Homestead Baby Gift-Hooded Towels

One of my favorite baby gifts to give and receive (!) are hooded towels. I'm not talking about the little infant ones that are paper thin and only fit for a few months, but rather the nice big roomy ones that still fit my soon-to-be 5 year old's noggin.  While these are a little too roomy for a newborn, you will get plenty of use out of them during the toddler and preschool years of their lives.  Since they are such a long-term gift, I especially enjoy giving them as gifts to parents with multiple children. They may not fit the infant right now, but could surely be used with big brother or sister in the mean-time!   Thankfully they are very easy and quick to make; my favorite kind of project!


What you'll need:

A large bath towel, A coordinating Hand-towel, and thread.  That's it!

Now, for the steps:
1) Cut the hand towel in half across the short width of the towel.

2) Take one of the new halves and fold in half again with the cut edge on top. Pin the cut edge closed.

3) Zig zag this closed. Open it back up and you'll see the 'hood' of the towel.

4) Attach the open end of your hood to the middle of the long-side of the bath towel. Voila!  You're all done, and your child will be dry and cozy.

Pin..

...then stitch.

And now good news!  Since you only use half of your hand-towel, you can actually make 2 hooded towels out of it (just buy one more bath-towel).  I made both of these towels in under 15 minutes, but the family can use them for years to come.

Other Variations:
-Run elastic along the inside top of the hood to make it more fitted.

-Use a wash-rag folded in half instead of a hand-towel for a smaller hood that will fit an infant.

-Applique other fabric scraps on it to make an animal face on the hood.  I actually got that idea from an old ducky-towel pattern in a Martha Stewart Baby magazine a few years ago. I can't find that exact one on-line, so here's another link to give you an idea of something similar.

Have fun with this!  You could be as creative as your imagination (and time) allows!
Blessings to you and all the little bundles of joy on your homestead,
Hillary At Home