ruffle towels

I bought this shower curtain at Target almost a year ago.  I had tan towels, and they were starting to get mildewy, no matter how much vinegar and baking soda and hot water I washed them with.  Target sales some cute ruffle towels, but they are too expensive for me.  I headed to Ross and found these great plain white bath sheets (yes, they are bath sheet size, and they are quite thick too) for a mere $7 each.  So I bought 4 and a hand towel and a rag.  I spent the same money on all of it, as one set costs at target.  I decided to add my own ruffles, to match my shower curtain.  I forgot to take pictures (I forget to do that a lot), but it is easy to explain
you could use a sheet, or muslin.  I cut 2" strips, 2x as wide as my towels.  I used my rolled hem foot to finish the edges (the one on my new sewing machine works amazingly well, it was a piece of cake).  You could also use a serger for the edges, or hem them the old fashioned way (I am just too lazy for that).  I did about 6 strips of ruffles on each towel.  to ruffle the strips, I just set my tension to the highest and my stitch length to the longest (this never worked on my previous cheap machine, but it worked like a charm on these).  Then I just sewed them on, kind of close together, so when they get washed and crinkle up, there wont be too much space between ruffles.  

it took me about 2 hours to do one hand towel two rags, and two bath sheets (I still have two towels left to do).  It is the first time I have done an entire two hours of sewing without one single frustration.  I couldn't believe it, everything went as planned, no unpicking seams, or re-cutting fabric.  The machine hemmed perfectly, and ruffled perfectly.  That never happens.  When I add the ruffles to the other two, I am going to add hoods, for my two little girls.  I will do a tutorial on hooded towels then.

I love that they are white, because I just use bleach everytime I wash them and I know they wont get mildewy like the others.