Well, this morning was not the morning I was supposed to be launching these ready-to-stitch autumn towel sets – but everything has piled up in a weird way this September!
So, to try to get ahead of some future events, I wanted to make these available and get them out to you, since I promised I would.
Besides, October will be here before we know it, and as you know, that’s when everyone goes Pumpkin Mad. We might as well have a head start!
You’ve seen my sneak peeks of Festive Fall for the last several weeks as I’ve worked my way through the designs, experimenting here and there with stitches and colors, and tweaking the designs so that they would provide a good stitching experience for you.
They’ve been a load of fun to embroider! And they put me completely in the Mood for Autumn.
I’ve been wanting to do an embroidery design like this with an Autumn theme for quite a while.
I love simple embroidery designs on humble flour sack towels, because they can be used in so many pleasant ways.
They can be hung in the kitchen to celebrate a season, true, but they can also be used as tea cloths, as table accents, as gift wrap, as bread warmers in a basket of hot dinner rolls. They can be used to line gift baskets and food baskets during the holidays. They can used to wrap a bottle of wine.
Or they can be used as a simple gift all by themselves – a gift that shows you cared enough to take the time to make something special, for someone special.
Festive Fall – the Ready-to-Stitch Towels
Today, I’m launching a set of ready-to-stitch flour sack towels, pre-transferred with one of each Festive Fall design on each towel. There are three versions of the designs for Festive Fall. Each design includes a pumpkin, some fall leaves, some stalks of wheat, and some decorative scrolls. There is a light, a medium, and full version of the design in each set.
The flour sack towels are 100% cotton. While flour sack towels are not a “luxury fabric” by any means, these towels are good quality – the best I’ve found available today.
The towels are bright white, approximately 27″ square, hemmed on all four sides, with a hanging tab in the corner. The design is situated in the corner opposite the hanging tab.
The transferred designs are clear and crisp, very easy to see, and fine enough that two strands of floss easily cover the design lines. While the design lines will fade and eventually wash out over time, they won’t wash out in the first launderings, so you will want to cover the lines completely with embroidery.
Design & Stitch Guide Coming!
I wholeheartedly regret the fact that I cannot ship the towel sets outside the US! I have done everything I can to hunt down a reasonable international shipping option for the ready-to-stitch towels, but due to the weight of the towel sets, the cheapest option I can manage is $24 to ship one set of towels, with at least a three week delivery time frame. It simply isn’t feasible. You can purchase flour sack or similar towels in your own countries for significantly less – but I can’t afford to sell the pre-transferred sets for less, considering the time and expense involved in the transfer process.
In the second half of September (hopefully by the end of next week), the patterns, color, and stitch guide for Festive Fall will be available as an e-book. Like the Floral Corners e-book here on Needle ‘n Thread, it will include the patterns, a full list of the colors I used on my samples, and a stitch guide. There will be step-by-step photos for the stitches I used, as well as plenty of tips so that even the beginner can approach these projects with confidence.
I used DMC floss for the sample projects, but you can substitute your own favorite floss – just make sure you test your threads for colorfastness before you stitch the designs!
And of course, you don’t need a stitch guide, necessarily. You can use any stitches you want to use on a project like this. Maybe you’re only comfortable with stem stitch – or maybe your favorite stitch is the backstitch. With designs like these, you have perfect freedom to stitch them however you want – and that’s what makes these projects so darned relaxing and fun to embroider!
Towel Sets in Abundance…
I didn’t want to launch the Festive Fall towel sets without having some of the Holly & Evergreen sets and Floral Corner sets available, too, for those of you who would like to pick up a couple different sets and save on shipping.
So right now, you can find all three ready-to-stitch towel sets available here in my shop.
I’ve tried my best to make sure there are plenty in stock and that they don’t all sell out first thing! If they do sell out and there’s still an interest, I’ll put more together as soon as I can. Just drop me a line to request placement on the advanced notice list for whatever designs you’re after.
A Note on Shipping
I can only ship two sets in one package. So if you order two sets (whether of the same design or in combination with another design), they can both ship in the same package for the same cost.
However, if you want three or four sets (or more), you’ll need to place separate orders of no more than two sets per order. I will combine the orders if possible to give you a better shipping price and then refund the difference.
Advanced Notice List
If the towels are out of stock, drop me an email at mary@needlenthread.com and request advanced notice for them. I’ll send you an email when they’re back in stock!
My Hope!
I really hope you enjoy stitching Festive Fall as much as I have! I still have at least one more to finish. I’m using the samples as gifts (birthday, wedding showers, and hostess gifts) for friends up through Thanksgiving this year. If I’m smart, I’ll get them finished now, so I can move on to the Christmas stuff before December drops on my head… as it does every year!
Enjoy your weekend! I should be back to the normal publishing schedule on Monday (I apologize – I’ve been flat out busy on this end of the screen), so I’ll see you then!
Hello Mary,
I just ordered 2 sets of the Fall towels – for me and for gifts. Fall is my favorite season. I will order the stitching guide when it becomes available. I can’t wait to get started on them.
Thank you for all your work !
Have a great weekend!
Susan
Thanks, Susan! 🙂
Mary,
Should these be washed and dried before embroidering?
Thanks,
Janet
Hi, Janet – No, please do not wash and dry first. They are ready to stitch. There’s an enclosure card with fabric / transfer care suggestions with each package.
Hi Mary, could you please put me on the advance notice list for the Festive Fall reprint? I love these prints. I ma working on the Floral ones right now and I am having a great time.
Hi, Debbie – Sure thing – just email me at mary@needlenthread.com to request placement on the advanced notice list.
Dear Mary
These look lovely and I’m sure will make lovely gifts or just as simple tea towels. I look forward to be able to purchase the e-book. I’m glad you will be back to your normal blog days I’ve missed them, but I thought you were busy I hope there is a great demand for the Festive Fall they look so simple to stitch and beautifully design. Thank you for sharing with us these lovely sets of Festive Fall and look forward to Monday.
Regards Anita Simmance
These are splendid!
I love the pattern and was wondering if you plan to just make the design available separate from placemats?
Hi, Deborah – yes, the designs will be available in the e-book stitch guide that will be out in the next week or so. I’ve never actually done placemats…!
Mary!
Help me please. Your web site will not accept my order for fall towels as you are sold out. Yikes! Is this an error? AmI doing something incorrectly ? Please advise. Thanks, and love your products. For your sake I hope you’re sold out, but for me…not so good.
Peggy
Hi, Peggy – sorry for the slow response on this, but yes, the towels sold out about 3 hours after they were listed. If you’d like to be on the advanced notice list for the next round, please drop me an email at mary@needlenthread.com with your request. Thanks a bunch!
Hi Mary,
I’m delighted the pattern will be available soon! I thought I’d like to make a table runner.
How were the designs transferred to the fabric? Did you use a pen, pencil, or other implement, or were they transferred commercially?
I really want to find a way to transfer patterns – my arthritis impacts how well I can trace. I’ve read your articles on transfer methods, but none of the products seem to provide the same look I see in the pictures of the fall design you’ve posted. Maybe my technique is “iffy”?
Thanks in advance,
Sally Atkinson
Hi, Sally – I usually recommend Sublime Stitching’s fine tipped iron on transfer pen for people who are trying to do iron on transfers at home. I like their blue one. I use a different system, myself – it’s a little more commercial and not suited for home use (expense and size-wise).
I wondered if you’ve ever explored having your designs printed as iron-on transfers? It would allow international customers to buy towels in their home country and add the designs fairly easily, and shipping the designs would be economical. I’ve never used the transfers but I hear they work well. I have no idea what’s involved, and I don’t need a reply. I’m just mentioning it because you’ve said you’re expanding the ways you offer your lovely designs.
Love the towel design. You are so talented.
Mary,
Please let me know when you’ll have more to stitch out. I’m having surgery a week from today and will be down for a few weeks. I was hoping to get these to work on. That’s what I get for not reading email in the morning…lol
Thank you ,
Robin
Hi, Robin – If you’d like to be on the advanced notice list for these towels, please drop me an email at mary@needlenthread.com with your request. Thanks a bunch!
Hi Mary, I’m very interested in how you do the transfer on such ready-to-stitch items today. Do you still use the iron-on pen by Sublime Stitching, or do you print on fabric? With my DEKA iron-on pencil, the design lines (if they do work out at all) begin to fade already after a week or two of stitching.
Angela from the Ore Mountains
Hi, Angela – I’ve never used the Sublime Stitching pens on the ready-to-stitch items that I sell. I have a more “commercial” system that I use. I recommend the pens for folks who want to make their own patterns into iron-ons. They are among the best for made-at-home iron on transfers, since they produce a fine, visible line that doesn’t disappear. They’re the best iron-on alternative for drawing your own iron-on transfers. The pencils available on the market today simply don’t work as well.
I live in the UK so will endeavour to wait patiently for the e-book to be released – thank-you in advance for planning to make that available to those of us living abroad:)
Mary,
A big thanks.
Just received my floral corner towels. The download worked fine and the tissue paper wrap was a nice touch. I’m so excited to start. Big thanks!
Peggy
Hi Mary,
My towels arrived and the designs are so clearly and beautifully stamped I am itching to start stitching them! I can look at your samples and identify most of the stitches you’ve used, but I’m not sure about the filler you’ve used on the gold wheat leaves next to the seedheads. Is it a fishbone stitch?
Also, thanks for the tutorial on stitching the wheat berries. I will definitely follow that plan.
Kelly
It is fishbone,Kelly! I’ll have that ebook together very soon – hopefully before October 1st. But yes, it’s fishbone.
Will your Festive Fall EBook be coming out soon? I can’t wait to get started!
Working on it, Josie! Hopefully, it’ll be available on Wednesday if all goes as planned.