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How to Insert a Crocheted Lace Band into a Hand Towel

Jennifer Stern, contributor

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Here's my luxurious hand towel!

jen stern

A close-up of the towel.

jen stern

This is before inserting the lace band and edging.

jen stern

Here's my luxurious hand towel!

Photo: jen stern

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I hope you had a chance to check out my post featuring some really talented crafters at the Southern Vermont Craft Festival that I went to a few weeks ago. It was certainly worth the trip...the shopping in Manchester, VT was just a bonus. One of my favorite things to do is to check out all the bath and linen shops, especially the ones with the gorgeous stuff from France. I was in one of these shops when I saw the most beautiful bath towels. Of course, I had to pet them; they were really soft but that's not what made them special. They had crocheted lace bands inserted in them on one end. I checked the price tag—even in an outlet and on sale they were $60.00 (and that was just for the tiny hand towel). This was one of those occasions when I whispered my "I can make that" comment into my mother's ear. She loves it when I do that because it usually means that she has to leave without whatever caught her eyeball. (I always tell her that patience is a virtue. She usually ends up with a J Stern version of whatever I deprived her of!)

Let me show you how easy it is to make these bath towels. If you don't have a guest bath to hang them in, they would make a great gift, or treat yourself! If you want to monogram them, check out How to Create Signature Bath Linens for detailed directions on how to embroider a towel.

Here's What You'll Need:

A bath or hand towel (or both!)
Enough crocheted or embroidered lace to go across your towel(s) twice
Double-sided wash-away sticky tape, such as Wonder Tape
Baby powder
Wash-away marking pen
Ruler
All-purpose thread to match lace

Measure approximately 3" from the end in which you want to insert the lace band.

Draw a straight line even with the end of the towel using a wash-away marking pen and ruler.

This line is where we are going to insert the lace band. We are also going to attach lace to the bottom edge. If you want more or less towel between the lace, adjust the position of the line before you cut the end off.

Cut the towel into two sections along the line.

Cut two pieces of crocheted or embroidered lace that are 1" longer than the width of your towel.

You can use gathered lace along the bottom edge of your towel if you prefer.

We are going to use a three-step zigzag to topstitch the ends of the lace down. This stitch does a wonderful job of keeping fabric from fraying—better than some stitches that are specifically designed to overcast the raw edges. The reason why it does a good job at holding fabric together is because the needle takes three small stitches in each direction as it zigs and zags back and forth. All those little stitches can hold the raw edges together really well. (This is different from a regular zigzag, which takes one stitch for each zig and zag.)

You can identify a three-step zigzag from a regular zigzag by the broken line that is used to represent it on the display of your sewing machine. Stitch No. 4 is the three-step zigzag. No. 3 is the regular zigzag.

Fold the ends of the lace under 1/2" and use the three-step zigzag to topstitch across the ends.

This will keep all the little ends of the crocheted lace from raveling.

If you have a serger, clean-finish the cut edges of the towel. If you don't have a serger, you can use the three-step zigzag on your sewing machine to finish the raw edges.

The nice thing is if you use thread that matches the color of your towel, you will barely see the three-step zigzag.

To make it really easy to sew the lace onto the edges of the piece of towel we cut off, use double-sided sticky take to hold the lace in place. The kind of sticky tape I like to use is called Wonder Tape. It is 1/4" wide and washes away in the laundry. Stick a piece of this tape onto the bottom edge of the towel.

Make sure that you only use a piece of tape long enough to stick to the towel. If it's too long, it will get stuck on your machine or presser foot and make a mess.

Peel the paper backing off the Wonder Tape.

You may have to use your fingernail to pick at the end of the backing to get it started. Don't be gentle with it. (It comes off easier if you scratch at it first, then try to peel.)

Position the lace over the Wonder Tape. Press the lace onto the Wonder Tape to hold it firmly in place.

Use the weave of the lace as a guide to stick it on the towel straight.

If your lace has a lot of larger holes, dust some baby powder onto the edge where the Wonder Tape is showing through the lace. This will prevent the presser foot from getting stuck as it sews the lace to the towel.

Less is more when you use the baby powder to prevent sticking.

Use a straight stitch or a very narrow zigzag to sew the lace to the edge of the towel.

Pick a straight path across the weave of the lace to sew on.

It's easier to put the two pieces of lace onto the small section of towel before attaching it back onto the larger section of towel.

Repeat the steps used to sew the first piece of lace when you sew on the second one.

After you have lace on both sides of the small section of towel, use the same technique to sew the other side of the lace onto the main section of the towel to complete it.

The Wonder Tape that can be seen through the lace will dissolve when you wash your towel.

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Comments (3)

Jen1964 writes: Beautiful! It makes me remember my great-grandmother's crocheted lace-edged pillowcases. There was a ripple or scallop to her edges. Your version sounds like it would hold up really well too. Maybe it'd horrify people, I don't know, but I always believed these beautiful little touches were supposed to be USED in real life, not just stored away for company (although that's nice too as long as they get USED!)!! It's so much nicer to treat family like company when you can. Posted: 10:09 am on October 23rd

granny474 writes: I will be making this lovelt towel this weekend for house warming gift for a friend who has just moved back into town.
Thank you for sharing your project with us. Posted: 6:59 pm on August 26th

wynneceline writes: I love this pattern I will be trying this lovely towel. And I will be also sending this pattern to my sister, who is also a crafter. This towel will be perfect for last minute gifts or as house warming gift. Posted: 1:27 pm on August 23rd

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