In Brief
Embroidered towels make a beautiful, personalised gift and are a great way to explore what your BERNINA 700 can do. This step-by-step guide covers everything from hooping towelling fabric correctly to choosing the right stabiliser and designs so that you can achieve crisp, professional results the first time.
Personalised embroidered towels are one of those projects that look impressive but are entirely achievable at home, with the right preparation and the right machine. Here at Quilt Direct, as an authorised BERNINA Diamond Dealer with our own BERNINA Studio, we embroider towels regularly for demonstrations, tuition days, and studio projects. This guide shares exactly how we do it, step by step.
What You'll Need
Before you begin, gather the following:
- BERNINA 700 Embroidery Machine with the BERNINA Midi Hoop (ratchet closing)
- OESD Cutaway stabiliser for the back of the towel
- Water-soluble topping (OESD Wash Away Topping or Madeira Avalon Film)
- 505 Spray Adhesive
- OESD Embroidery Wash Away Tape or Washi Tape
- A fabric marker and ruler
- A USB stick formatted to FAT32 with your embroidery design in .exp format
- 40wt embroidery thread (we used R&A Rayon, Mettler Polysheen, and Superior Polyester)
- BERNINA Ball Point needle, size 80
Preparing Your Towel
Good preparation is everything with towel embroidery. Print a template of your chosen design (or stitch out just the outline), then use a ruler and fabric marker to mark the design's centre point on the towel. This reference point is what you'll align to when hooping - don't skip it.
Applying the Stabiliser
Towelling fabric needs firm support to embroider well. We used OESD Cutaway stabiliser on the back of the towel. Lightly spray the cutaway with 505 Spray Adhesive, then smooth it onto the back of the towel, making sure you've covered the entire design area. The stabiliser should extend well beyond the hoop area on all sides.
Hooping Towelling Fabric
Hooping a towel is one of the trickier parts of this project - the pile and thickness make it less forgiving than flat fabric. The BERNINA Midi Hoop, with its ratchet-closing system, makes this considerably easier than older-style hoops.
Place the outer hoop (ratchet open wide) on a non-slip surface. Hold the inner hoop with the template aligned to the centre marks on your towel, then carefully lower it into the outer hoop without losing that alignment. Ensure the towel is flat and smooth but not pulled too tight, then tighten the ratchet.
One critical detail: the inner hoop and towel should sit a few millimetres deeper than the outer hoop. This prevents the outer hoop from vibrating against the machine bed during stitching, which can leave marks on your machine's bed.
Adding Water-Soluble Topping
Because towelling has a deep pile, you must cover the surface of the design area with a water-soluble stabiliser (topping) before stitching. Without it, the pile pushes up through the stitches, and the embroidery loses definition. We used both OESD Wash Away Topping and Madeira Avalon Film with excellent results - either works well.
Secure the topping with Washi Tape or OESD Embroidery Wash Away Tape around the edges to keep it flat during stitching.
Setting Up Your BERNINA 700
The BERNINA 700's Creative Consultant takes the guesswork out of settings. Select the embroidery type and fabric type, and the machine recommends the optimal settings and needle size. We used a BERNINA Ball Point needle size 80, which is ideal for towelling - it pushes between the fibres rather than piercing them, reducing the risk of snags.
For thread, we used 40wt threads throughout: R&A Rayon, Mettler Polysheen, and Superior Polyester all performed beautifully. Because we were using a single thread colour, we matched the bobbin thread to the top thread rather than using a bobbinfil.
Downloading and Loading Your Design
We sourced our design from the Embroidery Library and downloaded it to a USB stick. For most BERNINA machines, designs need to be in .exp format. Use a small-capacity USB formatted to FAT32 - large USBs can cause compatibility issues.
On the machine, go to Open a Design, select the USB option, and locate your file.
Once the design is open, use the editing screen to align the design's centre with the crosshair on your towel. We also mirror-imaged our deer design so it faced the correct direction. Finally, select the Stitch-Out tab and add a basting box around the design - this stitches a border that holds the water-soluble topping firmly in place before the main embroidery begins.
The Stitch-Out
Stitch the basting box slowly to keep the topping flat and secure. Once that's done, the machine takes over - watch the video below to see the full stitch-out in action.
Finishing and Removing Stabiliser
After removing the hoop, trim away the cutaway stabiliser from around the design, leaving a small margin, and snip any connecting stitches.
Most of the water-soluble topping will peel away easily; a gentle spritz of water dissolves any remaining residue and removes the fabric marker placement marks.
Wash and dry the towels as normal - and admire the results.
Tips for Perfect Results
- Don't use adhesive-backed stabiliser on towels - peeling it away pulls the pile.
- Always use water-soluble topping over the design area to prevent pile from pushing through the stitches.
- Keep designs fairly simple but dense - very open designs allow pile to creep through over time. Monograms work particularly well.
- Test on an old face cloth first before committing to your good towels.
- Choose your thread with washing in mind - some threads don't tolerate biological detergents or high temperatures. Check the thread manufacturer's guidance.
Come and Learn in Our BERNINA Studio
If you'd like hands-on guidance, our team is available for one-to-one tuition in the BERNINA Studio, or you can join one of our BERNINA Tuition Days. We're authorised BERNINA Diamond Dealers with decades of experience - there's no better place to learn.
Happy Stitching!
