Match Your Kitchen Curtains To Your Stools With A Tea Towel DIY

Sometimes, the smallest details can pull a room together. For example, wouldn't a kitchen look whimsical and unusual if the stools and curtains matched? With a few humble tea towels, you can make a charming DIY that ties together your kitchen's seating area and windows for a perfectly coordinated look. It's easy, affordable, and a satisfying way to incorporate matching kitchen decor that won't clash with your space.

The idea for this DIY project is to use tea towels to make your very own cushion covers. But that's not all — you'll use the exact same towels to DIY curtain panels to use on your kitchen's small windows or alcoves. It's a creative way to use tea towels around the house, and it can be done with thrifted towels or new ones. The most important thing is that you need matching towels: two per stool cushion and one per curtain panel. You can choose whichever towel best matches your interior design style, whether they're flashy, plain, or patterned. If you're upcycling old and used tea towels for this DIY, though, make sure that they're in good condition. They don't need to look brand new, but frayed edges or holes will make these DIYs look messy.

In addition to tea towels, you'll need a few supplies, like a curtain rod, cushions, pins, and some buttons or Velcro strips to close the cushion covers. Like many projects using fabric, these ones are best suited for DIYers with sewing machines. If you don't have a machine and can't borrow one from a friend, there are some ways to adapt your approach; for example, you can use hot glue instead of sewing.

The first part of this DIY involves creating a curtain using a tea towel. This curtain can be used to cover up a small window or hide an open-shelving storage area. In any case, you'll first need to measure the area that the curtain needs to cover and make sure that the tea towels are the right size. Allow for 2 or 3 extra inches for both width and length, both to create the fold required for the curtain rod and to add some draping.

To turn a tea towel into a curtain, all you need to do is create a long fold where the curtain rod will fit. You can do this by folding the top couple of inches of the curtain inwards, towards the non-patterned side that won't be visible. Then, sew it straight across to create a simple pocket where you can insert the curtain rod. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can also do this by applying a long line of hot glue to the end of the towel and folding it over to create the pocket.

Because tea towels are relatively small, this is a DIY best suited for smaller windows or recessed wall areas. To choose the perfect curtain rod, keep in mind that tea towels are typically 18-by-28 inches wide, so make sure that the rod you choose measures around the same area (or double, if you're using two curtain panels). 

Now that you've made your tea towel curtains, it's time to move on to upgrading your kitchen stools with some DIY cushion covers. To do this, you'll need two tea towels per cushion cover: one for the front and one for the back. If you don't have enough matching tea towels, don't worry. Instead, you can use one of the matching tea towels for the front of each cushion and a plain tea towel for the back.

To make the cushion covers, lay your first tea towel (the patterned one) flat on the table with the design facing up. Place the stool cushion on top of it, and lay the second tea towel over it, facing down (either a matching or a plain one). Pin the tea towels together around the edges, mark where the cushion ends on the second towel, then remove the cushion. Cut the excess fabric from the second towel where you marked the end of the cushion. The patterned towel will fold over this part, so you can leave the cut as is — or sew a clean hem, if you prefer. Then, simply sew the two towels together along the pinned edges.

Once done, turn the cushion cover inside out, insert the cushion in, and fold the remaining tea towel over to close it. To secure it all in place and close the cover, you can sew some buttons on the second towel and cut slits in the first one. You can also use an easier technique for this, like iron-on Velcro strips. Because the cushion cover opens, you can easily throw it in the washing machine if you ever get it stained or dirty.