A few months ago, I found a vintage linen tea towel at my favorite local thrift shop for 50 cents. I liked the simple brown and cream toile-esque images,and I thought it had kind of a Ballard Designs feel. It's a travel souvenir towel from a place in Kansas called Lindsborg, also known as "Little Sweden". It sits on a bench in my foyer, awaiting the day when a Swede will walk through the door, point to the pillow, and exclaim, "Ah herregud! Lindsborg!" Which I think is Swedish for, "Oh my goodness, Lindsborg!" but which might really mean, "What kind of fool makes a Lindsborg pillow?"
Turning the towel into a pillow was a snap--if you've got a sewing machine and can sew a straight line, you can make one too. Experiment a bit to find the optimal square for the pillow face, (I chose to leave off the "Lindsborg" logo) and use a complementary fabric as backing. A recent cruise on Ebay using the search terms "vintage linen souvenir tea towel" revealed lots of neat tea-towel-to-pillow conversion possibilities, including a Savannah towel in navy and white, some cool London railway maps, and a map of Paris.
Just another little reminder that "decorator fabric" doesn't have to be purchased on a bolt from the fabric shop!
This post has been linked to Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.
