Free Hanging Kitchen Towel Pattern and Tutorial

If you've been reading our tutorials for a while, you will know that I love making kitchen and bath towels for gifts.  Today I have a fun and fast project to turn a store-purchased kitchen towel into a hanging kitchen towel.  

This free, hanging kitchen towel pattern can also be used to turn a bath hand towel into a hanging towel.

Kitchen and bath towels often end up falling to the floor.  These hanging kitchen towels will not fall because they have a towel topper with a kam snap to hold them in place.

This is a wonderful gift idea or hostess gift idea for almost any holiday or season.  The hanging kitchen towels can be made for any theme. Make these hanging towels for Christmas, Halloween, patriotic, winter, summer, spring, and Easter to name a few.

I've given hanging towels like these as gifts in the past and I get requests frequently to make more.  Everyone LOVES these hanging kitchen towels!

Several people have requested a pattern and tutorial to make a towel topper with a sewing machine. So, I’ve come up with this free pattern and tutorial on how to make these hanging kitchen towels.

Click the link below to watch our full step-by-step tutorial on YouTube to make these hanging kitchen towels.  If you'd prefer a written tutorial, just keep reading this page.

The free printable hanging kitchen towel pattern is available at the end of this page with the other products needed for this project, so scroll down to get the pattern!

If you'd prefer an ad-free downloadable PDF version of this hanging kitchen towel tutorial and pattern, it's available for a small fee from our Etsy Shop through the link below.

WHERE CAN I FIND KITCHEN TOWELS TO PURCHASE?

Kitchen and bath towels can be expensive to purchase but there are deals out there.  Check stores like Kohl's as they usually have cute seasonal kitchen towels available.  

The best deals I've found for kitchen towels are multi-pack towels.  I have found sets of four to six towels on sale at Kohl's and when you use a 30% off coupon, it becomes a great deal!

Each towel you purchase makes TWO hanging kitchen towels. So, a four-pack of towels makes eight finished hanging towels.

Multi-pack towels will usually have decorative and solid color towels. All of the towels can be used for this hanging kitchen towel pattern. Pair the solid towels with a decorative fabric or machine embroider a design onto the front of the towel before adding the topper as I did on some of these Halloween Towels.

Other good places to purchase kitchen and bath towels are Joann, Walmart and Amazon.

What fabrics are needed for the hanging kitchen towel pattern?

Once you have the towels, head to the fabric store and find some matching fabrics!  Cotton fabrics are recommended for these towel toppers.

I usually check out Joann because they have a lot of novelty fabrics.  So you can find fun coordinating fabrics for the towels or fabrics for a theme.  

Your local quilt store may also have coordinating fabrics to go with the towels.  Look at the end of this article for links to purchase towels and fabrics.

Two fabrics are needed to make this hanging kitchen towel pattern.  One for the main front section of the towel topper and a contrasting fabric for the back. The contrast band can be cut from each fabric and used on the front and back.

This pattern is customizable with the use of the two fabrics.  The fabrics can be mixed and matched in many ways.  For the towels shown below, the fabric used for the front and back was alternated for each towel.

This can give a different look to each towel you make.

Another option is to use the same fabric on the front and back and just the band be a contrast fabric as shown in the sunflower towel below.  Sometimes I run out of fabric so I have to be creative and use what I have on hand!

Can I include decorative stitching with this Hanging Kitchen Towel pattern?

Decorative stitches can be added to the towels as an extra embellishment.  This is a perfect project to use those extra fancy stitches on your sewing machine!

If your machine doesn't have decorative stitches, a simple straight stitch can be stitched across the towels.  

It's fun to try out the stitches on your machine and use some decorative thread too!

The photos above and below show some samples with different stitching options.  Since there are only 5 short lines to stitch, it’s a quick way to add some extra interest to these toppers.

Can I use decorative snaps for these towels?

For the Christmas towels, I decided to use a special kam snap with a snowflake design.  These engraved snaps can be found in the Kam Snap store.  For the back snap, I used a plain white snap since this matched the fabric colors.

The plain colored kam snaps work on these towels also, as you can see on the hanging kitchen towels in the other photos above. There are many different colors of snaps available and they are sold in multicolor packs.

There are also shaped snaps available and these could also be used on these towels.  

About the Hanging Kitchen Towel Pattern

This pattern is inspired by the Embroidery Garden machine embroidered towel toppers. If you have an embroidery machine, you may want to check out our page on those toppers as an alternate option.

This towel topper pattern is not constrained by a hoop size, so the topper is a little wider.  The corners and the tabs are also shaped a little differently than the Embroidery Garden pattern.  To make the pattern simpler, the contrast band is on both the front and back of the towel topper.  

Once you get started, these hanging kitchen towels are quick to stitch up!  Since each towel is cut in half, cut out the fabric to make two at a time to save time.

Keep reading this tutorial for a full step-by-step tutorial on making this hanging kitchen towel. Scroll to the end of this tutorial for the free downloadable pattern template and links to supplies for this project including the Kam snaps and engraved Kam snaps. 

Let’s get started making these towels!

WHAT YOU NEED to make two hanging kitchen towels

• Pattern template (available at the end of this tutorial in the product links section)
• One Kitchen or Hand Sized bath towel (this will be cut in half to make two finished towels with toppers)
• Two fabrics - 1/3 yard of each or 2 Fat Quarters
• Kam Snaps
• Pellon Fusible Fleece 987F, Pellon Fleece 988 or Quilt Batting Scraps
• Sewing Machine
• Scissors
• Thread
• Fabric Marker or Chalk Pencil
• Ruler
• Rotary Cutter and Mat (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS to make the hanging kitchen towel

Seam Allowance: ½”
Difficulty: Confident Beginner
Time: Approximately 1 hour to make two hanging towels

Step 1: Cut The Fabrics for the towel topper

These instructions will make two towel toppers.  Since the store purchased towel is cut in half, make two toppers at once and have two finished hanging kitchen towels in less time.

Download and print out the pattern available at the end of this tutorial in the product links section. The pattern will print on two pages.  The first page has the pattern for the front and back of the towel topper.

The second page has the band and band batting pattern pieces.

For two hanging towel toppers, cut:

• Fabric 1 & 2 - Cut 2 of the topper pattern from each fabric
• Fabric 1 & 2 - Cut 2 of the band pattern from each fabric
• Pellon Fleece or Batting Scraps - Cut 2 of the topper pattern
• Pellon Fleece or Batting Scraps - Cut 2 of the band fleece pattern

The Pellon fleece or batting is referred to as "batting" for the remainder of this tutorial.

Step 2: Layer Front Pieces with batting 

Decide which fabrics will be used for the front of each towel (two front towel toppers & two bands). The other fabrics will be the backs.  Set the four back pieces aside for now.

Take each of the two front towel topper fabrics and the two front band fabrics and layer each of them with the batting placing the wrong sides together. 

The band batting is a little smaller than the band.  Align the long edge of the batting with one long edge of the band fabric as shown in the photo above. 

If using fusible fleece, fuse the fleece to the fabric using the directions provided with the fusible fleece. The bumpy side of the fusible fleece should be placed against the wrong side of the fabric.

Step 3: Press Front Band Hem along Lower Edge

At your iron, press up the edge of the front band ½” with the wrong sides together.  Press up the edge without the batting so it folds over the batting as shown below.

Step 4: Sew the Bands to the front and back pieces

The four band pieces will be sewn to the towel toppers.  Sew the front bands with the batting to the front towel toppers with the batting.  The back topper and band pieces will also be sewn together.

Take one set of the front topper and band and layer them with the right sides together aligning the raw edges.  Align the raw edge of the band, not the folded edge, with the bottom edge of the topper.  Pin together along the bottom edge of the topper.

Pin the back band fabric to the back topper fabric with the right sides together.  These two pieces do not have batting and the back band edge is NOT folded up.

Sew each of the four pieces (two fronts and two backs) of the topper and band pieces together with a 1/2" seam allowance along the bottom edge of the topper.

You will have two backs and two fronts as shown below.

Step 5: Press the seam Open

At the iron, press the seam open on all four pieces to reduce the bulk.

Step 6: Mark Stitching Lines (OPTIONAL)

Stitching decorative lines across the toppers is optional.  The lines are marked on the towel topper pattern piece.

The lines are stitched on the front topper pieces only and the stitching goes through the batting.

Transfer the lines to the front topper pieces or mark the lines using a ruler and chalk marking pencil. 

The first line is 1” from the band seam.  Then the other lines are 1-1/2” from the previous line. 

The stitched lines can be left off of the topper or change the width of the lines or their locations as you desire.

Step 7: Stitch Lines (OPTIONAL)

To stitch the lines, use a simple straight stitch or one of the fancy stitches included on your machine.  There are samples of different stitching options shown earlier in this tutorial.

Use a contrasting thread so the stitches will show.  Stitch across the towel topper along the marked lines.

After the lines are stitched, the topper fronts will look like the photo below.

Below is a closeup of the stitched lines.

Different stitches can be used for each topper. 

Step 8: Sew the Towel topper together

Place the front and back towel topper pieces with the right sides together matching the sides and tab. 

The back piece will extend past the front piece along the bottom edge by 1/2". Pin around the sides and top, leaving the bottom edge open. Pin the folded edge of the band fabric in place so it will be stitched and folded up.

Stitch around the sides and the tab with a ½” seam allowance leaving the bottom open.  Start and stop ½” from the bottom edge.

Stitch slowly around the corners and the tab end.  Stop with the needle down, lift the presser foot and turn the fabric as needed to go around the corners.

Clip the curves and trim the curve of the tab to ¼” seam allowance.

Step 9: Turn & Press the Kitchen towel Topper

Turn the towel topper right side out.  Use a stick, pencil, chopstick or turning tool to push out the corners and the tab.

Press the towel topper from the front and back.

Step 10: Cut the store purchased towel in half

Cut the store purchased towel in half in the middle using a ruler and rotary cutter.  If you don't have a rotary cutter and mat, mark the line and cut with scissors.

How to use a Directional Kitchen Towel

Some kitchen towels in the towel sets have a pattern that is printed in one direction.  See the towel in the photo below has the Merry Christmas printed across the entire kitchen towel.

If the top half of the towel is inserted into the towel topper like usual, the design will be hanging upside down.  This won't work well!

These towels can still be used in the towel topper.  They just need to be turned around!

After cutting the towel in half, use a seam ripper to pick out the hem of the towel that would be upside down and iron it flat.

Turn the towel so it’s right side up, and create a new hem on the cut end of the towel by folding it up ½” twice and ironing.  

Stitch a new hem across the bottom of the towel with a matching thread and now you have a 2^nd towel to insert into the topper.

Stich the hem close to the folded edge.

Step 11: Gather or pleat the Kitchen towel

The cut towel is too wide to fit into the topper as is.  So, the towel can either be gathered or pleated before inserting it into the topper.

The hanging kitchen towel on the left in the photo below has been gathered before putting it into the topper.  The towel on the right is pleated with two larger pleats to the center and two smaller pleats near the sides of the towel.

The hanging kitchen towel below was pleated towards the front before sewing it into the topper.

If the kitchen towel has a large pattern or design, gathering may work better.  If you pleat these towels, it may be hard to have the whole design showing.

The coffee towels below work best by making large pleats towards the back. This way the wording will appear and can be read on the front of the towel.

The pleats can go to the back of the towel to help feature the design on the towel.  If the towel is plain, pleating towards the front can add more interest to the towel.

Gathering the Kitchen Towel

To gather the kitchen towel, use the zig-zag gathering method.  Zig-Zag less than ½” from the raw edge. ¼” - 3/8” works well.  This ensures the zig-zag stitches inside the seam allowance so that you won’t need to remove the gathering stitches later.  Use a matching thread to the towel in case the stitches do show.

To zig zag gather, pull the bobbin thread to the top.  Then pull the bobbin and top thread so it's longer than the width of the towel. Zig-Zag back and forth across the pulled out threads without hitting the threads.  

Gently pull the gathering stitches until the towel is the size of the topper.  See the link above for a video tutorial of this gathering method.

If pleating the towel, add pleats so that it’s the width of the topper. Pin the pleats in place.

Step 12: Sew the pleated towel to the back of the towel topper

This next step came from my experience making a lot of towel toppers.  If the towel topper is just slid over the towel and then stitched down, I found that I would miss stitching completely on the back.  I also didn’t like how it looked in the back because the seam did not lay flat.

So, I have come up with a different method to sew the towel topper to the towel.  This method sews the back onto the topper first and then sews the front down.

Place the back right side of the towel topper against the top edge of the BACK of the towel.  Line up the raw edges of the towel and the topper.  Pin along the raw edges as shown below.  Keep the front of the topper out of the way.

Stitch with a ½” seam allowance.  Do not catch the front of the topper in the seam.

If the zig-zag gather stitches are past the seam allowance, carefully remove them.  If they don't show much because the thread matches, you can also leave them in place.

Step 13: Finish the Front of the Hanging Kitchen towel

Open the seam and flip the raw edge of the top of the towel into the towel topper.  Iron the back of the topper so the seam is flat.  This will help when topstitching around the band.

Place the front band over the towel, press and pin it in place.

Step 14: Topstitch around the band

Topstitch or edgestitch 1/8" - 1/4" from the edge of the band all the way around the band.

Start with the bottom of the band so that the towel is attached.  Then continue around the rectangle of the band.

The topper is almost finished!  Only the Kam snaps are left.  Below is a photo of the toppers from the front.

And from the back.  I like how the back looks much better. Even if I miss the topstitching a bit on the back.  The seam lays much flatter.

Step 15: Add the Kam Snaps

Finally, add a Kam Snap set to each towel topper so the towel can hang.  On the printable pattern for the towel topper are suggested snap placement locations.

I recommend putting the snap near the top edge of the tab but away from the seam allowance. The other snap is centered where the tab starts to widen.

Install the Kam Snaps on the towel by picking out two caps, one socket and one stud.  I usually put the stud on the tab.

If you need instructions and tips for Installing Kam Snaps, please click the link for our video & photo tutorial.

Make a hole using the awl tool.

Insert the pin through the hole from the back to front.  Place the stud over the pin.

Install the snap using the Kam snap pliers.

The pliers will squish the point of the pin.

Install the other snap pieces further down on the topper.

Always test the snap by snapping and un-snapping around three times.  Sometimes the snaps are not installed correctly and they will come apart in the first few uses.  So, this ensures that they are installed correctly.

Did you install Kam Snaps incorrectly and need to remove them?  Click to see our tutorial on How to Remove Kam Snaps.

The hanging kitchen towel is Finished

The two hanging kitchen towels are finished and ready to be gifted or used!

Below are closeups of the front and back.

This is a photo of the whole towel.

I love making kitchen towels! Here are some other Kitchen Towel Projects:

• Turn any towel into a Hanging Kitchen Towel with Kam Snaps
• Make yourself some Un-paper Towels from old bath towels.
• This super simple Hanging Potholder Dish Towel takes a store purchased towel and a potholder to make a hanging dish towel.
• Embellish a store purchased towel by adding a fabric border to the towel.

Bowl Cozies are another popular kitchen sewing project.  Check out our String Pieced Bowl Cozy Pattern or our Crazy Bowl Cozy Tutorial.