How to Make A Child's Hooded Bath Towel

This is a very easy and quick way to make a child's hooded bath towel. The ones you usually can buy from the store are either expensive or made of very thin materials. This article will teach you how to make thick, cozy hooded towels that make great, personal gifts or to sell on local artist web sites such as Etsy.com.

Things You'll Need

• One hand towel
• One bath towel
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread
• Cute trim (if desired)

Instructions

1. First, you will want to cut the hand towel to 10 inches in length, so that you're making the towel more square. Be aware of any embroidery or patterns you may want to keep and be sure to cut the towel so that these details are within the 10 inches.

2. This is a good time to put any trim on the hood or bath towel that you may want. Sometimes a cute ric-rac or dangly-ball fringe is cute on the edge of the hood, which will be the finished edge of the hand towel you just cut. Sew on trim as desired.

3. Next, take the hand towel and fold it in half lengthwise so the raw edges are on top of each other and the wrong side of the fabric is facing outwards. Sew the raw edge to itself with a straight stitch on the sewing machine. After you're through with the straight stitch, go back over the raw edge with a tight zig-zag stitch on the machine to reduce fraying of the exposed edge.

4. Now we are going to create a little box pleat in the back of the body towel. Fold towel in half width-wise to find the center. Mark the center with a pin and mark 4" on either side of that pin with two more pins. You should have three pins, each 4" apart on the back of the towel. Take the two outer pins and bring them into the marked center so that all of the edges are equal. This creates a pleat. Now, all three pins will be in about the same spot. Sew the pleat down on the sewing machine and remove pins.

5. Now, we will sew the whole thing together! Take your hood and turn it right-side out. Take the center bottom of the hood, which will be where your seam is and pin it to the center back of your towel, where the pleat is. Now, you can pin the rest of the hood to the towel from the center back to both sides of the towel. It should form a straight line that will be easy to sew. Sew the towel together in one straight line, making it as secure as possible. Now, you're done!

6. Adding extra trim or even animal ears to this towel is optional, but can add a little extra flair. Enjoy!

Tips & Warnings

• Cushy towels, though more cozy, can also add a lot of extra thickness to your hooded towel, making it harder to sew together. Do not be discouraged if it is hard to sew all layers together, hand sewing is also fine.

• Make sure to make your stitches as secure as possible. This towel will probably get a lot of wear and tear between going through the dryer constantly and getting used almost daily by a young child. Remember to backstitch!