Your size 14 x14 is correct. If your machine does an overlook stitch, that's what you need to keep the edge from raveling. A zigzag edge is better than just a straight stitch. If straight stitch is the only choice, consider using fray check, a product available at Joanns and perhaps Walmart or hobby lobby type store. It does just what the name suggests. Do you have a friend with a serger also called an overlook machine? That is the fastest way to do this type of sewing. Do you know about chain sewing? I can explain but it's not exactly on topic.

Mama - can you tell me what kind of dish towels Paw sent you? You're no doubt aware of my never-ending quest for good kitchen towels :) The vintage linen are wonderful, but expensive and difficult for me to find. You'll love those 28x28 flour sack. They're the real deal!

Alex I'll look for my info on the towels for you...as for flour sack tea towels...are they kinda like cloth diaper fabric but thinner? I have a bunch of these fairly large white cloths for the kitchen, they were moms but don't think she ever used them but heck I go thru the stack in two days ..they are awesome. I'll take a pic later tonight.

Poppy I have overlook but thought it was called overlock..lol. I'm sure I'll be asking advice at some point. Lol..I'm going to cut the fabric when I get it and Amiees using the machine. It ought to be fun. Thank you Poppy

Unfortunately, I can't immediately conjure the feeling of a cloth diaper, Cheryl, but I do believe it's a fair comparison: soft, cotton, and durable as heck. But yes, quite a bit thinner for sure. They are so thin I often use them as cheesecloth when straining foods for cooking. That's why I'm so crazy about getting good rinses on my kitchen cloths :) I don't normally use, or need, chlorine bleach on them.

Alex.forgot the towels are in the washer soaking..I just turned them back on so as soon as they dry I'll snap a pic but they won't be ironed yet lol

See what happens when you type correctly and then the stupid auto correct decides it knows best. You're right of course, it is overlock and another name for a serger is an overlocker. Amiee should be sure the tension isn't too tight and not go at top speed until she's sure the stitch is forming correctly. I'd be happy to help if you have questions. Sewing my way through the blizzard of 2016.

Here's a pic of my moms towels..I found them when we moved in in 09 they were in a kitchen cubbord..I could tell they were never used but there was no packaging they were folded and in large zip lock bags. I started using them this past summer and omg do they wash nice and always come clean, but they do require ironing, but I iron all my tea towels unless there terry cloth. I hope these are flour sack as they are so nice. I often look at tea towels in stores and never see these, but than again I've never seen flour sack towels in my life..I should be ashamed of myself lol

The pic shows yellow on my end but they are white...thank you Alex for the compliment. I do try my best to keep white...white. Tide with Bleach powder is responsable. Haha. Oh and hot water....oh I'm glad these are flour sack..I really like these nothing ever stains on them its like they are magically protected lol.

I use flour sack dish towels and love them.

My family (grandmother, mother, self, sisters) have used flour sack dishtowels f-o-r-e-v-e-r. They do bleach nicely.

I have a few flour sack towels. They have 0 lint, as you say. I always used them for food tasks like straining and squeezing -- when I needed absolutely clear liquid. Mine have stains from the food use. Yours actually look much nicer than the ones I have.

Never thought about using them for cleaning. But I have a "thing" about towel usage. I don't mix cleaning with drying.

The flour sacks should be good for general.

I have come to prefer microfiber for cleaning. Mine are color coded.

Now this is going to sound odd but I find it to be true. The best towels for drying dishes and drying anything are waffle microfiber towels. Linked you to them on Amazon.

I use the vintage ones for draining and covering.

Re the cloth napkins. Can you wait? You can pick them up for nearly nothing at yard sales, thrift shops and swap meets. Unless you want to make them as a project. No one wants cloth napkins any more.

I could wait on the cloth napkins roc..but I never see them anymore at thrift stores..its a shame I used to have tons but once washed this past summer I had them in a mesh type bag for ironing on top of the dryer..I had several bags on the floor for hubs to donate and he did along with my cloth napkins..I wanted to kill. Do you know if fabric stores sell flour sack by the yard?

As for micro fiber for some reason I can't stand the feel of them, just a slight touch and I'm gritting my teeth. LOL.

Dadoes I have bleached these towels a few times. I rarely use bleach, but last summer and fall son was into cooking and I seen him touch meat and wipe his hands on the towel ..BLEACH. typically I do a load of dish towels weekly..a lukewarm prewash than a boosted hot wash with over night soak in Tide with Bleach powder. .amazing stuff. Lol..

Alex this is the towels Scott sent me. 100% cotton

@Pinky Flour sack towels available here:

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/store/jump/productDetail/Home/Kitchen_&_Dining/Kitchen_Essentials/Floursack_Towels/63272

We use cloth napkins. They last forever. Granddaughter wanted to know why we put towels on the table; didn't they belong in the bathroom? Her mama is teaching "everything has a place" at the moment so everything has to go to its place. I think it's hilarious. She's three.

Poppy thank you..I did order a 13 pk of 28×28 on Amazon yesterday..hopefully they are as nice as my moms. Poppy do you know if fabric stores like Joann fabrics sells flour sack by the yard?

MamaP - oh! I have some of those with the blue striping. Yes, they're good indeed. I don't find the durability to be excellent (some have torn or frayed), but I love that they don't wrinkle/curl after a hot wash and dry. This is my chief criticism of the previously excellent Williams-Sonoma towels.

mamap - For the table napkins, if you don't mind a poly/cotton blend and want no-iron, there is a fabric called Weavers Cloth that I've seen at JoAnn Fabrics and used. It has been around for decades(!) and used to be called Kettle Cloth. The polyester may not want to turn nicely for a rolled hem so remember that quilters cottons will sew up nicely because they're 100% cotton.

. Zig-zagging the edges will give you a rolled hem look that you might prefer over the overcast edge. Loosen the upper tension or tighten the bobbin tension to help the rolling. Experiment on scraps before you begin.

Use a size 80/12 denim/jeans/sharp needle for best results. Universal needles are ... okay ... but I prefer the sharp type in sewing.

We only use cloth table napkins in our house and have for decades. The themed cotton fabrics, like pasta or sports, were always a hit with our son when he was growing up. I used my serger to make the rolled hems but not everyone has one. Nowadays I'll make them with cotton fabric with college and/or pro sports teams and give them to friends.

Use 100% cotton for your cloth napkins! I have found that napkins with any amount of polyester do not absorb. Gross when you are wanting to absorb a bit of something from your hand or face and the napkin just smears it around rather than take it off. You can get cotton muslin in either white or a natural/off white color fairly cheaply at fabric stores. They have different thicknesses, so you should look to see what might work best for you. Don't know if you have Hancock's fabric by you, but they are having a big sale and have a coupon for 20% off total order good through Wed.

I will look for you pinky and see what I can find. We have tons of thrifting around here. Pickers come up from the city. Any preference on color or print style?

I agree about 100% cotton for napkins. Years ago, in the late 60s, I bought no-iron polyester napkins and cloths. So nasty. After that I just took whatever my Mom was getting rid of. Still using many of those.

@Pinky No Joanns doesn't carry the flour sack type fabric. Muslin mentioned is a much tighter weave than the flour sack. You could try bird cloth which is the fabric that used to be used for cloth diapers if you want great cleaning cloths. Weavers cloth would work or if you really want cloth napkins. Rococogurl is right, it would be cheaper to try garage sales, flea markets or the Goodwill store for old tablecloths you could cut up with pinking shears to get a no fray edge. If you haven't worked much with a sewing machine, be careful with the tension adjustment whether top or bottom. It is very easy to over tighten or loosen and end up with a mess. Good Luck

I'm glad you still like the towels! I couldn't have white towels for myself, but you are the professional on whites!!

Aww Scott what a nice thing to say, and yes I LOVE the towels and so far they have washed so nice. Thank You Scott.

Roc Thank You and no color preferance..but don't even worry bout it right now with all this winter weather..spring is around the corner and that's the best time to thrift shop lol..Thank You Roc.

Poppy thanks for your good advice. I will search the thrift stores and let you know what I find. This will for sure take time but its a fun project for Amiee. Thank you all for your good advice.

Good news, bad news!

Good news...I received the 24 package of towels from Amazon and immediately removed the tags. I am a tag freak in that I remove all tags from everything where it isn't a necessity to keep them on.

Bad news...I thought I ordered the flour sack towels :(

These are the ones delivered today

mustang & mama please tell how these perform and wash, they look lovely!

Jean these came today but also went over to a larger walmart and found a 10 pack for 8 $ lol...I washed them all in 140deg f...they came out of the dryer wonderful no shrinking that I can tell and soft..I love them they feel like a cloth diaper Jean but thinner and very absorbent. I recommend them for daily use. My other ones have gone thru h3!! You know cooking can be messy lol...but they wash nice and white. Get to walmart and try them out. Lol

Wow you are on it mama!! Good to know about the 10 pack. Don't know why but I like thinner material maybe because it's easier to use? I like thinner towels in the bathroom after a shower as well. I do also like bar mops. My Grandma is always trying to give me her tea towels and such, but I just think she should keep them because she loves them. They are ancient and gorgeous! Thanks for the info-I always like more laundry!

Most of the people who make Unpaper towels and Paperless Towels use birdseye. Joann calls it diaper cotton and if you wait for one of their 60% off coupons you can get it cheap.

i'm a vintage dealer so I hoard all of the great linens I find that match my kitchen (and sell the rest- there is a big market for vintage cloth napkins and kitchen towels!)

i'm also fond of Ikea Tekla kitchen towels. Cheap and they hold up to some serious abuse.

Mama, Thanks for the Walmart heads up.

What threw me off was I was shopping by size; I wanted 12" X 12" and I didn't notice that I had veered off the flour sack. I'll just cut them smaller...then the 10 pack will be a 20 pack :) .

Veda..thank you. Diaper cotton well I can see why its called that. I'll check it out thanks. I planned to make washable paper towels and this will be perfect.

Veda..this would be a great place to show some pics of your vintage linen towels, there's a number of people that may venture over to see you on where ever it is you sell them..care to show a few pics?

Other sellers have a far better selection than I do, mamap, since I primarily sell 1930s-60s clothing. The linens are just something I love that I can't pass up when I find them. I'll just say that Etsy and Ebay are great places to find vintage linens and on Etsy you can get napkins and towels with original designs created by the shop owners so you'll have things no one else has! Some shops even do custom work if you need specific colors, etc.

Veda, Thank You..also Thank You for letting me know about the Diaper Cloth. This will be perfect for washable non paper towels as it washes so well and can be bleached if needed. I will have to get to Joann's but first I'm waiting for a coupon...again Thank You.

FYI that diaper cloth is on sale at Joann's right now. Did you look on line for coupons? There's usually something there.

http://www.joann.com/coupon/

You can't use most coupons on sale items at Joann (they say regularly priced items,) so the best deal is waiting for it to not be on sale and using the 60% off coupons that comes up every 4-6 weeks. The next best deal is waiting for it to not be on sale and using the 50% off. Very occasionally there will be a 20% off that includes sale items.

I just wanted to report that I went to Joann Fabrics and checked out the Diaper Cloth. I was very disappointed in it as it was not 100% cotton, but rather a cotton/ poly blend, at least that's what my store sells. I'm still planning to make washable non-paper towels and I think what I'm going to do in order to save money since these will be used only for clean up of kitchen messes and wiping sticky kid hands..is..walmart sells a 10 pack of 28×28 flour sack towels for 8$ ....cut each one in four gives me 4 ...14×14 ..so 8 dollors will yeld 40 of these. This is very cheap and cost effective for a fabric that's 100% cotton, absorbant, and bleachable. The size is right even if it should shrink slightly. Will only take minutes to run the edges off on the machine and will be fun for Amiee to do. I think I'll do 3 packs giving me 120 at a cost of 24$ what do you think?

I think it's a great idea! If you use a high quality thread to run off the edges you'll have towels that can handle your high-heat washes (and occasional bleaching, probably) for years to come. I know next to nothing about sewing (that's a future project) so I can't recommend what type of thread but you know the bad kind I'm talking about --- the stuff that causes curling in the dryer. Just call up Williams-Sonoma, ask them what they use, and don't buy that :)

Ref: thread for finishing the edges. Unless you have a serger/overlock machine, do not use the large cones that are so cheap to buy. It is so thin, it will tangle and make a mess. Be sure to use the same thread in the top and bottom threading of your machine. Polyester thread is the strongest, but there are varying quality of threads. I like Gutterman, Mettler or Essential. I suppose you could use the Dual Duty, but my machines don't do well with it. It is a cheaper brand. The density of the stitches depends on which stitch you're using. If you use a zig-zag, too close together will get you a satin stitch that may buckle if the fabric shrinks. My preference would be an overlock stitch. You could also turn under the raw edge and sew with a straight stitch. Length of stitch depends on how thick the material is. Good Luck.