My DD is now 4 years old and a store-bought hooded towel just isn't working anymore... she's just too big! Most of those super large hooded towels are upwards of $20.... so, I set out to find my own solution!
A couple months ago I found some soft towels on clearance at Target. Bath towels - $2.50, hand towels - $1.48. I even managed to find some of each in the same colors! {yay me!} I snatched up a canary yellow bath and hand towel set, and a white set as well. In an effort to re-organize my craft room, I am slowly working through all my unfinished crafts! This is one of them!
Here's how to make your own!
Supplies:
• 1 bath towel
• 1 hand towel
• fabric scrap for trim
• coordinating fabric scraps for applique's {*optional}
• sewing machine
• iron
• thread
• scissors
Making the Hood
I used the hand towel. You have 2 options for how you want to create your hood.
Option 1: {shown} Fold hand towel in half {hamburger style}. Cut up the center fold so that you have 2 identically sized pieces.
Next, cut off some of the cut-end. I cut approx. 3 inches off. If you are making this for one of your own children, hold your cut piece to their head to estimate the amount you need to cut off, then add 1/2" for a seam allowance!
Next, round the top corner {for the back of the hood where the back of their head will go}. You can either eye-ball it, or use a cup or plate to get a smooth curve.
Pin right sides of the towel together and sew along the top and back of the hood.
Trim your excess thread and turn your hood right-side-out!
I chose to leave the decorative line on the hand towel on the hood. When I sewed my two hood piece together, I made sure to line that decorative strip up so that it would be in line once my hood was sewn.
I told you there were two options......
Option two: Instead of cutting your towel in half when folded, cut your 3 inches {or whatever your amount is} off the ends of the towels. You will be cutting off the decorative strip. If you choose this method, you don't need to sew the back of the hood because it is already still together {you didn't cut it}. You will still need to sew the top and round the back of the hood.
• • • • •
Making the Hood Trim
Measure the front rim of your hood {the part that you didn't sew - the edge of the hand towel that wasn't cut}. Essentially, double the width of your hand towel. Find a piece of scrap fabric that is longer than that and cut it to 3" wide. Then take your iron and fold your fabric in half length-wise {hot dog fold} and press flat. You can also use bias tape for this, or you can cut your fabric on the bias if you have a larger piece of fabric.
Next, pin the cut edge of the trim fabric strip {not the folded edge} to the wrong-side of the face edge of your hood. {did you get that?}
Sew a 1/4" straight line along the edge of your fabric strip and towel.
Trim your excess thread and go take the hood to your ironing board. turn your hood face up and fold the trim strip over the edge of your fabric, pressing it flat with your iron.
Then sew a straight stitch along the folded over strip staying close to the folded edge. If you sew off the folded edge, your trim strip won't be stitched to the towel. Stay close... but not TOO close! ☺
Once sewn, press your strip again with the iron to set the stitches. Now grab your model (i.e. your child). Have them try on the hood. You'll want to check for length of the hood. You want the bottom of the hood to be at about their shoulders. This will leave you about 1/2" for the seam allowance and their towel will rest on their shoulders. Trim the excess. {I used a pin to mark the spot just above where I wanted to trim. Then I laid my folded hood on the table, and cut!}
Attaching the Hood
Then grab your bath towel! Fold your bath towel in half and iron the fold {this will help you find the center of your towel more easily!}. Then pin the right side of the bottom of the hood, to the right side of your towel {the long side}. To make sure your hood is centered, line up the seam from the back of your hood to the ironed line in the bath towel. Pin there, then pin the rest on either side of your hood.
{*If you chose hood option two, simply fold your hood in half and iron. Then line of the ironed line on the hood to the ironed line on the bath towel.}
Take it to your machine, or your serger, and sew the hood on to your towel.
Extra Goodies
At this point your towel is done! I chose to add some coordinating appliques to the bottom of one side of the towel. You can add applique's, ribbons, ric-rac... the options are endless!
And that's it! It only took me 30-45 minutes to complete from start to finish. As always, make sure that you prewash your fabric and your towels so that everything is preshrunk!
My BIG little girl now has a bath towel that totally fits!
OMG, this is adorable! I have always loved hooded towels for my daughter. But she seems to have outgrown now all of them (since I can only find them for babies now)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this. I have to do this
You did a great job. I love the colors you chose to embellish the towel with.
ReplyDeleteThanks! making this today for my 3 year old! I have looked a several tutorials and made a different one in the past, but I prefer your design!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm sure your towel turned out cute! Feel free to share a picture of it on my facebook page! www.facebook.com/kdbuggieboutique
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