Handwritten Recipes Printed on Tea Towels

• Sometimes Homemade
• January 10, 2014
• 19 Comments

Make a cherished gift with your family’s time-honored handwritten recipes printed on tea towels. 

By now you all surely know that part of my love for baking comes from fond memories of my grandma on my mom’s side. I remember on almost every trip to my grandparents’ farm for a family weekend visit or when I got to spend a week there by myself in the summers, that we would bake something nearly every day. Biscuits, donuts, cookies, pies, and the list goes on. When I bake, I think of my grandma. This year for Christmas, I decided to transfer some of my grandma’s handwritten recipes on to tea towels for my mom.

I posted earlier this week about my failed attempt at trying to transfer them using freezer paper. I wasn’t willing to give up on the idea of getting the recipes onto the tea towels, so I decided to try tracing them with a Sharpie. Success!

Supplies:

• Flour sack tea towels. I cut mine in fourths
• Print outs of handwritten recipes.
• Black Sharpie – King size. (or you could use a permanent fabric pen)
• Sewing machine or thread for hemming edges.
• Optional: Ingredients for homemade Bubblejet solution (helps with fading).

Pretreating (optional):

I had already pre-treated my fabric with the DIY Bubblejet solution when I tried the freezer paper transfer method, so my fabric was prepped. I cut my flour sack tea towels into fourths (they were huge the way I purchased them).

Print Recipe

I scanned my recipes in and increased the images before printing them on 11×14 paper. One recipe was the front and back of a recipe card and one was just on the front, so the sizes and orientation were varied for each.

Tracing

I taped my flour sack material to my printed recipe so it wouldn’t move around and get out of alignment while tracing.

Then I carefully traced my grandmother’s handwriting onto the tea towel using the Sharpie. I have a light box from my card making days, so I used that to help make it easier to trace. I’m not going to lie, this took a few attempts.

Finishing

Finally, I sewed the two edges that I had originally cut. I double folded the edges and ironed them down before sewing with my sewing machine, trying to match the other two finished sides.

Washing

I rinsed the fabric in cold water and then washed on gentle in my washing machine. Here are pictures of before and after a single washing. I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t fade out too much when they were washed. I was hoping they would fade just a little though to make them look a little older and worn – which they did!

Before washing.

After washing.

Here is the other recipe I transferred. It brings me back to see her use “oleo” for margarine.

To give them to my mom, I folded them and tied them up with a bow. Mom recognized grandma’s writing right away. Being the crafter she is, she always appreciates a thoughtful handmade gift.

I love how you can immediately recognize some people’s handwriting. Both my grandmas have handwriting I can always identify on sight and it reminds me not only of their handwritten recipes I’ve seen or used but also of the wonderful cards and letters I’ve received over the years from them. My mom’s mom passed away 5 years ago. My dad’s mom is an amazing 94 year old who lives in her own home and still manages to bake a cake or Christmas goodies periodically. I’ve been truly blessed to have them in my life as long as I have.