Friendsgiving is the potluck where everyone brings a dish, and a custom tea towel or apron is an easy thing to bring along with it, or to keep for yourself if you’re hosting. This design stacks three lines: HAPPY in spaced capitals between two small maple leaves, a large Friendsgiving in flowing script, and EAT · DRINK · BE THANKFUL along the bottom.
It comes at three sizes. The tea towel file is 9.1 in wide and the apron file is 10.1 in wide, both built for iron-on (HTV). The sign file is 11.1 in wide for adhesive vinyl on a 12 in board.
| File | Size | Material | Layers | Check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friendsgiving, tea towel | 9.12 × 3.75 in | HTV (iron-on) | 1 layer | ✓ Cut-checked |
| Friendsgiving, apron | 10.12 × 4.12 in | HTV (iron-on) | 1 layer | ✓ Cut-checked |
| Friendsgiving, sign | 11.12 × 4.5 in | Vinyl | 1 layer | ✓ Cut-checked |
What you’re cutting
The script is welded: every place the lowercase letters join is merged, so there are no cut lines through the overlaps and riendsgiving comes off the carrier as one long piece. The capital F stands on its own, and so do the three dots over the i’s. The two lines of capitals are the opposite: each letter is its own piece, along with the two maple leaves and the two little diamond dots that separate EAT, DRINK and BE THANKFUL. Count it all up and you’re placing a few dozen pieces, which is why this design goes down as one sheet on its carrier or transfer tape rather than letter by letter.
The small stuff is where a design like this usually fails: the diamond dots, the leaf points and the counters inside letters like A, R and D. We checked each size separately at its listed width. Both iron-on files passed our HTV minimums (nothing thinner than 0.04 in, no piece under 0.08 in), and the tea towel file, as the smallest HTV version, is the tightest of the three. Treat 9.1 in as the floor for iron-on.
What you need
- Cutting machine and a standard grip mat
- Iron-on (HTV) for towels and aprons, or permanent adhesive vinyl for a sign
- Weeding hook and tweezers
- Heat press, EasyPress or iron, and a pressing sheet
- A smooth cotton or cotton-blend tea towel (flour-sack style is a good pick) or a canvas apron
- Transfer tape and a painted or stained board (sign only)
Making a tea towel or apron
- Upload the right file. In Design Space, go to Upload > Upload Image > Browse and pick the tea towel or apron SVG. The upload guide has the full walkthrough; Silhouette Studio users need Designer Edition for SVGs, or can use the DXF.
- Check the width. 9.1 in for the towel, 10.1 in for the apron. Measure your towel first. The design needs to fit the visible panel with a little room each side, so if a towel folded in thirds leaves a panel narrower than about 9.5 in, fold it in half instead or pick a wider towel.
- Mirror and cut. Choose your iron-on material in the Make screen; Design Space turns on Mirror for iron-on automatically, and you can confirm the Mirror toggle on the Prepare screen. Load the HTV shiny side down.
- Weed carefully around the small pieces. Pull the background slowly and keep an eye on the diamond dots, the i dots and the leaves. They’re the pieces most likely to come up with it. Pick out the letter counters last. Our weeding guide has tricks for small parts.
- Press. Pre-press the fabric to remove moisture and wrinkles, place the design, and press using the settings for your exact HTV and fabric from the Cricut Heat Guide or the HTV maker’s instructions. Peel hot or cool as the maker says.
Aprons have pockets, seams and straps that keep a press from sitting flat. Put a folded towel or pressing pillow inside the apron under the design area so the heat plate meets even pressure across all three lines.
Towel fabric matters more than the file
HTV needs a smooth, flat weave to grip. Flour-sack and plain-weave cotton towels take it well. Waffle-weave, terry and heavily textured towels are a gamble, because the vinyl only touches the high points of the texture, and the little diamonds and letter pieces in this design have very little surface area to hold on with. If your towel is textured, save it for a different project and pick a smoother one for this design.
Pre-wash new towels before pressing (skip fabric softener, which can leave a coating), and follow your HTV maker’s washing instructions afterward.
Making the sign
The sign file is 11.1 x 4.37 in, sized for a board about 12 in wide. Cut it from permanent adhesive vinyl without mirroring, weed, then lift the whole design with transfer tape. Because the capitals are separate pieces, burnish them well on the tape before you peel the backing, or a letter can stay behind. Our transfer tape guide goes into grip strength and the hinge method, which helps line up three lines of text straight.
Sizes for different items
| Item | File | Width |
|---|---|---|
| Tea towel (folded panel) | Tea towel | 9.1 in |
| Canvas apron bib | Apron | 10.1 in |
| Adult shirt or tote | Apron | 10.1 to 11 in |
| 12 in wood sign or tray | Sign | 11.1 in |
| Larger board, 16 in and up | Sign | 13 in and up |
Scale up whenever you like. Don’t shrink the iron-on files below 9.1 in or the sign file below 11.1 in; the small capitals and diamond dots are sized to pass at those widths, and below them they can get too small to weed or to stay stuck.
Variations
Two colors. Cut the script in one color and the two lines of capitals in another. Rust script with cream capitals would sit nicely on a natural linen-look towel. Cut the file twice, weed only the parts you need from each, and press the larger script first. There’s no overlap, so it’s a simple two-step press; see layering HTV for how to avoid re-melting the first color.
A whole table set. Pair the towel with leaf place cards for each guest and a Thankful mug or two for the coffee after.
Questions
What size should a design be on a tea towel?
It depends on the towel, but our tea towel file is 9.1 in wide, sized for the front panel of a folded flour-sack style towel. Measure your panel first and leave a little room on each side.
Can you put iron-on vinyl on a tea towel?
Yes, on smooth cotton or flour-sack towels. Heavily textured, waffle or terry towels don’t give HTV a flat surface to grip.
Is the Friendsgiving script welded?
Yes. The joined lowercase letters are one welded piece; the capital F and the i dots are separate, as are the capitals, leaves and dots on the other lines. Move everything together on the carrier or transfer tape.
Can I sell Friendsgiving towels made with this file?
Yes, up to 500 handmade items per design, but you can’t share or sell the file itself. Details are on our license page.
