Hooded Baby Towel and Washcloth Set
This project is relatively quick and very simple to sew. I think it would make a perfect gift for your next baby shower!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Molly Schnick. Click here to see even more of Molly’s work!
Materials
To make one 31-inch square towel and two 9-inch washcloths:
- 1 1/4 yard of Michael Miller Organic Terry Cloth
- 1 1/4 yard Kokka Fabrics Sheer Floral in Blue Posies
- 100% cotton thread in color #1105
Please keep in mind that the Terry Cloth used here is a knit fabric so it has a lot more stretch that the sheer floral. Be very careful when cutting and sewing it not to stretch it out. Do not pull while you’re sewing. As long as you’re gentle with the Terry Cloth everything should work out fine!
Cutting
For the towel, cut:
- One 32-inch square from the Terry Cloth
- One 32-inch square from the Sheer Floral
- One 12-inch square from the Terry Cloth
- One 12-inch square from the Sheer Floral
For the washcloths, cut:
- Two 10-inch squares from the Terry Cloth
- Two 10-inch squares from the Sheer Floral
Sewing the Washcloths
Pin one of the 10-inch Sheer Floral squares to one of the 10-inch Terry Cloth squares with their right sides together. It can be hard to tell which is the right side of the Sheer Floral so be careful! The right side of the Terry Cloth is the fuzzy side.
Sew the squares together with a 1/2-inch seam allowance, leaving a 2-inch gap on one side unsewn as shown above. Backstitch at the beginning and end of this seam.
Snip off all four corners of the square and turn the piece right sides out through the 2-inch gap.
Iron the piece flat making sure the corners are nice and pointy and pin along the edges. Iron and pin the 2-inch gap closed with it’s raw 1/2-inch seam allowances tucked inside the piece.
Stitch around the entire piece with a 1/4-inch seam allowance thus closing the gap and finishing the washcloth.
Repeat these steps for the second set of 10-inch squares to make your second washcloth.
Preparing the Hood
Cut the 12-inch squares you prepared in the first step in half diagonally, and just keep one of the resulting triangles from each fabric. You can hold on to the other set of triangles to make another towel or in case you mess this step up.
Pin a Terry Cloth triangle and a Sheer Floral triangle right sides together along their diagonal side.
Sew along this diagonal line with a 1/2-inch seam allowance backstitching at the beginning and end of each seam.
Turn the triangle right side out by re-folding it along the diagonal line wrong sides together. Iron and pin the piece along this diagonal side letting the fluffy part of the Terry Cloth peek out a bit onto the Sheer Floral side.
Here is a closer shot showing the diagonal side and the Terry Cloth rolled slightly over to the Sheer Floral side.
Sew the sides together along the diagonal line with a 1/2-inch seam allowance.
This triangle is now the hood piece.
Sewing the Towel Together
Pin the 32-inch square pieces of fabric right sides together along all four sides. Smooth the Sheer Floral down on top of the Terry Cloth as flat as you can. If there are any sides that aren’t matching up you can trim them.
Once all four sides are pinned un-pin one corner and peel the sheer floral back.
Place the hood piece onto this corner, matching its right angle to the right angle of the Terry Cloth, with the Sheer Floral side of the hood facing up.
Smooth the Sheer Floral back on top of the corner and pin it down neatly, matching up the right angles. Make sure you’re pinning through all four layers, The Terry Cloth towel piece, the two layers of the hood, and the Sheer Floral towel piece.
Sew along all four sides of the towel with a 1/2-inch seam allowance leaving a 3-inch gap unsewn.
Snip off the corners of the piece.
Turn the piece right sides out and press the sides just like you did for the washcloths.
Press the towel flat and pin along the sides just as you did with the washcloth.
The hood should be sitting on top of the Terry Cloth side of the towel with it’s Sheer Floral side facing up.
Finishing
Sew along all four sides of the towel with a 1/4-inch seam allowance. This will close the 3-inch gap and give the whole piece a more finished look. Start at the bottom right corner of the hood. That way if you mess up sewing the edge of the hood you don’t have too much to rip out!
Once you’ve sewn around all four sides of the towel press it again and you’ll be all done!
Made this with a blue crab toile print in double gauze which is perfect bc you don’t have to iron it after you wash it and it clings to the terry cloth so you don’t have to worry about it slipping.
I have made 4 sets of this already. I used nursery flannel, and they turned out beautifully. These are going to make great baby shower gifts. So easy too ❤️
Hi there,
When I click on this link (1 1/4 yard Kokka Fabrics Sheer Floral in Blue Posie) it is no longer active. Is there a fabric that is similar to this that I could purchase?
Also, what is the content of this fabric?
Thank you
Hi Kara,
Thanks for reaching out! I would suggest using Liberty of London Tana Lawn Classics or Seasonals – any lightweight woven fabric should work well! The original fabric was a very lightweight 100% cotton.
Happy sewing!
Julianna
I would just like to THANK YOU for spreading the idea of the hooded towel.
Hello love these so cute i was going to try and make a few but in Australia i find it hard to buy terry cloth by the metre and if i do find it ..its so expensive what could i use instead and what could be use for the top (floral print part)
Hi Tracey,
Thanks for reaching out! I think flannel or a sweater knit would be a lovely substitute for the terry cloth, and you could use almost any lightweight printed fabric such as batiste, lawn, or even quilting cotton, for the outside layer.
Happy sewing!
Julianna
I used oversized beach towels and nursery flannel. I’ve made 4 and am about to make two more as Christmas gifts.
Hi
I made this but added liberty tana lawn piping in-between the fabric layers. This was a lot harder than i anticipate because you have to sew one side blind. But the result is amazing, wish i could post a picture!
Hi Becky,
Thanks so much for writing in – your project sounds beautiful! You can always email a picture to us at customerservice@purlsoho.com, we’d love to see your finished Hooded Baby Towel! You can also tag us on Instagram with #purlsohobusyhands or #purlsoho – we always love to see our customer’s creations!
Best,
Cassandra
I use a flannel material and the Terry cloth together. I am concerned about slipping of the two fabrics? It does seem a little weighted…… But, looks and feels awesome!
Thank you
Hi Eileen,
Thanks for writing in! It’s hard to say whether the layers of your towel will slip, as it seems to depend somewhat on your fabric choice. We have heard from some customers that experienced slippage after washing, but many others who didn’t! If you prefer, you could tack the two layers together at regular intervals following the method we used to quilt our Cozy Sherpa Lap Duvet!
Best,
Julianna
Where are the pictures, when I load this page all the pictures are just little squares and when I right click and choose load pictures nothing happens.
Hi Kim,
Thank you for writing in! We’ve been noticing some issues on our website due to a recent update and are still ironing out some of the kinks. We’re aware of this problem and are urgently looking into it, so thank you for bringing this to our attention! I understand this is frustrating, so we appreciate your patience as we troubleshoot in the meantime. We hope to have the photos back up again soon!
Best,
Gianna
Thank you for the information, if you have the instructions with pictures that you could just send to me that would work too – thanks again.
I am a visual person and I need to see what your saying LOL.
Hi Kimberly,
Thanks for reaching out again! We are currently still looking for the missing images but as soon as we find them we can email them to you directly!
Thanks again for your patience!
Best,
Gianna
I have made 3 of these so far as gifts. They were a big hit! I used some cute nursery flannel and the Terry cloth. There are so many cute prints that it’s hard to choose! These make a fun, easy and useful gift! I included a silicone rinsing cup, some baby wash, shampoo and lotion with the towel and washcloths.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for reaching out! That is such a sweet and thoughtful gift to give, I am so glad that you have enjoyed making and giving these!
All the best,
Gianna
Just used your tutorial and I’m very happy, thank you
I have made several of these hooded towels for baby gifts. Thank you so much for the easy tutorial!!
Would this work with cotton and terry? Downsides?
Hello,
Thanks for writing in! I think cotton and terry would work great together! For the printed fabric, you can use any lightweight fabric, but something with cotton would be ideal since it’s inherently pretty absorbent. Liberty of London would be quite nice as a substitute for the Kokka since they have a variety of beautiful prints all made out of super soft 100% cotton. You can certainly try a quilting cotton instead but it is quite a bit heavier than what we used here and may not work as well. I would suggest sewing up a small sample (a few inches by a few inches) and see how you like it before moving on!
All the best,
Zha Zha
Would I be able to get this an how much would it will coast ?
Hi Marissa,
Thanks for writing in. I’m so sorry to say that it looks like all the materials required for this washcloth set are no longer available on our website. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience! You might be able to find similar fabric and notions if you search online, perhaps at an online crafts or fabric store.
Sorry again to not be of more help! Thanks for reaching out to us!
All the best,
Cat
Is this hand sewn or with a machine?
Hi Marcus,
I believe we used a machine to sew our sample of this project, but you’re welcome to hand sew it if you prefer that method!
All the best,
Lili