Alternative Uses for Tea Towels - Part 2

As we discovered in at 'Alternative Uses for Tea Towels - Part 1', the humble tea towel is not just for drying the dishes. The first 5 different uses for your favourite design included framing your tea towel, making tea towel bunting, a tea towel cushion, turning your tea towels into stylish napkins and wrapping a bottle to create a thoughtful gift.

Here are a further 4 alternative uses for your beloved tea towels. 

alternative-uses-for-tea-towels-gift-wrap


6. Tea Towel Gift Wrap

A gift wrapped in a gift! Say goodbye to wrapping presents in gift wrap this is an eco-friendly way to wrap gifts for any occasion. In Japan they use a technique called furoshiki which involves wrapping gifts in meter square pieces of fabric to create beautiful and stylish gifts. So why not wrap your present within another present by selecting a beautifully designed tea towel as your alternative to wrapping paper. 

Materials:
Tea towel (I have used the Baking Delight tea towel), string/ribbon, gift tag and gift of your choice.

How To:
1. Carefully wrap the gift and fasten together with the string. 

2. Add a gift tag. You could even write a clue on the gift tag as to what’s inside. I have chosen this baking tea towel to wrap a deserts cookbook, a lovely fit.

alternative-uses-for-tea-towels-vegetable-preserving-bag

7. Draw String Vegetable Preserving Bag.

Keep your vegetables fresher for longer with this fun preserving bag. Turn your tea towel into a draw string preserving bag to store vegetable such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, garlic and onions. These vegetable are best stored in a cool, dark and dry place like a pantry or cellar and the tea towel vegetable preserving bag is perfect to help with this.

Materials:
Tea towel (I have chosen the 
Green Fingered Gardening tea towel printed on organic cotton), string and a sewing machine.

How To:
1. Fold the tea towel in half (small end to small end) so the reverse side is facing up. Sew the 2 open sides together. Fold over the top of the tea towel and sew across the top approximately 22cm down.

2. Place the string along the sewn line and sew another line to secure the string in place just below. Repeat on the other side.

3. Turn the bag the correct way and tie the pieces of string together. Fill with vegetables!

alternative-uses-for-tea-towels-lavender-drawer-fresheners


8. Lavender Drawer Fresheners from Tea Towels.

A great way to keep your drawers and suitcases fresh. Drawer interiors are closed spaces with limited ventilation and often results in a musty smell which the contents of the drawer can also absorb. These lavender drawer fresheners ensure that the drawers or suitcases stay fresh. You can also pick a fragrance of your choice.

Materials:
Tea towel (I have used a purple Queen's Diamond Jubilee Tea Towel by Victoria Eggs & The TeaShed tea towel), dried lavender, scissors, sewing machine or needle and thread.

How To:
1. Cut the tea towel into equal squares (I have used 10x10cm), place two patches together and sew along 3 sides approximately 1cm from the edge.

2. Fill the sachet with lavender and sew along the final side.

Alternative uses for table


9. Tea Towel Table Runner

Turing your tea towels into a table runner is an effective way of adding texture, warmth and colour to your dining tables. The runner can be placed directly on the table or onto of a table cloth and serves a number of different purposes; protects your table or table cloth, creates a stylist focal point and adds a splash of colour to dinner times.  You can get as creative with this as you want by using different tea towels and designs.

Materials: 
Tea towels, this will vary depending on the size of your table (I have used 2 
Airfix Kitchen tea towels).

How To:
1. Sew the tea towels together at one end (repeat if you have a larger table) to create a long table runner.

2. Set the dining table a let the runner be the bold finishing touch. These are machine washable so you can keep them fresh and crisp for endless dinner parties.

We'd love to see your clever creations please share them with us via FacebookTwitter or Instagram.

Photographs by Yeshen Venema.

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