Applique Lily Hand Towels

Project Description

Month eleven in our year-long Echidna PIE Embroidery Training Program falls in May, which has two birth month flowers: Lily and Hawthorn.

The lily is a symbol of innocence; purity and beauty. The Celtic meaning of the hawthorn tree deals with balance and duality. The hawthorn is also the state flower of Missouri.

This month our focus is on embroidering on terry cloth. This fabric is thick, plush and shifty so it requires special considerations for hooping, stabilizing, and design choice.

Even thread choice can be a factor. For example, if your towels will be exposed to sunlight for long stretches (beach towels) or left damp in a humid bathroom, rayon thread is not the best choice for embroidery.

Applique is the closest thing we have to a “one size fits all” solution in embroidery. That said, there are things we can do to improve it so that a really plush terry doesn’t encroach over the stitching.

I used purchased towels and after embroidering, further embellished them to turn them into designer towels.

Learn more about the training series: Looking for High-Quality Low-Cost Embroidery Education? (Note that the entire series is now bundled into one downloadable product.)