Two Hooded Beach Towels From Two Coordinating Beach Towels

Learn how to make two hooded beach towels from two coordinating beach towels, with one of the handiest summer craft ideas around. Often hooded towel patterns call for a body towel and hand towel, according to Caroline Critchfield, but her pattern makes two!

Materials:

• Two beach towels (30-inch x 60-inch) in coordinating prints or solids
• Matching thread
• Measuring, cutting, and sewing tools

Notes:

Don’t forget to backstitch at the beginning and end each time you sew. You don’t want to come undone!

Instructions:

1. Cut 10 inches off of the end of each towel.
   
   
    
2. Take the rest of both towels and hem the cut edge. I like to press the hem first so it stitches up neat and quickly.
   
   
   
   
    
3. Fold your 10-inch strip in half and cut the end off so that you have one piece that when folded is 10 inches wide and 11 inches long.
   
   
    
4. Refold the towel the same way but with right sides together. Stitch the long uncut edge with a ¼ seam. Finish the raw edge of this seam with a wide zig-zag stitch. While your machine is still set to zig-zag, open the hood up and finish the bottom cut edge.
   
   
    
5. Now take a pencil or fabric marker and draw a line that cuts off the corner of the hood. It doesn’t have to be exact, just make it look like this:
   
   
   
   Stitch along your line, then cut the corner off 1/4 inch from your stitching. Finish the edge with a wide zig-zag.
   
   
   
   
    
6. Take your towel body and fold it in half. Use a pin to mark the center. Then measure out 4 inches from the center and fold the material back to center to make a 2-inch pleat. Measure out 4 inches in the other direction to make another 2-inch pleat the other way (both together make an inverted pleat).
   
   
   
   
    
7. Set your machine to the widest straight stitch and use it to baste along the top of your pleat.
    
8. Place the hood right side down on top of the right side of the towel with the seam of the hood right over the middle of the inverted pleat. Sew using a straight stitch ¼ inch from the edge.
   
   
    
9. Last of all, move to the top corner and fold it down. Measure and pin so that it is 6 inches in either direction.
   
   
    
10. Stitch.
    
    
     
11. Enjoy!