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I’m sure you’ve seen custom embroidered towels at the store. Monogrammed bath towels and embroidered kitchen towels make great gifts, especially when you personalize them with names. Do you want to learn how to embroider on towels? If you have an embroidery machine, you can make these personalized gifts yourself!
I’ve made a lot of custom embroidered towels. I’m actually working on a batch of CTR baptism towels right now. That’s what inspired me to write this post on how to embroider towels. Setting up your embroidery machine for towels is more difficult than other fabrics, but not impossible. You can do it! Here are eight tips to help you create custom embroidered towels successfully with your embroidery machine.
Contents
1. Buy High-Quality Towels
Towels come in a variety of styles and sizes. Not all of them make ideal embroidery blanks. You need a towel that is not too plush but also has a tight nap. That being said, you can embroider on almost any towel. Thick, plush towels are just more challenging to embroider.
I admit that it’s scary to spend a lot of money on a towel when there’s the looming possibility that you could mess it up when embroidering on it. However, you will have better results if you buy nicer towels. That’s just a fact. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on embroidery towel blanks, though. I like to buy towels at Ross. Most bath towels cost about $7 and I think that is reasonable and not devastating if I make a mistake.
2. Wash and Dry Your Towels Before Embroidering
Most towels don’t shrink much when you wash them, but it is possible, especially if they are made from cotton. That’s why I suggest you wash and dry your towels before embroidering on them. This takes care of the shrinking and washes away any excess dyes or chemicals used during the manufacturing process. Preshrinking fabric probably isn’t a new idea to you if you do a lot of sewing, but don’t forget that this also applies to the embroidery blanks you buy.
3. Choose Plain Embroidery Designs with Solid Fills
Intricate, delicate embroidery designs do not do well on towels because the surrounding nap falls on the edges. You’re better off choosing simple designs with solid fill stitches. Thick font styles look better for this same reason. Designs with only one or two colors also look better.
Towels are not the perfect embroidery blanks because they have a nap. If you have never embroidered anything before, I suggest you start with plain cotton, flannel, or felt first to get the hang of your embroidery machine.
4. Use a Large Embroidery Needle
Since toweling is thick, you’ll get the best results with a size 90/14 embroidery needle. It is super sharp and great at penetrating thick fabric. Smaller sizes may work, but I don’t like to mess around when embroidering on towels because it’s practically impossible to remove the stitches if you mess up because of the nap. I’ve ruined a few towels this way. It was frustrating.
5. Use Medium-Weight, Tear-Away Stabilizer
Most people recommend that you use cut-away stabilizer when embroidering on towels because it provides the best support. However, I think medium-weight, tear-away stabilizer works just as well, if not better. I like being able to easily remove the stabilizer when the embroidery stitching is finished. This is not as easy to do when you use cut-away stabilizer. Plus, cut-away stabilizer can be seen after your embroidery project is finished. I bought a big roll of tear-away stabilizer that I use for most machine embroidery projects.
6. Use a Water-Soluble Topper
To prevent embroidery stitches from sinking into the nap of towels, you need to use a water-soluble topper. This is another type of stabilizer that you put on the top of your fabric. I’ve had great results with Sulky Solvy Stabilizer. Essentially, you will have tear-away stabilizer underneath your towel and water-soluble stabilizer on top while you embroider.
To attach the water-soluble stabilizer to your custom embroidered towel, simply tape it on around the edges of your hoop with some masking tape. I’ve also used pins, but tape is easier. Water-soluble stabilizer will tear away when you are finished embroidering and it will also dissolve under the stitches with usage/water. However, your stitches will remain on the top of your towel’s nap.
7. Float Your Towel on Your Embroidery Hoop
To float your towel on your hoop, place a piece of stabilizer securely in your hoop and then spray it with a temporary adhesive or basting spray. Then, press your towel onto the sticky stabilizer. Make sure to smooth your towel down as much as you can.
Be generous with your basting spray, paying special attention to the corners of your hoop. You do not want your fabric shifting while your embroidery design is being stitched.
Don’t worry about getting basting spray on your hoop. It washes off easily. The spray adhesive leaves a sticky film on your embroidery hoop. Therefore, you should wipe off the sticky film after each embroidery project. This is simple to do with a cotton ball and some rubbing alcohol.
8. Doublecheck Your Embrodery Design Placement
As with all machine embroidery projects, you don’t want to rush through the placement step. Precision is important — you want to get it right the first time. Check and doublecheck the position of your towel on the hoop and use your ruler grid to check it against the design on your machine. Once your embroidery machine starts stitching, you can’t reposition it.
Checklist of Supplies Needed to Embroider on Towels
I mentioned some products you’ll need to embroider on towels throughout this post, but I thought you’d like a neater checklist:
- Medium-Weight, Tear-Away Stabilizer
- Temporary Spray Adhesive
- Water-Soluble Topper
- Machine Embroidery Thread
- 90/14 Embroidery Needle
I hope you found this post on how to make customized, embroidered towels useful. Make sure to bookmark this post if you need the checklist of products for the future. Solvy offers the best machine embroidery supplies. I highly recommend getting the water-soluble stabilizer from this brand.
If you’re curious about what embroidery machine I use, I have the Bernette b79. It has a 6”x10” embroidery hoop and I love it. I previously owned the Brother SE400. I liked it, but the 4”x4” hoop was just too small for my needs.
This was VERY helpful Thank you so much for sharing.
Does floating the towel with spray hurt the towel?
The basting spray I use doesn’t seem to leave a residue when I pull the interfacing off of the towel. If your basting spray seems sticky after you pull off your interfacing, be sure to wash the towel so that dirt/dust doesn’t stick to the basting spray.
DIME has come out with a product called “Sticky Hoops” designed to float the towel. The pre-cut stabilizer is cut to the size of the hoop and has a sticky side that will stick to the hoop itself and to the towel as well. It performs so much better than any basting spray I’ve ever used, and no noxious fumes!
Once for one reason or another, the towel was not as taunt as I prefer, so I borrowed some strong magnets from my kitchen and since the towel could now be tightened despite it just floating on the top of the hoop & stabilizer and I no longer had an issue with the top water-soluble stabilizer blowing off or just being repositioned when the embroidery arm moves around prior to starting the design stitch out.