"We seldom get into trouble when we speak softly. It is only when we raise our voices that the sparks fly and tiny molehills become great mountains of contention."
My family just made a big move from Virginia to Utah, which is back to what I know and where
I grew up. It's definitely refreshing. But moving to a new home can be stressful, with boxes to
unpack, a yard to care for (a totally new concept for us), and an unfamiliar neighborhood to
come to know.
It takes awhile to get into your normal groove and feel comfortable. And let's be honest - I am
hoping that in two years I'll all of my pictures hung on the wall!
But one thing is for sure - clearing out all of your stuff and starting anew allows you to look at
things from a different perspective and make a few changes by way of decor. Adding a pop of
color here and there can go a long way in brightening up your room. And why not create a pop of
color that's not only attractive to look at but also has a function? Here we go with the Ruffled
Kitchen Towel.
As a side note, not all of my articles are going to involve sewing or any other complicated skills.
I'm more of a simplified glue gun type of girl. I wanted to keep these "Small and Simple"
tutorials just as they suggest - small and simple.
What you'll need: White kitchen towel
6 fabric strips - 3" x 2x width of towel
Sewing machine with white thread
Needle
1. You'll want to start off by clean finishing all of the edges of your fabric strips. If you have a
serger, go ahead and use that for this step. I don't have a serger, so I just did a zig-zag stitch as
close to the edge of the fabric as I could make it.
2. Once you have done the clean finish on all of the edges, go ahead and fold over one of the
long sides of each strip and stitch a straight stitch. This will be the bottom edge of the ruffle and
will show, so you want it to look nicely finished. You can stitch the short sides of each strip as
well.
3. Now for the ruffles! There are lots of different ways to create a ruffle. I recently discovered
that you can just gather and sew the strip into a ruffle as you sew it onto the towel. So simple!
I like the look of the diagonal ruffle, so I just made sure to pin 4 pins to hold my fabric strip in
place so I could sew the ruffle that way. Just work one ruffle at a time, overlapping the ruffles by
about ¼"so you don't see the towel underneath.
4. Once your ruffles are all sewn on, you're ready to embellish. I had an extra large vintage
button that happened to match some of my fabric. I just took the last ruffle and hand sewed it
into a circle, then sewed the button on top.
Jenni Bowman, also known as "Jenni B," first delved into her creativity when decorating her
new home as a young bride on a small budget. Bit by bit, her skills improved. She appeared on
"The Martha Stewart Show" in December 2007, where she demonstrated some of her products
on live national television. She has also appeared on "Good Things Utah" and even had her own
television show, "Crafting with Jenni B," in rural Virginia.
She has been featured on Make Mine Pink in "Women Who
Inspire," an online marketplace designed especially for women. In the Spring of 2009, Jenni was
featured in "Artful Blogging" and "Marie", which are Stampington & Company and Somerset Studio publications. She was also listed in Utah Valley Magazine's "50 Most Fabulous People".
Jenni is currently the president of Jenni B Charmed, LLC and enjoys designing jewelry,
computer graphics and home accessories. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and
young daughter.
Jenni serves as a Relief Society instructor in her home ward.