Trendy tea towels are wasted on the dishes. Product designer Andy Murray explains how to turn one into a watch instead

Everyone has tea towels in the kitchen drawer, perhaps from a holiday in Spain, a wet weekend visit to a castle, or even a stylish present from a design-conscious friend. Some tea towels are so quirky, or such good quality, that it's a shame to hide them away. I've made a collection of handmade, personal items from tea towels, including bags, wallets and belts. The instructions below explain how to make a watch - I hope you're inspired to give it a go!

What you need

An old but working watch face
A tea towel with a hem around the edges
Sharp scissors
Pen or pencil
A 30cm ruler
Fabric glue
Clothes pegs
Popper studs (from a good craft shop)

Getting started

Set all the things you are going to need on a large flat surface, such as the kitchen table. Lay out the tea towel face down, making sure there are no creases.

Step one

• Measure the watch pin.
• Measure the watch face.
• Decide how wide you want the strap. It's up to you, as long as it's the same size or bigger than the pins.
• Mark out on the tea towel the width of strap you want, three times, adding a 1cm hem around each edge.
• Measure your wrist, then make the strap 5cm longer.

Step two

• Draw out the strap on the tea towel. Draw it three times, as it's going to be folded over three times for strength.
• Add a 1cm hem to the edges if there are not any on the original tea towel.

Step three

• Glue along the long hem on all necessary edges.

• Fold 1cm hems towards the centre.

Step four

• Glue along the top edge.
• Fold along line the top dotted line (see picture, left).
• Glue along the bottom edge, fold along the lower dotted line, so the top and bottom edge meet.
• Hold in place with clothes pegs and leave to dry.

Step five

• Mark out the watch face holder.
• The width is 4mm smaller than the watch pins.
• Cut out double this width, as it's going to be folded over.
• The length is about 10cm, but alter if needed.

Step six

• Glue along the edges, folding towards the centre.
• Make sure the width is still smaller than the pins.
• Glue and fold 1cm of each edge.
• Leave to dry, holding in place with clothes pegs.

Step seven

• Position the watch face in the place you would like it on the face holder (with the tea towel pattern facing the same way as the watch face).
• Attach the face, clipping the pins in place.

Step eight

• Glue the face holder in the centre of the strap.

• Hold in place with clothes pegs and leave to dry.

Step nine

• Using pop studs, glue them in a position that fits your wrist.

• To make it more secure, try sewing the studs on, or try different ways of fixing.

Step 10

• Leave to dry before wearing.
• Ensure fasteners are attached before wearing to ensure the watch doesn't fall off.

Why not try ...?

• Using different sections of the tea towels to create interesting straps.
• Finding unique tea towels to make your watch more personal.
• Stitching parts on to add detail.
• Using different fastening methods.

More tea towel projects can be found in Andy's book, Made by, £8.95 at designedbyandy.com. Find more of Andy's design work at andymurraydesign.com.