Take a Tea Towel

Book excerpt: Clean, crisp and practical. That sums up the classic linen tea towel, and also this innovative new title. Take a tea towel contains 16 projects, four for each of the main four areas in the home: bathroom, kitchen, laundry and workroom, all using hardwearing Irish linen tea towels. Embellishing the pieces with different techniques such as dip dying, embroidery, fabric painting, and photo transfers each project has an aesthetic simplicity and is practical and hardwearing. Linen is a very durable, strong fabric. The author, Jemima Schlee, has used the beautiful, timeless Irish linen glass cloth because the nostalgic, striped glass cloth sits comfortably in any interior as simple, practical and timeless. But, of course any natural-fibre cloth in linen, cotton or a linen-cotton mix, and of roughly the same dimensions, can be substituted to make the reader's projects more personal. The humble tea towel is a wonderful thing. Classic gingham or striped cloths, bright French jacquard, kitsch maps of childhood holiday destinations - whether made from cotton or linen they are hard wearing and iron to a crisp fresh finish. The book will appeal to people who want to learn to sew, those who want to develop their sewing skills, for those with a love of simple, clean design and an appreciation of the utilitarian simplicity of Shaker design. This multi-craft project book teaches machine- and hand-sewing techniques and also includes different ways of adorning fabrics: dying, embroidery, fabric painting, photo transfers, Dorset button making, and many more.