Hooded Monster Towel

We’ll begin with the hood. I wanted my towel to have lots of growing room, so I’m using the entire matching hand towel. But if you’re making this for a toddler, you’ll want to cut the towel in half width-wise, so the hood won’t be as tall.

Fold the hand towel in half, and trace a plate by the upper folded corner. Cut along this curve, then separate the towel into two pieces by cutting along the fold.

Now we’ll make the scales for the hood. Take the contrasting hand towel and fold it in half length-wise. Draw a set of zig-zags along the open edge of the towel, about an inch up from the bottom of the towel. Do not cut out yet! It will be easier to sew the zig-zags first.  My machine has the thread cutter at the base of the machine. So I’m going to put a piece of masking tape over it so it won’t snag on the terry cloth. Now sew on top of your drawn line.

 Then cut out the zig-zags,  keeping the bottom inch of fabric intact so you have a long strip. Clip theV’s for better seams, being careful not to snip your stitches. Turn right side out.

Lay down one piece of your hood, and line up the scales along the curved edge. Make sure the scales are pointing inward. Then layer the other hood piece on top. If you have maker showing on one of your towel pieces, it’s best to lay that one face up on top so it won’t show once it’s sewn. Pin together. You’ll notice I’m using fine small-headed pins. It’s all I had on hand, but I would definitely recommend using thicker, ball-headed quilting pins. They push through the layers more easily and the heads won’t get snagged on the cloth.

Sew these pieces together using a 5/8 seam. Depending on your sewing machine, you may want to switch to a heavy-duty needle or a walking foot, but my machine handled the layers just fine.

 Now we can the hood to the towel. Pin the middle of the hood to the middle of one long edge of the bath towel. My towel has a fold line in the middle, so I’ll use that as a guide. Pin it so that the hood is upside down and the inside is facing up.

We’re going to add a couple of pleats to give the hood a better shape. To do this, simply fold the fabric by the middle pin back on top of itself, about an inch. Do this on each side of the middle pin. Then pin the rest of the edges together. Sew with a 5/8 seam.

Now we’ll finish the edges of the towel with ribbon trim. Fold the ribbon in half around the edge of the towel. Pin in place. At the beginning and end, fold the ribbon under itself a half-inch to prevent fraying. Sew in place.

 Finally we’ll give our little monster a face. Fold the white hand towel in half and make teeth the same way you made the scales. Pin them to the inside of the hood, along the inner edge of the ribbon. Sew in place.

Cut out two white circles for the eyes. Pin, then sew in place using a blanket stitch, satin stitch, or tight zig-zag stitch. The idea is to sew on top of the edge so that it won’t fray.

Cut out two pupils from the scale fabric, and sew those on as you did the eyes. Your little monster is done! You could also try making a green dragon, or creating a fish by using curved scallops instead of pointed scales. Bathtime has never been more fun!