Monday, August 3, 2009

Hooded Towel -- TUTORIAL

Today I'm going to share my method for hooded towels! This is not one of those ridiculous corner hoods that are basically useless, OR one of those "conehead" towels. This one is actually quite useful, and my boys (4 1/2 and almost 3) still really like theirs. No one likes to stand around dripping and freezing after a bath OR a swim!

Even with just a little bit of experience, you can whip this thing together in 25 minutes or less! These towels also make great baby shower gifts in a hurry.


Supplies:
Bath Towel (I'm using a beach towel this time!)
Hand Towel
Scissors
Pins
Sewing Machine


Step One: Fold your hand towel in half with the two "decorative" edges together and cut on the fold. Then fold the half in half, finding the center of the raw edge, and mark with a pin. Also fold your bath towel in half to find the center of the long edge, and mark with a pin. Line the two edges together -- "right" sides together (the sides you want facing OUT), matching the pins.


Step Two: Pin the edges together, leaving the edge of the bath towel sticking out slightly under the hand towel (see next photo).


Step Three: Sew approximately 1/4" from the edge of the hand towel. I actually go back here and sew just barely to the right of my first line to ensure I've caught the edge the whole way across.


Step Four: Turn over and push the finished edge of the bath towel over to the hand towel side, covering the raw edge of the hand towel. Sew along the finished edge of the bath towel to encase your raw edge. This finishes the seam beautifully!


Step Five: Lay the towel down with your new finished edge up ("right" side down), and fold the hand towel down so the edges of each towel are just touching.


Step Six: Sew down the inside edge of the finished edge of the towel on both sides of the hood. There is a lot of bulk at the end (where my thumb is in the picture), so go very slowly over this part.


You will have a pocket like this.


Step Seven: Turn the towel over so you are looking at the back and fold the two corners down to the edge of the hand towel. Sew along the outside edge of the finished edge, lining it up right where the bath towel meets the hand towel, on both sides.


Here is what the "front" will look like.


Now your little one is ready to be all wrapped up and cozy after a bath or a swim!

**For another idea, see the towel I made for JellyBean a couple months ago. You can use any fabric you like for the trim -- just cut off the existing trim and bind the edge like you would a quilt!

edit 6/10/10: See another version HERE!

16 comments:

Unknown said...

This is so amazing! I have just bought these lovely bamboo towels from well cultivated who do their own range of hooded towels but i can personalise them and my kids will lovem even more. excellent idea and great inspiration. i'll let you know how it goes!

MJ @ 517 Creations said...

Thanks for the tutorial!! Quick question - do you fold (and cut) the hand towel lengthwise or width-wise? All the other tutorials I've seen have you fold them width-wise, but yours looks to be the opposite...

Thanks for any help you can give me! :)

Care said...

Fold it so the two short sides are together and cut it down the fold. You should end up with two more square-ish pieces, not two long skinny rectangles.


Hope that helps! Good luck!

simply patti said...

I love this!

Kelley said...

I found your tutorial last week and made this today, so easy and cute! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. :)

Andrea said...

Might make these for Christmas presents! Thanks for the wonderful blog!!!

Hadfield said...

I got some contrasting fabric for borders and made one tonight, I think your tutorial is very clear! The best thing about yours is most that I found have a seam on the top of the head and I thought that was not the best place to have a seam! Thanks again, it will delight my granddaughter tomorrow!!!

Anonymous said...

just made one!! thanks so much for the tutorial :)

http://whoreallyknowswhatsnext.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/i-make-stuff-hooded-towel/

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I just wanted to let you know I featured this tutorial, with a link to this post, on my blog at:

http://sewlindsaysew.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/sunny-summer-sewing-projects/

Thanks for sharing this magical tutorial!

lilbunnymama said...

This is awesome! I made two of these. The first was with a decorated Froggy towel. The second, I made my own trim and now I'll have a flower baby!!

Andrea said...

I love these towels! I have made them for gifts and my kids all have them too (ages 10, 8, 5 and 2). Even the 10 year old likes his! Thanks for sharing!

Sally said...

I'm ready to make the hoods… but before I cut the hand towel in half… I just want to ask if anyone found this sized square to be too small for a hood??? My squares seem too tiny… They will be about 16 " by 13"…

Unknown said...

second one I made, because the first was so brilliant. thanks for this blog! love your other posts as well

Lucy Carter said...

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Emma Watson said...

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amanda joseph said...

Cotton Terry Bath Towel