Baby Towel Instructions

Growing up Mormon and Army there were always tons of sweet babies being born around us. One of my strongest memories of my mother is her sewing these baby towels from a washcloth and body towel to give at every baby shower. She was always on a budget so she would buy them in bulk whenever they were on sale and then just sew a bunch and have them waiting.
I recently unearthed this tradition and found that the love I can put in these towels is awesome! I'll be doing this from now on, even if there are pricier gift options out there. Plus, you get to give yummy, thick towels in cute colors rather than the wimpy ones they offer in gift sets. And you could even sew a matching set for siblings, or give them as Christmas or Birthday gifts (just angle the hood wider for a larger head).
My mom never did fancy embellishments, but I've been tinkering around with rickrack or a fabric trim below to jazz it up. But keep in mind that it needs to be soft, so if you're going to do embellish, put the Bedazzler away  :)

 This towel has a cute fabric edging, so here's how much width I needed against the washcloth edge. (Not much- in fact, it was one of London's scraps!)

I sewed the underside here, then flipped it, ironed it, then folded it over the edge and ironed it again.

 Here I am ironing the other edge; one side (the outside of the hood) will be hemmed blindly, the other (inside hood) side will have a narrow hem. I trimmed the edge a bit more than shown here but then left it raw to give it a Downtown feel. (If you want to tuck and finish off the fabric trim go to the Upper East Side for those kind of shenanigans)

Fold the washcloth in half inside out, you'll be sewing the hood shape from the inside. Mark the center of the washcloth, preferably with your 6 year-old's hand so she feels involved and happy.

Following the photoshopped yellow lines, sew the hood together at the angle shown. An inch from the top trimmed edge, and at an angle that allows for 3 or 4 inches total margin from the bottom center (where the pin is)

 

I tacked down 3/4 inch of the inside triangle that was just hanging there, although you can leave it alone if you want too.

 Fold the towel in half width-wise and pin the hood to it (also folded in half at the center); sew it all together

I put the outer edge of the hood outside away from the baby when it will be wrapped up; see that edge just hanging out? I went along and sewed it down after I took this pic. Daisy was at the park all day and was in no mood to be campy. boo.

Here's the finished product; you can give away a family pack for all the siblings, or give it with Baby Wash or Baby Powder.