Idea - To Re-use a Dish Towel

I am fascinated by the role that dish towels play in our culture.  

Some of them are used for drying hands and dishes.  Many are sold as souvenir items and cheerful gift options.  They are a blank canvas for artistic expression.  Many artists have specialised in Tea Towels! (I have a fair-sized collection of good-looking towels - and their purpose is strictly decorative!)

I decided to turn this bright dishcloth find into a pillow cover!   Once a lovely Linen London Souvenir, it caught my attention in a Pietermaritzburg charity shop a few weeks ago. 

It was a simple project. 

I folded the dishcloth in half and inserted a zip between the top and bottom edge, forming a tube.  I then made sure that the rather stern soldier was centrally positioned on the front edge, before stitching the 2 side seams.

This made for a patchwork-looking back - with 2 marching pigeons as the focal point!

The dishcloth was not damaged in any way, so it can be unpicked and used for it's original purpose any time.   I filled it with a square feather pillow, which I gently stuffed into the oblong shape cover.  It looks good on my living room  sofa :-)

So that's it - an easy 3-step process:

1 Find a suitable dish towel

2 Insert a zip closing

3. Stitch the side seams. 

Turn out the corners and stuff with a feather inner.