Question to all you experienced embroidery cuties, what do you do to make the back of dish towels look prettier? I have been stitching some for gifts and myself, just using the white pre wound white bobbins but am not crazy about the back, do you use the same colour bobbin thread? do you stitch a piece of fabric on the back? Any other suggestions that aren't time consuming would be very gratefully accepted.Also do you use poly thread so the cloths can be bleached if necessary? I am using a plain white cotton waffle weave fabric.

I always put a frame around the design adding white cotton backing before stitching the frame....wendy

1 comment

by airyfairy 26 Jun 2014

What a clever idea. Thank you.

I don't care for the back of a design either; especially if it has test, so the back shows the text backwards. I like to take a band of fabric, and sometimes ricrac and put around the back side. That way, it actually has two front sides.
Also, I've taken two layers of towels, stitched them individually, and then bound them together, back to back, so there are independent designs on each side. I sell them at holiday bazaars, and they sell very well.

1 comment

by sewist1 26 Jun 2014

I sell a lot of towels at craft fairs. If I did what you do the customers would not want to pay what it would be worth to do it that way.

It's a kitchen towel. You are going to be mopping up greasy sludge with it! (Unless you are hanging it on your fridge or oven door pull forever just for looks.)

I know you can bleach Floriani threads.

1 comment

by sewist1 26 Jun 2014

I agree with you. Most towels have hems and often on the sides as well so the back looks different anyway.

I use prewound bobbins and they are almost translucent, so the underside looks fine. I also only ever use tearaway.

I do the same that polittecel, I do not use coton, but the most often polyester, other wise, rayon

When I want the back of the design almost beautiful as the front, I use same threads for upper thread and bobbin, and use a stabilizer which will disappear after sitching (it depends of the fabric: tear away for lightweight fabrics, watersoluble for bath towels). Sometimes, when the design have a dominant color, I only use this color for the bobbin, and the back of my fabric is more nice than with a classic bobbin thread. Cheers, Céline

2 comments

by pcteddyb 25 Jun 2014

This is what I do too. For applique I generally use a thread the color of the towel. For other types of designs I use matching colors.

by pennyhal2 26 Jun 2014

Yes, this is what I do too. I don't stitch designs that require a lot of thread changes or details so I'm not changing bobbins too much.