Tutorial: Hooded Towels

Hooded Towels

Have little ones or little ones who visit? We just finished putting together our ‘yellow room’ which is a guest room with a yellow closet (post to follow soon) and I wanted something fun for the kiddos who visit. Hooded towels!!

What you need – one big bath towel, one hand towel, thread and some bias tape. I use my serger and invisible thread when stitching on the bias tape, but we’ll talk more about that below.

First thing, you want to fold your hand towel in half. Place an adult sized hood over it (back of the hood 1 inch from the fold and use it as a template – I cut about one inch bigger all around the hood). Keep in mind to cut off the detail on the hand towel if there is any – you don’t want to use that part.

Now serge the hood together, keeping in mind not to serge the opening closed.

Pick some bias tape that will match your towels or make your own. Look familiar? I used this same homemade bias tape in my head band tutorial.

Bias Tape Time

Okay – with the bias tape – two tricks. One side of the bias tape is wider than the other, that’s so when you’re stitching with your machine, you catch the wider edge below and there isn’t a chance of missing it. Now, the trick is to stitch on the bias tape with the inside of the hood getting the wider part of the tape. Why? This way you can keep your outside seam neat, straight and looking polished. Second trick is that bias tape has a bit of stretch to it – because it’s cut on the bias! Use that stretch to your advantage when working the tape around the corners of your hood. If you don’t, it’ll pucker.

Use lots of pins and pin the bias tape around the outside of the hood – the part that frames adorable faces.

Stuck on what kind of thread to use with your bias tape? I wanted the striped pattern on my bias tape to be the highlight – not black or white thread that was distorting the pattern. What to use?

Sulky invisible thread! It’s like fishing line, but far more like thread. It’s washable and all! Check it out!

Now, stitch on your bias tape.

Notice how the wider edge is on the bottom? My needle will always catch it. Also, because my top stitch is neat and polished, because I could see it, the bias tape looks awesome.

Last step!!!

Pin the hood to the side of the big bath towel. To ensure I’m in the centre, I fold both in half and match up the fold. Then, open both back up. You want to serge off a bit here – more of the hood than the big bath towel. The serger is perfect for this type of project, since it leaves a clean edge on the inside of the hooded towel – it won’t itch or scratch at a kiddos neck. It looks professional, for sure.

And there you have it – a hooded towel!!