January 2026~ Personalized hand towels

 Hello quilting friends, 

Are you usually scrambling at the end of the year to get your holiday gifts made and finished in time? GUILTY! I know that I should be making a list of gifts or decor I want to make and work on them throughout the year, but so far I have not accomplished that.

So, this year I thought it would be great fun to come up with a gift or decor item EVERY month so that I have a nice collection ready to gift when the holidays come around. When I shared this idea with members in my Facebook group there was a lot of enthusiasm, so it is now a done deal ;).

My plan is to share a gift or decor idea at the beginning of each month in 2026. You can choose to participate or not, you can change the idea to meet your needs, and if an idea really strikes your fancy you can choose to make a hundred of something. I am going to try and use Accuquilt products as much as possible, but you can of course choose to not use them.  As you can see my sewalong will be very open-ended and flexible!

{ my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase through one of my links I receive a small commission at absolutely NO extra cost to you. This compensates just a little bit for all the time and effort I put into making tutorials and writing up posts. Thank you for your support!}

Let's dive right into January's project: Personalized hand towels.

This is such a fun, easy, and useful gift! I don't know about you, but my towels always pick up mystery stains that refuse to come out, so getting some new ones is always appreciated. This past Christmas I gifted these to our kids and neighbors, personalized with their PETS! My neighbors LOVED getting their towels and were so impressed and I'm not telling them how easy they were to make ;).

I gifted mine for Christmas, but you can of course gift these for so many occasions: ANY holiday, a new home, Mother's Day, etc.

To make this project I used the towel topper die ( click), some applique shapes ( click), and purchased towels. 

( image courtesy of Accuquilt)

You can make your own towels, but when you purchase some inexpensive ones it makes this project go a lot faster ( I think I bought mine in packs of 3 and then cut each one in half to get me 6 towels). 

I started by cutting my towel in half in such a way that I was left with 3 finished sides, like this: 

The unfinished ends are going to go inside of the towel topper so no need to sew anything yet. (You will use one half of the towel for each finished towel). My useable size after cutting was approx. 14 by 20 inches, so if you want to make your own use that size as a guide. I chose to cut my purchased towels for 2 reasons: I found that using the towels at their original size made them too long, AND trying to sew over the BULK of the seam allowance  was really tough. So cutting my towels solved both issues.

Next, you need to choose some fabrics to use for your towel topper. You can choose a different fabric for the front, and back, and trim, but this is totally up to you. I recommend that you choose a non-directional fabric for your first try because that will make everything simpler.

 Cut 2 rectangles of fabric  that measure 11 1/4 x 7 1/2". 

Cut one piece of batting 11 1/4 x 7 1/2.

Cut 2 pieces of trim 7x3".

Fold every piece in half vertically, like this ( I like to use an iron to press a nice, crisp fold):They should now measure 11 1/4 x 3 3/4" and 7x1 1/2" respectively.

Place the two small  pieces of trim aside for now.

Place your fabric/batting on your die, lining up the folded edge with the markings. I recommend doing one layer at a time. If you are using directional fabric, you will want to pay attention because your "back" fabric is going to get folded to the front and might then be upside down. Plan accordingly! 

Cut one front, one back, and one batting piece. I used the new BOLT for cutting my pieces! I have to admit it is my favorite new toy :D . If you are looking for an AFFORDABLE, fully ELECTRIC cutting machine I recommend buying this( click here for more info and specifics).

Take your small trim pieces and line up the raw edge of each with the raw edge of the front and the back fabric (right side of back and front facing the folded piece):

Sew a 1/4" seam across both pieces and press away from the trim:

Now it is time to layer your towel topper pieces together! To do this place your towel topper pieces right sides together and add the batting on top, like so: 

Pin, and then sew around using a 1/4" seam, leaving the bottom ( trim) pieces unsewn. 

You might find it easier to keep that 1/4" seam at the inside corners if you mark them, but that is optional: 

Clip the corners, turn your towel topper right side out, and press. 

Using a stiletto or crochet hook is helpful in pushing out all the various bits and pieces.

Getting there! It is now time to insert your towel and you can choose to do this in whatever way YOU want, but I will share how I did mine. PLEASE NOTE: If you prefer to add trim all along the towel bottom ( as in the example below)you will want to add that now BEFORE folding your towel and inserting it! 

( image courtesy of Accuquilt)

Grab your towel and place it right side down( if you have one where that matters), with the UNFINISHED EDGE at the top ( away from you):  

You need to fold your towel to fit inside about a 6" opening. So lay a ruler at the top end of your towel for guidance and then fold your towel in half.

Unfold your towel and place the 3" mark on your ruler right next to that fold. 

Now comes a bit of a tricky part: Accordion fold the right side so that the outer seam ends up at the 6" mark on your ruler, like this: 

Repeat on the left hand side. You might find that the center folds overlap a bit and that is okay. 

Press firmly and then pin. Flip your towel over and re-pin so that you can see where you are going to sew. 

Now take your ruler and mark a horizontal line across the top of the towel at 3/4 to 1" mark.

I should explain here that I decided to do my towel a little differently than just stuffing everything inside the towel topper ( which is what the directions say to do). I found it was much easier to sew the towel together first, and then to stick it in the topper! 

Insert your towel into your towel topper so that both the front of your topper and your folded towel are facing the correct way. 

Insert evenly and as far as you need to to hide your stitches. Then pin in place.  

Sew close to the edge on the trim to finish this part of the project. DO MAKE SURE TO CATCH THE FRONT AND THE BACK PIECE  OF TRIM!

( I found that using a walking foot made this process very easy, so give that a try if you are having a hard time sewing through all those layers.)

You are almost finished! 

Now it is time to decide on a closure for your towel. You can attach a button, a snap, or Velcro. 

You want to measure your towel topper and mark a line for the center and then attach whatever closure you choose to use. If you are choosing to add a button closure, you want to flip the top down and mark a dot in the center, like this: 

This will be where you add your button hole. Every machine works a little differently so I decided NOT to share how I did mine, but if you would like to know, ask me and I will add it onto this tutorial ( using a Bernina sewing machine with a button hole foot).

If you are choosing to do a snap or Velcro, you will want to line up the two components  so they face each other on the inside. 

Now is also the time to add any appliques that you want to add. I did a variety of appliques on my towels, some bunnies, one cat, some puppies, and one butterfly. You want to attach fusible web to the back of your chosen fabric(s) , run them through your machine on your chosen die, and then fuse them down on your towel. Then go ahead and stitch them down with your chosen stitch, MAKING SURE THAT YOUR TOWEL IS OPEN AND SPREAD APART! Do not sew with your towel all folded together ;). 

For more info on appliqueing, please check out this link: https://myfarmhousequilts.blogspot.com/2025/09/applique-with-accuquiltintroduction.html.

You can also check out this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl9ndhU2MVM&t=4s.

So here was my final project: 

And here are some of the other ( more goofy) towels I made for kids and neighbors: 

Alright, so there you have it: Your first gift idea of the year! 

You could make so many of these and personalize them for the people you are gifting them to, but also for specific holidays or occasions. You can check out lots of ideas on the Accuquilt page where the towel topper die is sold. 

And you know what I love? They stay PUT and you don't have to constantly pick them up off the floor!

Here again are some links to products I used:

Towel Topper die ( click)

Butterfly die ( click)

Puppy die ( click)

Kitten die ( click)

Bolt Electric fabric cutting machine (click)

As always, if anything is not clear, please ask! I am always happy to help. 

In the meanwhile, happy creating!

Monique