Project #7 - Hooded Towels (Finished) - Tutorial

At last it is time for me to share with you my very first tutorial - How to make a hooded towel!

I have refined the process a bit since my first attempt at making one, so you should be able to get this whole project completed in under an hour.

You will need:

A bath sheet cut into two squares:

• One square measuring 34 inches x 34 inches
• Another square measuring 10 inches x 10 inches

A piece of coordinating material (ideally with a pattern that you can sew around - see step 10 for an explanation as to why this is important) at least 34 inches x 44inches. You will need to cut the following from this material:

• One square measuring 34 inches x 34 inches
• Another square measuring 10 inches x 10 inches
  

Instructions:

1. Firstly, take the small material squares (10 inches x 10 inches) and cut them both along the diagonal so that you are left with the triangles to make the hood (see below). Note that you will only need two triangles - one in the towel material and one in the coordinating material so the other two can be discarded:


2. Take the two triangle pieces and with right sides together, pin the long edge. Sew together using a seam allowance of 3/8 of an inch:


3. With an iron, press the triangle so that the right sides of the material are facing out.

4. Next, sew a straight seam along the long edge of the triangle approximately 2 millimeters in from the edge. This is to give it a more 'finished' appearance. You will end up with something that looks like this:


5. Place the triangle on the corner of the towel with the right sides of the towel touching. Lay the piece of coordinating fabric over the top, so that the right sides of the coordinating materials are also touching. In the photo below I have pulled back the corner of the coordinating material just so you can see how it should look:


6. Pin the edges of the towel together and sew around all four edges using a seam allowance of 3/8 of an inch, making sure to leave an opening so that you can turn the towel in the right way later on.

7. Once the edges are sewn together, you will need to round off the top of the hood to ensure that your baby doesn't look like an elf when wearing it. I usually draw a line with air erasable marker, sew along that line and then cut the non-required material roughly 3/8 of an inch above the line:

8. Turn the towel in the right way and pin the opening of the towel closed:

9. Press all four sides with an iron before sewing a seam approximately 2 millimeters in from the edge around all edges. I usually run this seam into the seam that we sewed along the long edge of the hood triangle, as in the picture below:

10. You may notice that when you hold up the towel by the hood, the weight of the toweling fabric causes the materials to pull apart and look as though it is no longer square (you can see an example of this when I blogged about the first towel I made).

In order to prevent this, you will need to sew around the pattern on your coordinating material at random intervals as a means to adhere the two layers together, which is why it is important that you have selected a fabric with a pattern which will allow you to do this.

On this particular towel, I sewed around 8 of the 'splotches' to stop the towel from dropping. I usually like to draw a line around the pattern I am sewing with an air erasable marker so that I have a guide for where I need to sew. I also like to pin around the area to stop any movement:

11. Once you have completed the above step, trim your threads and ensure you have removed all pins. You will then be finished!


Hopefully these steps worked for you. If you have any questions or find any of the steps unclear, please let me know!

Happy sewing!