I wonder if anyone has sewn out on the flour sack cloths? They are so very thin & I would imagine that you can not sew out a design with fill stitches but redwork or colourline only so my question is this: Tearaway or perhaps lightweight or med weight leave in on the back & wss or not on the top? I hesitate to put the wss on the top thinking it may tear the stitches when pulled off.Any help with this is greatly appreciated

One of the reasons I use light designs and put them in a corner or out of the way is that when I use them, the designs...especially the back side...are scratchy on my hands. A lot of people I know simpy do not iron any more, and the lighter designs still look pretty good if you just smooth out the towel after they come out of the dryer. I dislike giving someone a towel that doesn't look good after they wash it.

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by pldc 16 Jul 2014

me too & that is something to consider as well thank you!

I prefer to use light designs on flour sacks. Not so much because you can't do a heavier design, more because it interferes with the function of the towel to have a heavy design on it.

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by pldc 16 Jul 2014

thanks & I can see that too, thanks & hugs ~

I did several for a friend whose daughter was getting married. I stitched car designs from EL so you know the stitching was dense. I had no trouble at all using medium weight tear away stabilizer. I did take care when I was removing the stabilizer to be sure I wasn't tearing fabric or stitches. Have fun. You may need to test out what works best for you.

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by pldc 16 Jul 2014

thanks Karen good to know! ~hugs~

One of my first "major" project was large designs on flour sack cloths for Christmas baskets. My family members loved them! The designs used were of a larger size (240 x 150 hoop size), of a fairly high stitch count (30,000+), included a small patch of applique, and had 12 or more color changes. I used scraps of Solvy to make starch which was "painted" on the towel and allowed to dry. After dry, I hooped the towel with tear-away stabilizer. After the second or third towel, I discovered that if between color stops I removed the hoop from the machine and turned off the machine then back on that the registration remained better intact. (This method does take a bit longer but the results are well worth the trouble for me since I really dislike the leftover look of cutaway stabilizer on any item that will be seen on both sides.)

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by pldc 15 Jul 2014

thank you Aunt Annie this is helpful.

Ok well thanks ladies I will go with colourlines & 2 sheets of leave in stabilizer on the bottom & none on the top. ~hugs~

The flour sack cloths that I get around here are so thin that I stopped buying them. I buy a heavier weight towel and love them.

I have sewn out on flour sack cloths. I used 2 layers of tear away on the back with nothing on top. the color line has more paper to remove on the back. No problem with the filled design only made the towel stiffer.

i did some for xmas last year.tear away med or light and redwork or colorline.much like the dish cloths of 30's with outline hand stitching

I did once a few years ago. You're right used colorline. Not bad, but not worth doing it a second time to me.