Flour Sack Dish Towels

[snowangel]

I love flour sack dish towels. They are very absorbent, and dry in a flash.

I love giving sets of them, embroidered for each day of the week, as gifts.

When my grandmother died and we emptied her house, I took the last of the unused flour sack dish towels (all 70 of them) and have managed to give all of them away.

So, what I see in stores seems skimpy. Not only in size, but terms of quality.

Am I the only flour sack dish towel junkie? Can someone point me to a source of nice, high quality ones? Evenly woven? Not resembling cheesecloth more than what I'm used to?

[srhcb]

vermontcountrystore.com has them, and a lot of other neat stuff too!

SB (and good service)

[Gifted Gourmet]

Can someone point me to a source of nice, high quality ones?  Evenly woven?  Not resembling cheesecloth more than what I'm used to?

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these are exceptionally lovely! Highly absorbent, large dish towel hand-stamped with a lavender design.

more towels here as well

colorful ones from Spoonsisters

[John DePaula]

Believe it or not, we used to make coffee filters with 'em. Very Southern, I think!

[moosnsqrl]

I love giving sets of them, embroidered for each day of the week, as gifts.

Great! I'll PM my snail mail address to you.

[andiesenji]

I sometimes buy them at Smart & Final because they have the large ones, - I just measured one and it is 32 x 34 inches.

Occasionally I buy the medium weight unbleached muslin, wash it, because it shrinks a lot, then cut it to the size I want. My sewing machine has a narrow hem attachemnt that makes a flat, double-stitched 1/4 inch hem and it takes little time to finish the cut edges. If I get the 40 inch width I only need to hem them on two sides - it shrinks to about 36 inches wide.

Many years ago I used to buy the Curity brand diapers, which were about the same type of fabric, extremely absorbent. Woolworth's and Penney's used to carry them but I haven't seen them for years.

[snowangel]

Andie, I am hording that last package of Curity diapers that I have!

But, my daughter did come across a package of flour sack towels at WS that had a smudge on them, and I will launder than a couple of times in very hot water to see if they approximate.

And, I will try the muslin thing. That could be what I'm more looking for. I just don't understand how they can see cheeseclothy stuff and claim it is "flour sack."

[andiesenji]

Andie, I am hording that last package of Curity diapers that I have!

But, my daughter did come across a package of flour sack towels at WS that had a smudge on them, and I will launder than a couple of times in very hot water to see if they approximate.

And, I will try the muslin thing.  That could be what I'm more looking for.  I just don't understand how they can see cheeseclothy stuff and claim it is "flour sack."

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I grew up in a family that was well off financially but would probably have been considered frugal because nothing useful was ever wasted. Sheets that had become thin in the center (where most of the wear occurs) were cut up and hemmed for dish towels or cut into strips which were braided together, then sewn into circles or ovals to protect the table from hot dishes. A big kitchen serving a very large family uses a lot of dish towels but I don't recall anyone in the family ever buying them as a specific item. There were fancy ones received as gifts and sometimes bought at church fund raising events - home made ones that had designs that had been stenciled onto the fabric or with embroidery, cross stitch or similar decoration. These were usually reserved for tea towels, to place on trays, etc.

We did get flour in 50 pound sacks and those were always saved and washed, but usually kept intact as sacks for the cornmeal that was ground at the mill on the farm.

[snowangel]

I grew up in a family that was well off financially but would probably have been considered frugal because nothing useful was ever wasted.  Sheets that had become thin in the center (where most of the wear occurs) were cut up and hemmed for dish towels or cut into strips which were braided together, then sewn into circles or ovals to protect the table from hot dishes.  A big kitchen serving a very large family uses a lot of dish towels but I don't recall anyone in the family ever buying them as a specific item.  There were fancy ones received as gifts and sometimes bought at church fund raising events - home made ones that had designs that had been stenciled onto the fabric or with embroidery, cross stitch or similar decoration.  These were usually reserved for tea towels, to place on trays, etc.

We did get flour in 50 pound sacks and those were always saved and washed, but usually kept intact as sacks for the cornmeal that was ground at the mill on the farm.

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Now that I think of it, I'm sure this is what my great-grandmother and grandmothers did, and that the lot of "dish towels" I got were not actually purchased dishtowels, but odd bits, hemmed. Some of them are hemmed on four sides, some on three sides (with one side the selvage edge). They have all been of slightly different colors, weaves and weights.

I do know that the one item always purchased was Sugar and Cream yarn for dishrags and potholders.

[snowangel]

I scored! I didn't want to go throught the hassel of cutting, heming, etc. (give me a break, I'm quitting smoking), so I've been on the prowl.

Stopped at Fleet Farm today, and they had nice substantial ones (34 x 36) for $.99 each. They also had sets of 6 (what's up with that? there are 7 days to a week!).

A friend who lives in a little town in S. MN stopped at Ben Franklin and they had a huge selection of Aunt Martha's Hot Iron transfers, so I'm in business.