Up-Cycle More Towels - a Bath Mat Tutorial

Well, I did say I had another use for that huge bag of towels.  This project uses one bath towel and I thought I would make this a tutorial so that you can take one of those beginning-to-shred-along-the-edges towel and extend it's life. 
There are about 16 pictures but I am hoping I can keep the words to a minimum.  This project is a basic one and with the tools and supplies should not be more than a hour or so...

What you need

Sewing machine and all that goes with it.  A walking foot for your machine is especially useful for this project.
Thread, the same colour as your towel.
1 Large bath Towel
3/4 of a meter of cotton fabric
Iron and Ironing Board
Rotary Cutter, Mat and Ruler
Straight Pins

The Project

Step One:

If your towel has that sort of gathered band at each end, cut that off each end because you need the towel to lay flat.  If your towel is plain, just trim off the small bound edges at top and bottom.
Trim any frayed edges along the side.

Step Two:
Fold your towel in half so that the short ends touch and it makes a almost square rectangle (well, it is hard to make a square rectangle, or is a rectangle a square? anyway...)

Give a bit of a press to the towel and pin it all around so that it keeps the edges in line.

Step Three:

Back to the Cutting Table.  Cut two strips, 6 inches wide the length of your fabric. (if you did not have to cut off the gathered edge, you will need to cut 3 strips that are 6 inches wide, because your mat will be about 4 to 6 inches larger than if the gathered part is cut)

Take these strips and sew them together to make one long strip -at least 90 inches long - press the seam open.  Then press the strip in half lengthwise so that now it is 90 or more inches long and about 3 inches wide.
Set this aside for a few minutes.

Now cut 1 strip that is 3 inches wide and the length of the fabric.
Press a 1/4 to 1/2 inch turn under edge the length of the strip on both sides.  This is the decorative feature.

(sorry I forgot to take a picture so I hope you know what I mean!)

Step Four:

Pin the 3 inch wide strip across your folded over towel about 6 inches from one end of the towel.

Sew along the edge of the strip to secure it to the towel and at the same time "quilt" the layers together.  Sew the other side of this strip and then place another strip at the other end of the folded over towel (go to the end of the tutorial to see exactly what I mean, if you need to.

Then when you have both strips sewn to what is now the TOP of your BATH MAT.  Sew some "quilting" lines between the strips, about 3 to 4 inches apart.  This helps to hold the layers together better and makes the Mat a bit stronger and easier to wash.

Step Five: 

Now you will take the other section of fabric that you sewed into a long strip -- this will be your binding.   Starting part way along one of the long sides and with the back of the Mat facing up.  Sew the binding strip all around the outside edge of the Mat.  Make sure you get the binding strip and both layers of the towel.   This is much the same as doing binding on a quilt.   If you have not done this before, here is a link to a tutorial for binding a quilt.

http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/photos/continuous_quiltbinding/index.html

or

http://www.sewinspiredblog.com/2007/09/quilt-binding-tutorial.html

Now the binding edge for the bath mat allows for a decorative wide edge - about 2 1/2 inches on the front so when you sew the binding to the back of the quilt first you will have this wide bit of fabric when you turn over to the top.

Much like the instructions of how to do continuous quilt binding you will turn the edge and pin it, but there is no need to sew it by hand.  In fact it will be much more secure to machine sew it.

As you are sewing the front of the binding to your bath mat, when you approach the corner, make sure that the corner is pulled snuggly straight 

Take advantage of the natural lay of the fabric and as you come to the corner, bring the edge over at the corner to form a neat miter.  Pin in place so that it doesn't slip and turn the corner.   

You can at this point sew along the folded miter or go back to it later -- but don't forget to sew that little extra bit!

 

Finally sew around your bath mat about 1 inch from the edge, this helps to keep the binding straight and avoids bunching up when you wash the mat. 

One thing to make sure of is that the beginning and ending of all your "quilting" or sewn lines be backtacked -- meaning when you finish sewing a line, reverse stitch for a couple of stitches.  This practice helps to keep the whole thing together when washing.  A bath Mat is wash fairly regularly and if the stitching is not well secured you might find seams unravelling before you want them to...

And Now...

As you can see that folded over towel turned bath mat fits nicely in my bathroom.  It is just the right size for feet to step out of the shower onto.

Let me know if you try this out.   You will never have to pay for a $20 retail bath mat again!