mark the fabric. Also, mark the horizontal and vertical axis points.

Remove the template and draw lines to connect the marks.

Spray a piece of medium-weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Lay a piece of water-soluble stabilizer (we prefer Sulky Super Solvy or Sulky Solvy) on top of the towel and hoop all three layers together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric.

Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point on the fabric and embroider the design. When the design has finished, tear away the top stabilizer and carefully trim away the stabilizer on the back of the embroidery. For more information on embroidering on terrycloth towels, click here.

Next, we will prepare the fabric for the center medallion of the cozy. Cut a piece of quilted cotton or cotton fabric a bit larger than your hoop. Draw a 5 inch by 5 inch square on the fabric. Mark the center of each side of the square by measuring and dividing by two. Then, draw lines to connect the marks - where the lines meet is the exact center of the square.

Create a paper template of the design by printing it at full size using embroidery software. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the designs to help with placement and centering. Poke a hole in the center of the template and align it with the center point on the fabric. Make sure the design fits well within the shape. There should be at least one inch of space between the outer edges of the design and the edges of the shape. Spray a piece of cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine, move the needle so that it is aligned with the center point on the fabric, and embroider the design.

When the design has finished, cut out the shape. Leave the stabilizer on the back of the embroidery. This will give the fabric some rigidity and support.

Now we will prepare the fabric for the cozy. For a bath towel, cut two pieces of print cotton fabric 28 inches wide by 11 inches high. For a hand towel, cut two pieces of print cotton fabric 16 inches wide by 9 inches high. Align the pieces together, right sides facing, and pin in place. Sew a 1/2 inch seam along each long side. Leave the short ends open for turning.

Turn the fabric right side out and press the seams with an iron.

Now we will pleat the fabric at each short end. For bath and hand towels, mark the center of each short end by measuring and dividing by two. Then, mark out one inch above and below the center mark. Pinch the fabric at each outer mark, align the outer marks with the center mark and pin in place.

Pleat the fabric above and below the first pleat by measuring and marking center points between the first pleat fold and the top and bottom corner of the short end. Then, measure out 1/2 inch from the center points, pinch the fabric, align the marks with the center marks, and pin in place. Create pleats on each end of the fabric and sew a 1/4 inch seam along each end to tack the pleats in place.

To prepare the back fabric for the center medallion, lay the embroidered front piece on top of the fabric, trace, and cut out the shape. Align the pieces together, right sides facing and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the top and bottom edges only - leave the side edges open. Turn the fabric right side out and press the seams. Then, turn the fabric of the side openings in 1/4 inch to the wrong side and press.

To assemble the cozy, insert one end of the cozy fabric inside the center medallion about one inch and pin in place.

Insert the remaining end of the cozy fabric inside the center medallion about one inch, creating a loop behind the medallion, and pin in place.

Top stitch a 1/8 inch seam around the entire outer edges of the medallion.

Lay the towel flat with the wrong side facing up. Then, fold the side edges of the towel in to the center. The width of a bath towel should be about 15 inches wide and the width of a hand towel should be about 9 inches wide. You may need to overlap the side edges of the towel, in order to reach this measurement.

Fold the towel in half so that the bottom edges are aligned.

To secure the cozies to the towels, we added alligator clips to the back of the cozy along the top corners using a needle and thread. If you would like, you may also use safety pins to secure the cozy in place.

Hang the finished towels over the towel bar and insert the bottom of the towel through the top of the cozy. Position the cozy on the towel, and secure it in place with the clips or safety pins.

Now, enjoy your beautifully adorned towels! Or, give them as a gift to friends and family this holiday season.

Mix and match colors and fabrics to create a towel cozy for every season and special occasion!

Click here for a printable version of these project instructions.

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