How to Make a Kid's Hooded Towel Animal

A blue towel is ideal to make a fish, shark or whale.

A hooded towel animal is a quick, simple project that makes an ideal gift for a child. Making a hooded towel at home is much less expensive than purchasing one in a store, allows the child to pick his favorite animal, and can be easily customized and personalized. Choose towels according to the color of the animal you wish to make, and sew together a warm, cozy, hooded towel for your child.

Things You'll Need

• Hand towel
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• Bath towel
• Sewing machine
• Fleece
• Cotton batting

Instructions

1. Fold the hand towel in half width-wise and place a straight pin into the towel to mark the center. Unfold the towel and cut it in half. One half of the hand towel will make the hood. Reserve the other half of the towel to make another hooded bath towel, or use it for making the face and ears of the animal.

2. Fold the bath towel in half and mark the center with pins. Fold the hand towel in half so that the cut edges are pressed together and place pins in the center. Unfold each towel. Match the center of the hand towel's sewn edge with the center of the bath towel.

3. Lay the hand towel on the bath towel so 1/4 inch of the edges overlap. Pin the towels together and sew them with a zig-zag stitch.

4. Fold the hood in half, pin, and sew the two cut edges together. Turn the hand towel so that the seam is on the inside of the hood. The frayed edge will be against the child's hair when he uses the towel.

5. Make appliques out of fleece to create an animal face. Design eyes by sewing black circles to the center of larger white circles. Cut out gray fleece in the shape of an elephant's trunk. Make small white triangles for bear teeth and sew them to the edge of the hood, or make a pink nose and black whiskers for a kitten or rabbit.

6. Place the facial features onto the hood and pin them in the appropriate places. Ensure that the eyes are evenly spaced and the nose and teeth are centered. Sew the face onto the hood.

7. Fashion ears out of the fleece or from the remainder of the hand towel. Cut a small square of fabric, fold it diagonally, and sew one edge to make a triangular cat or lion ear. Fold a circle in half to make semi-circular ears for a bear. Sew together two long, rounded loops for dog ears. Stuff the ears with cotton batting and sew them to the top of the hood.

Tips & Warnings

• Cut the child's name or initials out of fleece and sew to the towel to personalize it.

• Use waterproof fabric glue to create facial features, then stitch them to the towel.

References

• Make And Takes; Easy Hooded Bath Towel; Marie LeBaron; March 2009