A couple weeks ago, we chatted a little bit about flour sack towels used for hand embroidery and other crafts, discussing their uses, history, and resources for good ones.

Today, I’m following up on that article with a review of what I think just might be the Best Flour Sack Towel for hand embroidery. I sorely wish I had found these a long time ago!

So let’s look at this fabulous cotton towel and I’ll tell you why I think it ranks right up there as the Best Flour Sack Towel for hand embroidery (so far in my explorations, anyway!).

The towels I’m focusing on today from Mary’s Kitchen (no affiliation).

When my pack of towels arrived in the mail, admittedly, it languished a couple days before I opened it. Eventually, I caught up with it, though, and decided to get it opened and the contents situated. And lo! What did I hold in my hand, but the most pleasant surprise of the week!

Immediately, I was prepared to like the towels.

Three things in the feel and look of the towels told me I’d like them:

• They are bright white.
• They don’t have that characteristic wobbly surface that you often see on flour sack towels.
• They are very neatly hemmed.

I would soon discover a few more details that endear the towels to me.

The finishing on each towel is quite nice, for a $2 cotton towel.

There’s a twill corner loop for hanging. There are very few wisps and threads emerging from the sewing on the edges – the hems are really neatly done, crisp, and straight. The towels are square – they iron up in a nice, neat square, without the folds and ridges often found on other flour sack towels.

The fabric itself is not super thick – it’s about the thickness you’d expect from a typical flour sack towel.

But the “hand” – the surface feel of the fabric as you run your hand over it – is nice and smooth.

And the fabric is consistent. I haven’t come across thin patches on any of the towels that I’ve worked with so far (I’ve washed and ironed about half of them.)

Perhaps one of the things I like best about the towels is the embroidery experience on to surface of them.

They hoop up really well. You can pull them nice and taut in your embroidery hoop, and there are no irregular dips and valleys to accommodate and no inordinate stretchiness to the fabric. Sure, there’s a little bit of stretch on the bias, but compared to most flour sack towels available on the market today, these hoop up firm and taut with very little effort – and they stay that way while you stitch!

And finally, I like the size. They are 27″ square, which makes them a nice size – fairly large, but not huge, and perfect for hanging on a hook or a stove handle.

Now, keep in mind that flour sack towels are not really an expensive, luxury towel. They are inexpensive cotton towels – these clock in at about $2/towel – and they really are meant for kitchen work.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t be embroidered and made pretty! I love them for gift giving (they make great basket liners for hostess gifts around holidays, for wedding showers, and the like). And I love them just to use in my own kitchen.

I always embroider them with the intension of being able to throw them in the laundry, too. Yes, they might fade over time with regular laundering, but that’s just the nature of the flour sack towel. They’re made to be used.

Where to Find Them

You can find these particular flour sack towels from Mary’s Kitchen here, if you’re looking for a source for well-made, bright white, square flour sack towels.

If you’re thinking ahead to hand-made Christmas presents, these would be nice with a little holiday accent in the corner.

For example, for something large and holiday-ish, this free boughs of holly corner design would be a nice touch. Or any one or several of my Twelve Trees for Christmas situated on the edge or in the corner would look great, too!

I’ll be posting the floral corner design and stitch guide that I’m using in the photos above soon!

Hope your week’s off to a great start!