Baby to Toddler Hooded Bath Towel

I've been a busy little beaver the past couple days! Normally I make growth charts for all my friends who have babies - but all my friends who are having babies live over 100 miles away. Sorry gals and babes, not getting a growth chart if I must ship.
Soooo... I've been wanting to make a hooded towel like the one Ayla got when she was born. I thought about getting my seam ripper out and having at it - but... then again, maybe not.
Thank goodness for the internet! I found this super cute blog that just happens to have a tutorial for hooded towels! It's seriously the easiest project E.V.E.R. Ayla's hood is made a bit differently (which is why I was fearful of ripping into it). And actually, I like the hood on Ayla's better, but  I'm still not willing to tear it apart... yet.
I added a pleat in the towel part, which was not done in the tutorial I used, but was done on Ayla's. I think the dart adds a little something more.

So, without further jabbering, here's how I did it! I'm new at this tutorial business, so feel free to email me or post a comment if you have questions!

Happy sewing!


Supplies:
• 1 hand towel
• 1 large bath towel
• embellishments (ric-rac, buttons, flowers, etc. - really anything you can find would be cute)
• coordinating fabric measuring approx. 4"x25" and 4"x 52"
• coordinating thread
• iron
• cutting tools and pins

Directions:

Step 1:
On your hand towel, cut the hem from the two short sides. This will make your towel approx. 24"wide

Step 2:
Make your embellishment strip. It should be approx. 4"x 77".  I found it easiest to make my strip for the hood and for the towel all at once. It should be the same anyway (if you want). Pictured are a couple different ideas. Do whatever you want. Get those creative juices flowing... and dig through that fabric scrap pile!

Step 3:

Fold your hand towel in half, widthwise. Pin fabric strip approx 1" to 2" from the fold. Only pin on one layer - you will unfold the towel in the next step.

Step 4:

Unfold your towel and sew fabric strip in place. Don't worry about finishing the ends, they'll be taken care of later.

Step 5:
Fold towel right sides together lengthwise. Sew up the sides leaving the side with the raw edges of the fabric open (the side opposite the fold should be left open).

Step 6:

Here's a better picture of the sewn sides. Turn the towel right side out (be sure to clip your corners).

Step 7:

Fold this corner (the one I'm pointing at) into the opposite side (shown next).

 

Your towel should look like this (above).

Step 8:

Now open up your hood and straighten your raw edge. I cut off about 3" to square it up. If you want a shorter hood, take more length off.

Step 9:

Make your pleat by folding your large towel in half with shortest sides together. Place a pin at that center point. Then, place a pin on each layer of fabric about 4" from the fold.

Step 10:

Take the top layer and fold the 4" pin to the center pin. This will create three layers. Shown above. Pin in place.

Step 11:

Repeat folding the second 4" pin into the center pin. Pin this in place.

Step 12:

You will create a pleat looking like this (above).  Sew across the pleat using 1/2" seam allowance.

Step 13:

Your towel will unfold to look like this (above). Add your embellishment to the bottom of the towel. If your fabric is directional, make sure the direction from the hood matches the direction at the bottom of the large towel.

Step 14:

Then, pin your hood to the towel over the pleat. Sew in place using about 5/8" allowance. I also did a zig-zag stitch over the raw edges to keep from fraying.

And, voila! You've just made a hooded towel! So fun! So simple! Even a few local gals will be getting these baby gifts in the near future!

Happy sewing!