In the next two weeks chances are you’ll be heading to someone else’s house for a meal, celebration, party, or event and chances are you’ll be bringing a goodie of some sort – whether it be a sweet treat, wine, or bubbly. Try this simple and unique approach to packaging up your token of appreciation or party contribution, which doubles as another gift for the host after opened. More detailed directions are below, but basically it’s securing two sides of a tea towel with a simple stitch that can easily be removed so that the recipient then has the towel to enjoy. If you’re looking for treat ideas, check out earlier posts with recipes for caramel party mix (link here) and homemade granola (link here). If going with homemade options such as these, make sure to package them up in a plastic bag prior to putting in the tea towel.

These are holiday themed, but this idea can be used at any time throughout the year. Anthropologie always seems to have darling dishtowels, which I can never justify purchasing for myself. But as creative gift wrap for goodies? Absolutely. How cute would these be for a baby shower?

Fold the towel in half with the printed side of the towel together and sew one side and the bottom along the hem line of the towel. This way the stitch will be in the inside of the
bag when you pull it back through so the correct side of the towel is showing. The top opening is already finished with the towel’s hem. Use the largest basting stitch on the machine so the stitches can easily be taken out to make tea towel fully functional after the treats are gone. For those who don’t have a sewing machine, these two seams can be sewn with just a needle and thread and a simple running stitch.

As an added touch, include the handwritten recipe for the goodie inside.

Reality Check. This project seems a little daunting with the sewing aspect (at least it did to me, when my mom gave me the idea). But that’s the real beauty in this project for those of us that have to do the stitch by hand (picture above is courtesy of my mom, my machine is still in the box). The stitch is supposed to be loose – come apart, actually – so no pressure for perfection. Or even uniformity, for that matter.