Monogrammed Towel Wrap

I found this cute towel wrap for a steal at Sam's Club a few weeks ago, and snapped it up as a graduation gift for my cousin, who graduates from high school in a few weeks.

I wish I could take credit for the towel wrap, but it came this cute. Ruffle and bow and all! All I did was add the monogram:

I LOVE to applique, and I decided to try something new this time. Instead of using a blanket stitch (like my Gramma taught me!) I decided to try a zig zag. I've had my eye on it ever since seeing some of Heather's cute applique over at Olive and Ollie.  

I set my stitch length to 0.5 and left the stitch width up at 3.5, which is my machine's natural zigzag setting.  Lessons learned:

1. It is a totally different look than the blanket stitch.  I love the way it adds a lot of depth to the letter.
2. It seems like it will be a lot more secure than a blanket stitch in holding the letter onto something that is bound to be washed a lot.
3. Doing corners is ridiculously hard. Or probably really easy - I'm just not sure how?
4. You should never try a new sewing technique for the first time on terrycloth.  What was I thinking??

All in all, not too shabby! This would be a super easy towel wrap to make, especially if you found a huge towel at Homegoods or a similar store.  You could just chop off one end, and re-attach it as a ruffle, and some velcro and elastic to the top and tie on a cute ribbon.

Or you can buy it at Sam's already "cuted" up and just add the letter...