an idea I had....

that sort of worked...

My lovely friend Mel gave me a gorgeous tea towel as a gift - she knows me well and just what I would like - and I just loved it. Too much to simply put it in the tea towel drawer, even though being linen it would in fact be an excellent dish dryer.

Instead, I remembered seeing somewhere in a magazine how someone framed a lovely printed tea towel, making a cheap and colour bit of artwork.

Our walls are pretty bare (apart from cobwebs and dust, but that is another story titled Living In The Country) so I decided to give it a go. And fortuitously, when I went to Charters Towers the other day, I found the EXACT sized large (50 x 70 cm, so very large!)  frame I needed, for only $12! I bought three.

Which is a good thing, as I have broken the glass on my first attempt to get this project underway. (stupidity on my part, as usual)

Firstly, I unpicked the hem all around the tea towel, and gave it a press with a hot iron. Of course, this would be easier if I chose a pattern without so many straight lines, an all over print would be smarter!

I laid the glass over the tea towel, trying to get things as straight as possible. Drew around the glass and then cut off the excess fabric, just inside the line I drew.

The frame.

I then placed the trimmed towel on the backing board (I flipped the bit of paper over so I had a white background to lay my white towel onto) keeping everything lined up as best as I could. Placed the glass directly over the top (try not to drag it over the area, it will disrupt the placement of your towel). Clipped the little silver things back into place, and done.

And its crooked. But cute.

Now, begs the question: my seamstress/perfectionist MIL reckons she can get the whole thing straight by trimming off and leaving a narrow white border and sewing a navy or black border around this, and then stretching around the frame.

Do we add the border? Or leave it as is, in its kitschy, crooked, loveliness?

I ask, as I have two others to do - same pattern, different colours (CZ each your heart out, symmetry and repetition!)

What do you reckon?