DIY Hooded Towels
I just love the baby hooded towels, but my little one has grown out of them. I have been using regular towels on her, and I miss the hood. I came across this tutorial on how to make large sized hooded towels, but can't seem to find the tutorial anymore. I tried to recall as best I could, and tried to make a couple, here is what I came up with...
This hooded towel is so easy to make and I LOVE how big they are! You can make any color you want, and add any color ribbon or fabric strips to the hood!
Here is how I made this:
First you will need a regular sized towel and a hand towel. You can also get matching ribbon or scrap fabric strips to add to the hood if you would like. I bough my two towels at Wal-Mart on sale for a little over $5.
Take your hand towel, and cut it around 24 inches long.
Fold your hand towel in half lengthwise, and cut your ribbon to the same size as the towel. Pin your ribbon to the towel, about 1 inch from the fold.
Now open your towel and sew the ribbon in place.
Here is what mine looked like after sewing the ribbon down.
Now fold your hand towel in half widthwise. The ribbon should be on the inside.
You will need to sew the two short ends, closed. This will leave only the long side (opposite of the fold) unsewn.
After sewing the short ends closed, your towel should look like this. Only open from one end.
Now turn your towel right side in. And this is what you should have.
Take corner A and tuck it into corner B. You will get something that should look like this:
Then you will need to open up the towel and shape your hood.
This is the front of the hood.
Flip your hood over, and fold up the end. Pin in place and sew along the bottom to close it as is.
Now take your big towel and fold it in half to find the center. Once you have your center, pin the big towel to the center of your hood. Then pin the rest of the hood to your towel and sew the two together.
(yes, she is wearing her toy story shirt I made in the last post. :) She really loves her shirt!)
And there you have it, your new hooded towel. It is nice and big! Just perfect!! These also make great gifts.
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Nook update
Hi! New follower here, I found you when I was googling baby towel patterns, and I think I found the tutorial that you were talking about (though I find yours easier to understand, FYI!)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.prudentbaby.com/2009/10/diy-hooded-baby-towel.html
Thanks Shannon! That isn't it :( But exactly the same! This other tutorial had steps on how to add some ric rac to the hooded towel, and it was really cute. I need to find it!
ReplyDeleteI am totally doing this, I've been a new follower for awhile but first time poster. You make everything look SO easy, love your blog!
ReplyDeletehttp://thecottagehome.blogspot.com/2010/10/embellished-hooded-towel-tutorial.html
ReplyDeleteI think your steps are a little more detailed though. Thank you for the tutorial!
I just made 3 of these for a friend. Even though I tweaked it a bit, your tute is probably the best. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteMy friend made me a Razorback one and we have been using it forever. We love it.
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm so glad I found this! I find your instructions MUCH easier to understand than other tutorials.
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) I am going to make these for Christmas gifts
I've been looking for something like this for a long time. Great simple instructions that even I as a nonsower can follow.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the sweet comments!
ReplyDeleteI have been looking for a tutorial on how to make a hooded towel. Of all the ones I have looked at yours is the best, as well as the easiest that I have found.
ReplyDeleteJust made one in about 30 mins. Brilliant, thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteI made one today as well and I was very excited to follow your instructions. Many thanks for the great blog! The only one thing I wanted to have a little bit different is the sharp hood but I have no idea how to make round it. And my hood went quite big - I can use the towel for myself as well :)
ReplyDeleteUse a wash cloth rather than a hand towel and only stitch one short end then just sew in a curve where the point is and simply cut off the point then flip right side out and sew to the big towel as instructed in the tutorial. Kat
DeleteI would think.the wash cloth would be to small but I'm just picturing it in my head, there are tons of tutorials out there, several show you how to make the hood round on top instead of the point which is how I prefer them until I came across this awesome tutorial with a double thick hood and seamless ! Great tutorial very easy to understand, thank you , Deanna
DeleteThank you for sharing this idea!! Your pictures and instructions are very detailed and helpful!!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to making these for my grandkids.
Diane
I use about 2/3 of the hand towel to make the hood and then I use the remaining 1/3 to make a wash mitt. But, I like that the seam is covered in this hood.
ReplyDeleteI always give an extra hand towel, too.
I see one of these in my Little Bears future! Great, easy stepts too by the way :)
ReplyDeletehttp://nakedrootshippie.blogspot.com/
Been our tradition for years, but I like the way you do the hood. Always a much appreciated gift and if you make one for the family and they have more kids, they are always looking for the 'new' towel!!
ReplyDeleteNow I can let others know where to find the instructions... I've never had any!! Thank you
Emily A, Ripon CA
Best tutorial yet! I've had the towels to make hooded towels for a while now. This will help me actually make them! Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI make these and then sew with other fabric on the back "Super Cole!" or whatever their name is.
ReplyDeleteI've always made mine with 2 washcloths for the hood. You do have a seam but it's much quicker and works just as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat tutorial. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see a tutorial on this! I was given one for my first daughter, who is now 24, and have made several through the years. My husband even thinks they are the best bath towel ever for kids! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tutorial! Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteMaking for our granddaughter for Christmas, thanks!
ReplyDeleteJust finished two for my kiddos for Christmas. Thanks so much for the great tutorial!!
ReplyDeleteFinished one of these in less than an hour this morning. Your tutorial was detailed & SO easy to follow. I picked out the same towels (pink) & ribbon too so mine looks just like yours.
ReplyDeleteGreat tutorial! I made three, one for each kid for Christmas. THANKS! I had a problem though when sewing back of the hood up, just before sewing the hood to the towel. The seams were too thick in the middle and my needle kept breaking. I have a viking machine so its not cheap and also tried using a jean-a-ma-jig but still way too thick. How did you avoid this?
ReplyDeleteIthought I would share what I did to avoid the bulk when you attach the hood. At the point where you cut the hand towel to 24 inches, I folded it in half and cut off both hems. Then when I was finished with putting the hood together I made sure that the back seam of the hood also laid different ways. One to the left and one to the right. Then folded up the bottom and zigzagged across (large stitch/large width). From there I attached the hood and towel together. Sometimes when your stitching through thick seams you may need to walk your machine needle through those areas. I hope this helped.
DeleteI also found the seam too thick to sew through. On my second set I cut ALL hemmed edges off the hand towel. On the raw, bottom edge of the hood, I zig zagged two times then sewed it on the towel with a straight stitch, then zig zagged again. Doing that made a nice flat seam and I think the zig zagging wil keep the hood from raveling.
DeleteThank you so much for your tips!
DeleteWish I had read these comments before I attempted the hood. I'm handsewing the selvage end of the hood because of the thickness. I'll definitely cut them both off next time. Otherwise, easy to make.
DeleteI ended this project with a big smile. I can't wait to give the kids their Christmas present. Easy instructions and a great finished project.
ReplyDeleteI made two of these for my girls tonight. Thanks for the easy tutorial! On my first towel, I broke a needle b/c it was so thick... but the second one, I cut off both hems/ends of the hand towel and that helped a lot. (I also went nice & slow.) Thanks, again!
ReplyDeleteI have been making theese for several years. All my gifters really like them. I do make the hood different. I just cut the hand towel in half, fold the towel in half lenghtwise, sew the cut section to make a hood by either sewing straight across the top or making a rounded hood (I zig zag the cut edges). This makes the towel easier to dry. The limits are endless. I haven't made one the same.
ReplyDeleteWhen you cut the hand towel in half, do you cut it lengthwise?
DeleteMy sewing machine won't feed the towel through & I have checked all my settings. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI feel like a little silly, when I tuck corner A into corner B I get the open side as hood. Where you have a folded edge under the A into B picture I have open sides.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to figure how what to do for my granddaughters first birthday!! Bingo. Thank you
ReplyDeleteAfter you fold the hand towel in half lengthwise and cut your ribbon to the same size as the towel, the instructions say pin your ribbon to the towel about 1 inch from the fold but in the illustration it looks to be several inches. Anyone that has made this -- can you tell me if 1" is correct?
ReplyDeletevery nice and beutiful...thank you so much =)
ReplyDeletevery nice and beutiful...thank you so much =)
ReplyDeletehttp://twincess.blogspot.com/2011/08/hooded-towels.html this one has ricrac.
ReplyDeleteFound this on Pinterest and will be trying it today. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great tutorial!!!! I just made two towels for my girlfriends kids. Amazing. You did a great job! I have been sewing for a long time and I love this easy, cute idea. The towels turned out beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLoved your tutorial! I just made one and will definitely be making more. I shared a link to your tutorial on my blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your awesome tutorial! I made two of them this afternoon for my grandson! Your instructions were easy to follow and I appreciated the pictures! Thank you for sharing your talents!
ReplyDeleteI love this and the instructions are simple to followL. I can hardly wait to get started!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI received two of these when my twins were born. I could not use them until they were about 9 months or so...my babies were preemie and only weighed 4 pounds each. But now, we use them every night and they are so big and fluffy and keep my babies so warm!!
ReplyDeleteLove your idea and will be making several for my grandaughter who will having twins soon. thank you so very much
ReplyDeleteMade two and can't wait to make more for little ones in the future - thanks for the easy to follow tutorial!
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter was given one when she was born now 10 years old and I always wanted to make them for my other grandkids thank u for putting up the instructions
ReplyDeleteI just made two of these for my little boy. He's just now starting to grow out of the baby hood towels. I'm a novice, been sewing only about three months and this was so easy! I made dinner and played with my little one in between and, from start to finish, it only took three hours. VERY easy. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteThese are great to make, thanks for sharing your tutorial. I made a few a couple of years ago and don't know where I put my instructions. Was a little different I think, but your looks easy might just do it your way.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
I have made at least four of these as baby gifts and am going to making three more this weekend as gifts. And I will be making more later this year for gifts. (It's the year for babies, it seems.) Everyone I have given them to have loved them. Thanks for posting it!
ReplyDeleteGood and colorful baby hooded towels for newborn babies to keep them warm and healthy.
ReplyDeleteJust made one...and it is very cute...but the hood doesn't seem as big as the one in your photos. Some tutorials I found by other folks cut the hand towel the other way and it seems way too small. My sweet girlfriend is only a year old and she is gonna love it. Thanks so much for helping us along our stitching way..
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI am a new follower! I just wanted to say I have read many tutorials on hooded towels and yours is my favorite! I like how the the hood is double thickness. I did have to cut off the finished edge before I sewed it on, because it was too bulky. After I cut off the edge it worked great! Thank you so much for sharing! I will use this tutorial forever! You are the bomb!
I cant understand this tutorial. Might be more clear
ReplyDeleteJust completed my FIRST hooded towel.... must say I got a bit stuck on tuck point A into B haha but eventually figured it out! Neat as tutorial... already pinned the ribbon onto my second hand towel and about to do the third!
ReplyDeleteI made two towels yesterday evening in no time at all. I also found it easier to sew the hood to the main towel after I cut off the selvage from the hand towel. Much easier to sew without the extra bulk. Other than that...easy as pie! I am planning to make several more as gifts! Thanks for such a great tutorial!
ReplyDeletethe tutorial that you share worth a try. hopefully I can make it. thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI could use some extra help on the tuck point A into B, maybe another photo.
ReplyDeleteSharon Abercrombie nannas_1998@yahoo.com
I just whipped this hooded towel out in an hour. Great simple instructions and photos.
ReplyDeleteMade two for my granddaughter for Christmas. Easy to follow instructions and photos. Cranked out two in less than an hour. I am sure I will be making more in the future.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the size of your seam when you sew the the two short ends closed? Thanks I have gotten to that part now. Please reply. Eunice Flagler Thanks again.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the wonderful ideas. I will definitely make these hooded towels. Keep sharing!
ReplyDelete