Vintage Tea Towels

Collecting vintage tea towels is a great way to hold on to a piece of the past. These vintage tea towels can be used in the kitchen or simply displayed to help preserve them.

Vintage tea towels come in a variety of designs but they are usually all 100% cotton. The tea towels were often made from white flour sack material (actual sacks that flour came in instead of paper, like how we buy it now), which was often embellished with embroidery in designs like animals and scenes.

Other styles include tea towels made from printed fabric with all sorts of patterns. Some popular ones were sold as calendars suitable for hanging. When the year was up, the calendar could be removed and used as a tea towel in the kitchen.

Little Dutch boy and windmills tea towel from my collection.

Photo Credit: Peggy Hazelwood

Fun & Collectible Kitchen Towels:

1930s to 1960s

Colorful Vintage Kitchen Towels

(Schiffer Book for Collectors)

Handmade Home:

Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures

Vintage Animals:

Quilts, Pillows, Towels, and More

Whether you want to start a vintage tea towel collection or add to an existing one or maybe buy some fun vintage towels as a gift, you can find great kitchen towels online.

The condition of the fabric can vary on vintage linens, so be sure to check the item description when buying online. Some older fabric that was used extensively can develop holes or be very thin.

Vintage tea towels in this condition can still look beautiful hanging in your kitchen, but these vintage tea towels are probably not suitable for everyday use.

Use a vintage graphic and a new towel

Karen at The Graphics Fairy recently offered a lovely vintage French grain graphic and examples of how she used it to make her own "vintage" tea towels and place mats.

Visit her blog for the printable, which she offers in both forward and reverse options in case you want make a transfer like on hers, shown in the photo.

Photo Credit: The Graphics Fairy

I recently found this wonderful vintage tea towel at a thrift store. I loved it, but I showed it to my daughter and asked her if she wanted it (she usually doesn't). But she said, sure! So, this beauty now lives at my daughter's house. I'll visit it from time to time and may even try making a rick rack flower or two on some plain flour sack towels I have in the drawer. Isn't it pretty?

Craft Challenge:

Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Tea Towel

The Kitchen Linens Book:

Using, Sharing, and Cherishing the Fabrics of Our Daily Lives

101 Tea Towels

(Quilting)

Stitchin For The Kitchen:

Tea Towels, Applique and More

Linen was a popular fabric for calendars.

Some popular vintage tea towels were originally sold as calenders suitable for hanging in the kitchen. The calenders came with a dowel and string for hanging. The fabric was usually linen or cotton.

When the year was up, the calender could be removed and used as a tea towel in the kitchen. It's fun to collect vintage tea towels from your birth year. I've given friends calender tea towels from the year they were born. It's a gift that shows you care and took the time to find for just that person.

Photo credit: Peggy Hazelwood

Easy Embroidery!

I grew up in the 1960s and I remember Mom having tubes of fabric paint on hand for us to paint on cloth. First she ironed on a stencil then we decorated tea towels and aprons or whatever with the tubes of fabric paint. Fabric paints mimic the look of time-consuming delicate embroidery.

This was fun and the end result was a useful item. I recently found this vintage tea towel at a thrift store. It took me right back to those days. As you can see, this guy is singing and is as happy as, well, a bird! Read more about paint embroidery.

Photo Credit: Peggy Hazelwood

Grab some flour sack towels, some fun iron-on transfers in fun kitchen scenes or days of the week motif, and fabric paint pens. This craft project would be perfect for girl scout projects, as girls-night fun, or have each guest make one for the bride at a bridal shower.

If you don't want to take the time to actually embroider designs, fabric painting is a great alternative for decorating tea towels!

Peggy Hazelwood is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.