A Quick Do-Over

Last week we had a little crisis after bath time as my daughter's favorite hooded robe, that she has had since she was 2 years old, would no longer fit over her head!  It was time for another one. Perhaps a bit over time. but time nonetheless.

 

And just so you know, sometimes that is the only way anything ever gets done around here. It has to have a deadline or generate a personal crisis LOL otherwise it gets put on the bottom of the list! What is it that they say about the cobbler's children and shoes :-)…..

 

But I digress.

 Ellainrobe

The process that followed was so simple and so quick that I thought I'd share it with you.

1. Go to Target. Buy a bath towel and a hand towel in the same color. Total cost about $10.00.

HAND TOWEL

2. Take the hand towel and cut 3" off one of the short sides. Turn the cut edge under 1/2" and then under 1/2" again. Pin it in place and sew it down to create a finished edge.

3. Cut 3" off one long sides of the hand towel. Zigzag the entire edge to prevent it from fraying.

Note: You can of course trim more off of either side. We made our hood fairly large on purpose.

BATH TOWEL

4. Find the center of bath towel on one of the long sides and mark with a pin. Find the center of the uncut/finished long side of the hand towel and mark with a pin. Line up the two centers and pin the hand towel to the bath towel.

5. Sew the hand towel to the bath towel. Be sure to backstitch on both ends very well as this is where it will get most of the pull.

6. Fold the hand towel in half [you are folding the whole robe at this point], "right sides" together- this means you need to make sure that you are folding it in half so that the sides that you want to be the finished side of the robe is placed together. Pin the top together and sew closed along the top [this should be the section that you cut and zigzagged in Step 3].


Robeonhook

 

7.From the corner of the hood, measure over 4 1/2" in both directions – over and down- and mark with a pin. Draw a line from 4 1/2" mark to 4 1/2" mark at a 45 degree angle across the tip of the hood. Sew on that line and then trim off the excess corner fabric. Zigzag that trim line so that it does not fray.

You have just trimmed the top off the hood so that it fits better on your child's head and so it doesn't look quite so much like a gnome!

8. Turn the hood right side out. Applique anything you like to the outside of the robe such as their name, a flower, a sailboat, an animal…. anything they like! We did a little daisy that consisted of a petal and a circle.

 

Robecloseup

That's it. The whole project can be easily done in 2 hrs- and that's including your trip to Target!

Have fun!

Joanna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About The Author

Joanna

21 COMMENTS

  1. Nicola | 1st Mar 12

    That is so clever and so pretty….can’t wait to see how you apply the 2 hour rule to prom night in a few years!!

  2. welchrobin@hotmail.com | 1st Mar 12

    I hope what they say is true– there is no such thing as a stupid question, right? Did you use some type of double-side-adhesive-interfacing-type-stuff for the applique? I haven’t done much applique and I really haven’t done applique on terry cloth before…. any tips for that part would be much appreciate! 🙂

    Thanks! ~robin
    welchrobin@Hotmail.com

  3. Jenny | 1st Mar 12

    how darling. thanks for the tutorial on this project!

  4. SandyG | 1st Mar 12

    Super Duper cute! A nice something I could make for my four little grandson’s for bathtime or swimming! Any advice you have regarding Robins comment would help me too. Thank you Joanna.

  5. Joanna | 1st Mar 12

    Re: TypePad: [Fresh Figs] welchrobin@hotmail.com submitted a comment on A Quick Do-Over

    Robin-

    I am a firm believer in the no-question-rule.

    I used a standard fusible web product like Wonder Under, Heat n Bond or Pellon- they all make a fusible product that is sticky on both sides. This allowed me to both stabilize the fabric and press it in place with an iron before I stitched it all down.

    Then I used a blanket type stitch on the applique and stitched all the way around the outside of each shape [in fact I pressed down the petals all first, applique stitched around them, starting and ending on the petal points and not worrying about what the stitches looked like on those points and then covered it all up with the circle shape on top an then stitched around that shape last].

    Normally I would always turn my fabric edges first on any applique but given that I was working on terry cloth, I realized that the edges of the applique wouldnt even show, much less matter whether or not they frayed slightly over the years of use.

    Hope that answers your question,

    Joanna

  6. Joanna | 1st Mar 12

    Re: TypePad: [Fresh Figs] SandyG submitted a comment on A Quick Do-Over

    Sandy-

    I used a standard fusible web product like Wonder Under, Heat n Bond or Pellon- they all make a fusible product that is sticky on both sides. This allowed me to both stabilize the fabric and press it in place with an iron before I stitched it all down.

    Then I used a blanket type stitch on the applique and stitched all the way around the outside of each shape [in fact I pressed down the petals all first, applique stitched around them, starting and ending on the petal points and not worrying about what the stitches looked like on those points and then covered it all up with the circle shape on top an then stitched around that shape last].

    Normally I would always turn my fabric edges first on any applique but given that I was working on terry cloth, I realized that the edges of the applique wouldnt even show, much less matter whether or not they frayed slightly over the years of use.

    Hope that answers your question,

    Joanna

  7. Hollister | 2nd Mar 12

    thank you for sharing article!I am a ‘fan’ of yours, and it will be so much fun to see what inspires such a creative, talented crafter!looking forward to all the good things your blog shares.

  8. Heidi S | 2nd Mar 12

    Thank you so much for the tutorial. Your daughter’s robe is so sweet and it looks really cozy!

  9. Susan R | 2nd Mar 12

    I have joined yet another guild (oh my) and yesterday 1 member brought this exact project, but hers used 2 wash clothes & printed so no appliques. Scary how this happens in life-twice in 24 hours!

  10. Patricia Conner | 2nd Mar 12

    I have for several years made a versuon of this as a baby shower gift. You can add lace, rick-rack or other trim where you hem the hood. Babies love to snuggle in these after a nice warm bath. Thanks for sharing

  11. Miwako | 2nd Mar 12

    So cute! I might have to try that. Probably takes 2 hours to decide which color I want to use or something. LOL!

  12. Joanna | 2nd Mar 12

    Re: TypePad: [Fresh Figs] Miwako submitted a comment on A Quick Do-Over

    Yeah… Color was an easy one around here as she is all about the pink right now!

    🙂

  13. Joanna | 2nd Mar 12

    Re: TypePad: [Fresh Figs] Susan R submitted a comment on A Quick Do-Over

    I guess you might have to make one!

  14. Pam | 2nd Mar 12

    Love it! You are so clever and I am on my way to Target!

  15. Helen Lebrett | 2nd Mar 12

    Great tutorial: this would make a great baby present!! Thanks for the idea!!

  16. Patty D from NC | 2nd Mar 12

    Any pattern that starts with a trip to Target is my kind of pattern. thanks for sharing! Love your fabric!

  17. mary | 3rd Mar 12

    So darn cute!

  18. charlotte | 4th Mar 12

    Very cute. I have all boy grandchildren. I guess I could do boyish towels for them. BTW-just got 2 charm packs of California Girl and now I can’t wait for the yardage to be released. Another great line. Any chance you might come out with something a bit more boy friendly in the future? I do love your designs.

  19. Kate Brown | 4th Mar 12

    This is great! Will be making them for my grandsons for sure. Thanks for taking the time to share this.

  20. Joanna | 5th Mar 12

    Re: TypePad: [Fresh Figs] charlotte submitted a comment on A Quick Do-Over

    I think these towels would look equally lovely in boy colors with a little sailboat or baseball and bat.

    As for boy colors, California Girl actually has some great boy appropriate prints like the little stripe and the mosaic- in fact I am using some of the light and dark blues as well as the grey in my boys room!

    Best of luck.

  21. Susan D-R | 5th Mar 12

    This is so cute – you have inspired me to make one for my grandchildren – and I love that it is a quick project! Thanks once again for your inspiration and tutorial.

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