Bath towels, tea towels, beach towels, what can you do with these old (or even new) linens? Check out these ways to repurpose towels and give them new life!
I am ALL about upcycling, reusing, and using what I have. But usually I just use clothes to upcycle with!
Today I am rounding up lots of ways to use towels and transform them into something else, or even just a better towel.
So if you have an towel to upcycle, check out these awesome towel upcycle sewing projects!
How To Repurpose Old Towels
Towel Beach Shorts
This is an awesome upcycle idea from Kim in an upcycle group I am a part of. She traced a pair of her daughter’s shorts to make a pattern, and turned it into beach towel shorts!
Towels are a great material to use to make beach shorts or cover ups with because they soak up all the water! They keep your kids dry and covered after swimming and are super cute.
Towel Bucket Hats
Use a tea towel to make bucket hats that are perfect for the beach, pool, or any sunny day! Use this free sun hat pattern to make one in any size!
Tea Towel Dress
I LOVE these scrappy dresses made from tea towels! I am going to wave to try one!
Tea Towel Pot Holders
Cotton tea towels are great fabric for pot holders or hot pads. If they are thin you can add a thicker towel in the middle for more layers. I upcycled some old towels in my drawer into round pot holders in this post.
Baby Bib From A Towel
These lovely bunny dish cloths had started to fray on the edges but the insides were still cute! I turned one into a darling vintage style bib!
Rags
Of course, your towels can always be turned into rags. In this post, I tried 4 different methods for making rags and then washed them to see how they held up.
Hanging Oven Towels
Add a topper to your towel to turn it into a hanging oven towel! You can add a button or snap, or make a tie on topper like I did.
Tea Towel Basket
Use thin tea towels cut into strips to make a lovely Easter basket. You can find cute spring colored towels at the dollar store or thrift store, OR go to Walmart the day AFTER any holiday when everything is on sale!
DIY Towel Coasters
Turn old towels into little fabric coasters with this tutorial. They are great to catch all the drips and condensation from your cup!
Tea Towel Tote
Towels can be made into tote bags bey folding them in half, and sewing down both short sides. Then add a ribbon or strap to the top of both sides for an easy square tote!
Or you can take it up a notch and square the corners like in this tote tutorial to make a nice shaped square towel tote!
Swiffer Cover
This is an awesome idea I found from Len in an upcycle group I am in on Facebook. She cut a large strip from a towel and folded it over both short sides of her Swiffer mop, then sewed lines down both sides to make a reusable Swiffer cover!
Doll Diaper
Turn a white cloth or towel into a doll dress up diaper!
Cloth Diaper Inserts
Cotton towels are super absorbent and could make great cloth diaper inserts or boosters! Use a tutorial like this one, or cut out your own size of rectangles and finish the edges so they won’t fray.
No Slip Hanging Towels
Also lovingly called “toddler towels” or “cat towels” you can easily add a loop/slit to your kitchen towels to make it slip-proof! Check out how I made mine, and how you can customize yours depending on the size of towel you have.
I like these because you can still open and lay the towel flat, unlike one with a topper on it.
Tea Towel Pillow Cover
Cute tea towels make great materials for pillow covers! Sara has a super cute tutorial showing how she made these Ikea tea towels pillows!
Old Towel to New Oven Mitt
This cute idea makes use of the thickness of an old towel to make an oven mitt with!
Towel Scrunchies
Towel scrunchies are made from thin tea towels or microfiber toweling material and are perfect for wet hair! They absorb water and are not as slippery as a regular silk scrunchie. Here is my easy scrunchie tutorial, you can use a tea towel or towel material to make them! (I will update this later when I do a dedicated towel scrunchie post!)
Additional Ideas:
I have so many more ideas but haven’t made tutorials yet for them. These other amazing bloggers have made tutorials, but I don’t have permission to share their photos. Click on the links to check out these cool ideas too! There is so much creativity here!
