Once I made the first stamped flour sack towels, I went back to Michael’s to pick up more colors of fabric paint and came across a cool nautical stencil pack from good ‘ole Martha Stewart. Well that purchase basically derailed a Sunday afternoon, and I was making more towels!
Stenciled Flour Sack Towels
What you’ll need:
- Flour sack towels, washed & ironed
- Fabric paint
- Stencils
- Sponge brush
- Cardboard
For the first stenciled towel, I decided to try out the smaller coral stencil with red paint. I grabbed one of my ironed towels and laid it out on top of a piece of cardboard (so the paint didn’t go through to the table) and figured out how many coral stencils across I would do. Then I started painting..
Dab the paint on top of the stencil until it’s all filled in, then lift it up and move on to the next one. Not much skill involved with this.. just time.
Slowly, but surely I made progress until I had 7 rows of 4 corals. I kinda guessed where each coral would go by looking at it, so they aren’t perfectly in line, but pretty good for my first stenciling.
I had 2 more towels that were already ironed, so I kept going… Rope and starfish stencils were next.
The towels with multiple stencils took a lot longer than I thought they would, but the rope one was done pretty quick. I did the starfish one in a random pattern and the paint isn’t all even so it seems a little more worn in.
I still have the starfish one and use it regularly in our kitchen. Wash them by themselves once, then they’re good to go with the rest of your towels in the laundry next time.
These are a great DIY gift the next time you need it, or make a few to keep them on hand!
Beautiful! May I ask which brand of fabric paint you like best for the flour sacks?
Thank you!!
I tend to like the Tulip kind with the tips so I can write with it if I need to, or squirt it out to paint / stencil. They have a variety of colors too!
does using the tulip paint leave the painted part of the towel hard or crunchy ive read other blogs that say you have to use ink or a fabric medium
I found it depends on how much paint you use. If it’s light and you really press the tip onto the fabric, then it may be crunchy. If you use a lil more paint with consistent application, then it came out pretty smooth