"H" Towels

I mentioned several months ago that I wanted to be on top of making presents this year.  Hahahaha.  Yeah, didn't quite work out.  My sister told me at Christmas time what she wanted for her birthday in May, and I managed to get her gift to her 2 weeks ago.  Thank goodness I have an understanding family.

It's a hanging kitchen towel.
In case it's not obvious.

She wanted some hanging towels with her last initial on them.  I was going to make towels with a topper on them, like the ones I made last year, but ended up going with a different style instead.  I used the the free instructions provided at Embroidery Library for "Topsy Towels".

The idea, of course, is that kids can't pull the towels down and they won't fall off.  The one main downside to this style is that you lose a lot of the length (because it's looped around the bar).  I do like the way it looks though.

The only other drawback is that they take a lot of time to make if you don't follow the directions.  The way the fabric should be laid out on the towel in relation to the design is like this:

This isn't a trick--the fabric you add goes on the BACK side of the towel.  The instructions mention this just fine. I, however, hurriedly scribbled down some notes in order to let my daughter watch "Bo on the Go" on my computer.  I ended up finishing the entire towel before I realized I had screwed up.  I salvaged it with a lot of fussing and seam ripping,managing to preserve all the work I had done on the L-shaped buttonhole.

See, when you flip the towel around the design
will be on the same side as the fabric.

I used the applique "H" from Planet Applique's font "Landon".  I didn't want something too feminine (her husband has a say in their decor) and I really wanted the triple bean stitch around the border of the letter, to provide some contrast and interest (there are a lot of browns in this towel, after all). 

I know what you're thinking, but the crookedness is part
of the alphabet--see the slant on the serifs?

My sister said she likes them, even though they weren't what we were originally planning.  I was supposed to just embroider an "H" on the fabric, but I didn't think it would be noticeable with all the contrasting shades of brown.  I'm still on the lookout for the perfect hanging towel style though, and welcome any suggestions!