How cool is this.
 

I have this vintage linen tea towel. Thinking of making it into a bag, but hate to cut it! What would you do.

I would make use of it...very nice

Why not put borders on it, sandwich it, quilt it and hang it on your wall?

here are some more pics of it.

I generally add borders to make a lap quilt in this sort of situation.

If you love the tea towel 'as is', then I like the lap quilt idea from QM -- add some borders, and I'd probably put a simple prairie point edging on it and enjoy it. Once made into a lap quilt and quilted (maybe some meandering quilting all over it), you won't have the wrinkling problem as when left the way it is. I always had to iron my tea towels (had a number from Australia) as they wrinkle so much.

I like this idea!


Hand QUilter for hire..... I am in WV

It would make a nice bag, but if it were mine I would hate to cut it up. Like the others have said a lap quilt or wall hanging would be nice.

I agree lap quilt or wallhanging. I would think by it being vintage...a wallhanging would preserve it longer. I love it.

It looks pretty long. If you cut it in half and make the sides from each piece you would still be displaying the whole tea towel on a tote bag.Or maybe make a table runner from it.

I love these old souvenir tea towels. Yours is very nice and a wall hanging sounds perfect. I have a lovely old piece from New Orleans in the 50's and now I know what I'm going to do with it :)

Don't you just love these old graphics on these tea towels? I do too.

If you wanted to keep it whole and original, you could purchase a poster frrame and display it in that. Or ... Like everyone say's it would be very nice as a quilted piece whole.

I have been to nassau. What a beautiful place to vacation.

Nope I wouldn't cut it. I think I'd leave it as is.

If you like the prints for a bag, just scan and print the parts you like on fabric, and make you bag from the printed fabric. Then like the others said, make a quilt/wallhanging out of the original. The original looks bigger and you would lose a lot in making the bag.

I certainly would not cut it up. It is too nice to start cutting into it. So I'd make it into an item that appeals to you so you can enjoy it. Good luck.

Wow!! What a great idea. I love this!

I would be afraid that the fabric wouldn't be very strong for a bag. I agree that making it into a wall hanging or lap robe would be best.

I would just border and quilt it, it's too pretty and unique to cut up

If you have only one I would do like what the others have said. If you have a lot of them put them together as a quilt top.

Looks neat - sort of retro! I would think a bag would be fun. Love the background too of your pic - since I am in a cold climate w/just a little bit of snow left, I had to look at the green.

We leave for Key West on the 13th for spring break - woo hoo!!!!

The fabric looks to thin for a bag, or a quilt. Thin fabric will loose its shape easily.

I would not cut it up and make it into a lap quilt.

quilt it and put it on the wall !

You could make an apron with it. TipNut.com has many patterns for making aprons from tea towels.

i would get a cheap canvas that is the right size and just stretch it over that and staple it on the back.

I wouldn't use it for a bag because it looks very delicate. I would probably put a very flat backing and make a wall hanging, or put it into a poster frame. On one of the blogs I read, Casey (blog owner) has a vintage handkerchief mounted on a white board with magnets (prevents having to pin into it). You can see it here: http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com/20...lections-four/

Not sure how big your piece is, or whether this would work, but I thought the idea was fabulous and plan to mount some of my own vintage hankies this way!

quilt and keep...too nice to cut up... or could you back it, fold it and stitch sides to make a big bag?

vintage tea towel
 

It looks very fragile. If you truly want to preserve it I would suggest having it custom framed.

I think I would put it into a wall hanging so you could always see it.

Make it the center of a quilt like a panel and putt the co-ordination fabrics from that. It would be beautiful, I would love to see what you come up with. Good Luck

I would just iron some fusible interfacing onto the back for support and frame it the way it is.

That is what I was thinking. Too nice to cut. Just put it in a frame and hang it on your wall. BrendaK

I have a 'tea towel' that I bought in Italy for 3 Euro. I had it framed and it now hangs in my breakfast area. Looks good and gets nice comments, plus it reminds us of the good time we had on our only European trip! Framing cost me about $65, but it was definitely worth it.

From the scanned pictures you could make a whole set of travel bags, i.e.; makeup, jewelry, travel documents, carry-on, etc! I love the retro theme!

I would save the beauty and frame it!