Archives for October 2010

Sew Basics: Bias Tape (part 1)

I am so inspired by all of you that are new to sewing, getting back into sewing, or are thinking about buying a sewing machine to start sewing.  I love all the emails you have sent me and conversations we have had over on facebook.  I haven’t been the most consistent with my “Sew Basics” tutorials, but I’m going to try to put more of these together in hopes that you all will get as hooked on sewing as I am.

As most of you know, I am a self-taught sewer (well, mostly).  I’ve had a few lessons from my Grandma and grew up with my Mom sewing (though I never showed much interest).  Bias tape was very confusing to me when I first started sewing garments.  I couldn’t figure out which side was supposed to go where.  If any of you are like me, I hope this tutorial will help ease the confusion.

Here’s the plan for Sew Basics: Bias Tape

Part 1: Sewing bias tape to a garment
Part 2: Making your own bias tape from fabric

After part two, I will show you how to take your homemade bias tape and turn it into corded piping.

Let’s get started……..

Bias tape is a narrow piece of fabric that is cut on the bias (45 degree angle) which allows it to be stretchier and more fluid than fabric cut straight across.  Because of it’s stretchiness, bias tape works great for encasing raw curved edges and giving items a finished look.

Bias tape can be purchased in the notions section of your local fabric store.  You can usually find it near the zippers and ric-rac.  These days, most bias tape comes in basic, solid colors; however, you can find vintage bias tape (see above picture) in all sorts of different fun patterns.  To customize your own bias tape, you will need to make your own (we will discuss that in part 2).

There are two different types of bias tape that is made in varying widths – single-fold and double-fold.

Single-fold bias tape has two sides folded inwards (one fold is slightly larger than the other) and it is not folded down the center.  Double-fold bias tape is basically single-fold bias tape, but folded in half again lengthwise.  Double-fold will encase an entire raw edge with bias on either side of the raw edge.  Single-fold will allow you to fold over a raw edge to the inside of a garment to finish the edge, but generally you will not see any bias tape on the exterior of the garment.  I like to use double-fold for most things.

Here is an example of how to sew double-fold bias tape to encase an armhole on a vintage pillow case dress:

Open up your double-fold bias tape.  If you look very closely you will see that one side has a larger fold than the other.  This is a very important detail to notice before you sew on your bias tape.

Open up the fold on the smaller side. When getting ready to encase an arm hole, you want to line up the raw edge of the garment with the raw edge of the smaller fold of the bias tape.  Pin this in place on the right-side of the garment.  So as you can see above, you will need to unfold the double-fold tape quite a bit for this step to work.  The larger fold will remain folded over.

Stitch in the fold along the raw edge of both the bias tape and the garment.  Sew on the right-side of the garment.

Here (picture above) is what your bias tape will look like once you have stitched in the fold towards along the side with the smaller fold.

Next fold your bias tape over to the other side (wrong-side of the garment).  If you notice in the picture above, the bias tape on the underside is ever so slightly wider than the top.  This is exactly what you want.

Now stitch as close to the edge of the bias tape as possible on the top side (smaller fold).  Stitching on this side will ensure that you will catch the larger fold (on the other side) and have perfect looking bias tape every time!  Important to note:  You stitched your original line of stitching on the right-side of the garment and you are doing your second set of stitching on the same side (right-side) of the garment.

Here is what your bias tape will look like once it is sewn into place.

I used the double-fold bias tape technique on this vintage pillowcase dress arm hole.  Using this method, I have no trouble sewing perfect bias tape every time!

You can use bias tape to encase any raw edge of a sewing project or simply use it to add a pop of color and style.  Try it on the bottom edge of a skirt, the bottom of a dish towel for some added decorative detail, or on the edge of a pocket.

Single-fold bias tape works very similarly to double-fold.  The only difference is that when you fold over your bias tape to the wrong-side of the garment there will be nothing left on top (you won’t see the bias tape from the right-side of the garment).  Instead you will just see a line of stitching on the fabric where you have sewn your single-fold bias tape to the wrong-side of the garment.  Personally I find double-fold bias tape to be easier and have a cleaner, more finished look, but use whatever your pattern or design calls for.

Once you master sewing bias tape, you will feel like you have come along way as a beginning sewer.  Honestly, I used to dread sewing bias tape, but now it is a piece of cake!  Don’t let bias tape scare you, it can be a lot of fun and I will show you how to add your own special flare to projects in Sew Basics: Bias Tape (part 2).

Cottage Mama’s Note:  If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected] and I am happy to help.  We have lots of fun talking “sewing” over on The Cottage Mama facebook page, so come on over and join in the fun!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from The Cottage Home!  
Hope you all have fun trick-or-treating with your little pumpkin heads – I know we will!!

Two Little Pumpkin Heads

I feel so relieved that the girls Halloween costumes are complete.  I went back and forth for several weeks try to decide what they were going to be, but could not decide.  Finally, I took the girls to the fabric store and let Savannah decide. 

I pulled out the Simplicity Halloween costume book and she said she wanted to be a pumpkin.  Perfect!  Not the most creative costume idea, but definitely a classic.  I mean really, how long will they let you dress them up as pumpkins?  Not long, I suppose.

So here is the pattern we settled on.

Today was Savannah’s ballet class and they were all supposed to dress up in their costumes.  Not wanting to make Matilda feel left out, I dressed her up too.

Here are my two little pumpkin heads waiting for Savannah’s class to begin.  They are looking and acting more and more like sisters these days.  I love it!  I have to admit that the idea of having two little ones 16-months apart scared me in the beginning, but I am realizing more and more that it is actually quite a blessing.

After Savannah went into class, I had to snap a few pictures of my littlest pumpkin head.  She does not like to wear hats (unlike her sister), so I made sure to put a ribbon tie on her little hat.

Here’s Miss Matilda thinking about trying to take her hat off.  The ribbon tie worked, she kept her hat on!

After ballet class was over, I took the girls to a local pumpkin patch to take a few more pictures of them in their costumes. 

I have a hard time following patterns exactly.  It’s probably the same reason I have trouble following recipes.  I always like to make it my own by putting my own spin on it.  I turned this costume into more of a pillowcase dress, drew my own faces, and changed up the hat a little bit.  I do, however, think patterns are wonderful for help with sizing and inspiration.

The main fabric is orange fleece and the black, green and tan are all felt.  I love working with fleece.  It’s so easy to sew and you don’t have to worry about serging or finishing the edges.  Not to mention the fact that this costume will be warm and toasty trick-or-treating in the cool October air.

I just love these two little pumpkin heads!
Cottage Mama’s Note:  This costume was very simple to sew – perfect for beginners!  If you have not made your child’s costume yet, you could probably get this done in about an hour or two.  So if you have an hour to spare, go for it!

Comfy Sews: Shawl Collar Sweater Tutorial

Welcome to those of you visiting from over in the “Mommyhood”!  I’m so excited that Shannon asked me to be part of this month long battle she is having going on over on her blog, Luvinthemommyhood – Comfy Sews vs. Cozy Knits.  Guess which side of the ring I’m on?

For those of you that know me, you know I am all about the sewing over on my blog, The Cottage Home.  On a rare occassion I pick up my crochet hook and maybe someday I’ll learn how to knit, but for now, the sewing needle is my tool of choice.

As of lately I’ve been slightly obsessed with felted wool.  I thought this would be a great project to bring some of those on the “Cozy Knits” side of the ring over to the dark-side, “Comfy Sews”.  Surprisingly this project has minimal sewing and does not even require a sewing machine (though there is some hand-sewing involved).  So if you have ever thought about trying a sewing project, trust me, this will be right up a beginners alley!

I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but this is just one large oval of fabric! You can use regular fleece fabric, recycled felted wool sweaters or, if you knit, you could simply knit your own fabric oval and felt it.  If you have never felted wool before, click here to view my latest tutorial.

Let’s get started……….

Shawl Collar Sweater Tutorial
Supplies:
1 yard of fabric (either felted wool or regular fleece – any non-fraying fabric)
1 large button or large shank button (to be covered with fabric)
Scissors
Hand-sewing needle
Thread
Optional:
Scrap of fabric (if covering button)
Fabric covered button kit
Embroidery floss and embroidery needle (if monogramming button)
Water-soluble fabric marker
Directions:
The diagram below should help clarify what I am talking about in each step.  I’m a very visual learner and because this was such a large piece of fabric, I thought this would be easier to understand than my pictures.
Below you can see that the width of my oval fabric piece was 42″ and the length was 35″.  I would say I wear a small/medium these days and have a somewhat larger chest.  If you are smaller or larger then you may want to adjust the measurements a little bit.

Fold the yard of fabric in half length-wise, then width-wise.  I am using a large piece of felted wool here (that I purchased from my thrift store and felted at home), but you can use any fabric you like that won’t fray.  We are leaving the edges raw and the arm holes raw, so you don’t want a fabric that will fray.  Fleece would be a nice choice or you could even try to use some kind of knit.

Cut a quarter circle.  Divide your length measurement in half and your width measurement in half and connect the dots with your curve.  This will give you an even oval.

Unfold your oval piece of fabric.  As you can see, it is a rather large oval, that’s why I included the first diagram.

Measure half your width and half your length to find your center point.

Measure the widest part of your back (up by the shoulder blades).  Cut your arm holes 9″-10″ long in the center of the oval – they should be cut your back measurement apart.  My back was 17″, therefore each arm hole was cut 12.5″ in from the edge of the oval (see first illustration).

After you have cut your arm holes.  Fold over the top of the oval 9″-10″.  The 9″-10″ is for the largest part of the curve.

Try on your shawl sweater to determine button placement.  My button placement was about 3″ from the edge.  You can sort of see the white head of the pin in the picture above.

This next step is completely optional.  I wanted to make a special monogrammed button, but you could definitely use any button you have on hand.  If you aren’t monogramming your button, you can skip the next several steps.  I also used some wool suiting fabric for my covered button.

Trace your covered button template onto the fabric.

Trace your button inside the template with a water-soluble fabric marker.

Hand embroider your initial onto the fabric.  I did an “L” for Lindsay.
Follow the instructions for your covered button kit and cover your button.  Make sure to center the letter in the middle of the button.  Stitch into place.  Cut two small slits on the other side of your shawl collar to use as the button hole.  Again, you don’t have to do a “real” button hole because the felted wool will not fray.  I also tacked the other-side in place with about four hand stitches.  Now, try on your new sweater!
And there you have it – a comfy Shawl Collar Sweater – perfect for those cool autumn days!
Cottage Mama’s Note:  This piece of wool only cost me $1.00, plus the button = $1.25 for some hip fall fashion!

A Simple Lunch: Avocado Bread

Sometimes the best things in life are the simplest.  One of my all time favorite quick, yet satisfying lunches is avocado bread.  So simple, yet so incredibly delicious.

Ingredients:
1 Avocado
2 pieces Italian bread
Olive oil
Garlic Salt

Directions:

Cut avocado in half.  Remove the pit and scoop out the inside.  Place in a bowl.

With fork mash up avocado.  Sprinkle in a little garlic salt (to taste).  Mash again.

Toast good Italian bread.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Spread avocado on top of Italian bread.

If you’re really hungry, make two pieces of avocado bread!

Enjoy!

Laptop / Kindle / I-Pad Sleeve Tutorial

In case you missed my tutorial in Delish Magazine, I wanted to share my Laptop / Kindle/ I-Pad Sleeve Tutoiral with you.  Gift giving season just around the corner and what better way to show someone you care than with a custom laptop sleeve.

This pattern can be made for any size laptop, Kindle, or I-Pad by adjusting the measurements accordingly.  I used girly fabric here, but you could definitely make this more “manly” by using a more masculine print or perhaps even some wool suiting material.

Supplies:
Cotton fabric for exterior
Fleece fabric for lining
2 buttons
Sewing machine
Seam-ripper
Thread
Iron
Ironing board
Fray Check (optional)
Fabric marking pen, chalk or pencil

Instructions:

1. Gather your supplies.

2. Determine the sizing for your laptop sleeve.  First, measure the height of your laptop.

3. Next measure the length.

4. Finally measure the width.

Once you have these measurements you can determine your pattern size.  Here is how you calculate your dimensions for the large fabric pieces (interior and exterior): (L + H + 1) X (W + H + 1).  For example, my laptop was 9 inches wide (W), 12.75 inches long (L), and 1.25 inches tall (H), so my calculation was (12.75 + 1.25 + 1) X (9 + 1.25 + 1) = 15 X 11.25.  I cut my interior and exterior fabric pieces 15″ X 11.25″ (4 pieces total).

5. For the straps, draw a pattern for yourself (freehand) on a piece of paper and use this as a template.  These straps are 2.5 inches wide by 7.5 inches tall (up to the very top of the curve).  Cut two from the exterior fabric and two from the fleece (lining).  Place exterior fabric right-side down on top of your lining (fleece).

6. Stitch along both long sides and the curved top, leaving the bottom open (1/4″ seam allowance).

7. Here are both of your straps after stitching them together.

8. Trim the excess fabric off around the curve.  This will help it to lay nice and flat.

9. Turn both straps right-side out.

10. Press with a hot iron.

11. Here are both straps after pressing.

12. Top-stitch on both long sides and the curved top (1/8″ seam allowance).  Do this in a coordinating thread.

13. Here are both straps after top-stitching.

14. Attach the button hole foot to your sewing machine.

15. Prepare to sew a button hole in each strap (according to your machines directions).  Start button hole 1/2″ from the end of the strap.  Make it as big or as small as you need, depending on the buttons you have chosen to use.

16. Here is the completed button hole.

17. Now it’s time to open both button holes.

18. Take your seam-ripper and open the inside of both button holes.

19. Use Fray Check on each button hole after opening.  This is entirely optional, but it really helps to prevent any additional fraying.

20. Pin both sides of your exterior fabric right-sides together.  Pin the two long sides and one short side.

21. Stitch all three sides (1/2″ seam allowance)

22. Here is your exterior fabric after sewing all three sides.

23. It is important to remove the extra fabric in the two corners.

24. Clip both corners to remove any extra bulk from the fabric.

25. Turn right-side out and press.

26. Pin the straps into place.  Line up the raw edge of the strap with the raw edge of the exterior fabric.  Measure in approximately 1.5″ on each side.

27. Baste straps into place.  Set machine stitch length to 3.5 and stitch along the edge (1/4″ seam allowance).

28. Pin both long sides of fleece (lining) together.

29. Stitch down both long sides (1/2″ seam allowance).  Stitch part of one short-side together, but leave an opening in the middle.

30. Make sure to only stitch in about 1/3 of the way on the short side of the fleece.  The opening needs to be in the middle for you to be able to turn the laptop sleeve later.  Clip the corners to remove bulk.

31. Feed the exterior fabric in through the hole in the fleece.

32. Line up the raw edge of the exterior fabric and the raw edge of the fleece.  Pin in place, right-sides together.

33. Stitch around the top (1/2″ seam allowance).

34. Here is the laptop sleeve after you have stitched around the top.

35. Now pull the exterior fabric back through the hole you left open in the fleece.

36. Turn the fleece right-side out as well.

37. Here is the hole that was left open in the bottom of the fleece lining.

38. Close the hole by slip-stitching it closed by hand.

39. This is the lining completely closed.  Tuck the lining into the exterior fabric.  Work the corners from the interior and exterior fabric into one another.

40. Top-stitch around the top opening.  Use a coordinating thread (1/2″ seam allowance).

41. If you would like to sew on your personal clothing label, do so at this time.  I placed mine on the back-side in between the two straps.

42. Fold over both straps.

43. Using a fabric marking pen, chalk or pencil, mark your button placement.  Stitch by machine or hand-sew buttons into place.

Slide your laptop into the sleeve, button the straps and you will be toting your laptop in complete and ultimate style!

Sew Basics: Felting Wool

Last week I happened upon the mother-load of wool sweaters at my local thrift store – only $1 per piece!  I’m always hunting for 100% wool for felting, but it’s sort of hard to come by these days, so I definitely felt like I hit the jackpot last week!!  I love felted wool, but haven’t done a ton with it.  So this last week, I spent the day over at my mother in-laws felting all my wool finds from the thrift store (she has a super-awesome washer and dryer).

Felting wool is very simple.  In order for the wool to felt, you need 100% wool (or close to it).  If the sweater or garment has acrylic in it, it will not felt.  Additionally, most natural animal fibers will felt well – try searching for alpaca, mohair, cashmere, just to name a few.  Check the garment label for fiber composition.

Felting is caused by heat agitation and can take a regular knitted sweater and turn it into a solid piece of wool felt – very cool!  So here’s how The Cottage Mama felts wool……..

Gather your wool for felting.  As you can see here, I have many different pieces – sweaters, pants, blankets, blazers, skirts, ect……you can felt just about anything as long as it is 100% wool, natural animal fibers, or a combination of the two.

Place your wool for felting into you washing machine.  You may want to put your wool inside a delicate washing bag or a zippered pillowcase as it does tend to produce a lot of lint.  It’s up to you.

I set my mother-in-laws washing machine on “sanitary” because that is the highest temperature and longest agitation.  Set your washing machine to the highest temp. setting – extra hot/cold or hot/cold for the longest length of time.  I do not add soap.

After the wool has cycled through the washing machine, place it in the dryer and dry the wool on the hottest setting possible.  Generally this is the cotton setting.

Once dry, remove from the dryer and see if the felting is to your liking.  Felting has occurred if your garments have shrunk a considerable amount and the stitching is less noticeable.  On some garments you will not be able to see the stitching at all and on others it will just be less noticeable.  Some items will felt better than others.  You can always run your wool through another washing and drying cycle if you aren’t satisfied with the felting on the first try.

The sweater above is one that felted really well.  This started out as an x-large woman’s sweater, but once felted, you can no longer see the individual knitting stitches and it would not even fit my 2-year old.  Felted sweaters tend to get thicker and a bit more stiff after felting as well.

Once wool is felted, it becomes an entirely different piece of material to work with.  I almost equate it to working with fleece (but much cooler).  As you probably know, fleece will not fray on the raw edges so you don’t really need to hem garments or worry about finish edges.  Wool felt is the same way – once felted, the fibers are bonded together and will rarely fray.

This weekend we had some fall fun at the pumpkin patch and I made my daughter, Savannah Rose, a felted wool sweater coat to keep her toasty in the cool autumn air.  This sweater coat was made entirely from thrift store items – total coat $4.00!  Here is the design I came up with…..

For this sweater coat, I used three different wool sweaters and one piece of felted wool suiting.  I left the bottom edge of the coat and the sleeves unfinished.

The back panel was the piece of felted wool suiting.  I cut leaves out of the other three sweaters and stitched them onto the back.  I used a straight stitch around each leave.  I also cut two elbow patches and stitched them with a straight-stitch as well.

For the front button closure, I simply cut a slit into the wool flap – no button hole!  I added some basic embroidery stitching and finished it off with a little mushroom button.

I cut a peter-pan collar from the wool suiting and left all of the edges raw.

I added some simple embroidery stitches onto some of the sweater leaves as well.

I love the earthiness of this coat – perfect for fall!

It was a gorgeous fall weekend. This is definitely my favorite time of year in the Midwest.

Sometimes it just feels so good to scoop up those fall leaves and throw them all over your head!

I think Miss Savannah likes the little fall coat her mama made for her!
Happy Felting!
Cottage Mama’s Note:  Stay tuned for a felted wool project tutorial coming later this week!

This just spoke to me……..

Yesterday I was over at my mother-in-laws felting a ton of wool (tutorial on that soon) and she gave me the “Where Women Create” magazine featuring Amy Butler, Nancy Soriano, and Jo Packham (just to name a few). 

I am so inspired by this magazine – reading all of these incredible stories of creative women entrepreneurs and the spaces where they turn their dreams into reality. I’ve read many issues of this magazine before, but for some reason this issue, in particular, spoke to me.  There were several quotes that I just cannot seem to get out of my head, so here I am blogging about it because I have to get these thoughts out in writing and maybe some of you all can relate.

So I’ll start with sharing my favorite quote from the issue and it comes from “Little Women” via the artist Debbie Dusenberry……

“You have so many extraordinary gifts; how can you expect to lead an ordinary life?”
I struggle daily with whether or not I should be doing what I’m doing in regards to my children’s clothing business, blogging, creating, ect.  I really do.  I think it’s what they call “mother’s guilt”.   At this point, my life does not fit the same mold of most other mothers.  I struggle with what I feel my life should be verse what I want it to be.  I see a lot of other mother’s around me completely devoted to their children, really taking no time out for themselves and their passions in life because it’s what they are supposed to do.  And I respect that, really I do.  But I want more from life for myself and my family.  
I’ve always wanted to be a stay-at-home Mom (honestly, I have) and I am lucky to have the opportunity to do so.  And I love everything that has to do with the domestic life, but even in the early months staying home with my daughter, Savannah Rose, there was something burning inside of me…..a creativity that just needed to be released.  And thus, I created the blog “The Cottage Home” and the children’s clothing business “The Cottage Mama”.  Do I need to work? No.  Do I want to work on “The Cottage Mama”?  Absolutely!  It is my passion.
 
Which leads me into another quote……….that comes from Julia Cameron via the artist Amy Barickman……..
“Creativity is an act of faith and we must be faithful to that faith, willing to share it to help others, and to be helped in return.”
I never thought of creativity from this perspective, but it truly is a gift from God.  And for those of us that cannot control our need for creativity, we must follow in the faith.  That is why I love writing this blog, I love helping others learn and awaken their creative spirit and I love learning from all of you as well.  Why should we suppress a truly amazing gift from above just to fit the mold of an ordinary life?  We should feel lucky and blessed to have had that gift bestowed on us.
And finally a quote from Rober Schuller via Nancy Soriano………
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
How many times have you thought about doing something, but then never acted on it because you just knew it would never happen?  We all act on our fears and insecurities and it is what inhibits us from following our dreams in this world.  So I ask you to take a minute and think about the quote above, what would you do?  I know what I would do. Push all your worries and fears aside and speak to your inner voice.  I cannot even imagine what our world would be like if we could all just push fear aside and go for it!
In closing, these are my final feelings………
I want my girls to be proud of their mother and know that what I do for myself, I also do for them.  I want them to know that I did not conform to the majority and took a different path.  I want to not feel guilty about embracing the gift of creativity.  I want my girls to take the gifts God has bestowed upon them and actually do something with them, not suppress them to conform to the molds of what women and mother’s should be in our society.  I want them to take on their dreams and goals head on without the idea of failure.  I want them to listen to their creative spirits.  I want them to walk to the beat of their own drummer.  I want them to be happy.
Thank you for reading.

Two Giveaways and Two Winners!

I am pleased to announce the two winners of our most recent giveaways………….

For the $25.00 Elizabeth Victoria Fine Stationary Giveaway, the winner is…….

And the winner of “The Cottage Home” 1-year Anniversary Celebration Giveaway (8 half-yard cuts of Heather Bailey’s, Nicey Jane) is………..

Congratulations to both winners!! If you could please email me with your contact information ([email protected]), I will make sure you receive your prize as soon as possible.  Thanks everyone for entering!

Embellished Hooded Towel Tutorial

I know it’s a tad bit early to be talking about Christmas, but I just can’t help thinking about it.  Since I have committed myself to handmade gifts this year, I need to do some serious planning in order to get all my gift giving accomplished.  So I thought you also might enjoy me sharing some holiday gift giving ideas a little earlier than normal…….perhaps you are going handmade as well! The following tutorial was not entirely my own idea.  I had posed a question over on “The Cottage Mama” facebook fan page in regards to the projects everyone was working on and several women chimed in and said they were working on hooded towels for children. Well, this little discussion reminded me that I had been wanting to make some giant sized hooded towels for my own girls.  I love the little baby hooded towels, but they seem to grow out of those so quickly.  And the larger sized towels that I see in some of the popular catalogs are just a little too pricey for me. I think these would make a fabulous Christmas gift the younger people in your life.  You can be as creative as you would like with these and it’s a great way to use a small amount of your beloved fabric stash (yes, I know there are others of you out there that are fabric hoarders like myself) to really make a statement on this one-of-a-kind towel.

Hooded Towel Tutorial

Supplies: 1 hand towel 1 large bath towel 1 strip of fabric (approx. 4″ by 25″) Ric-rac trim (2 pieces – 25″ long) Thread Scissors Iron Directions:

Cut hand towel to approximately 24″ long.  If it is a little shorter or longer, that will be fine.  I just cut off the one end that looked a little different than the other.

Cut your strip of fabric 4″ x 25″ (allowing an extra inch longer than your hand towel).  If you used a different length for your hand towel, just add one inch for the fabric.  Pin your ric-rac (2 pieces also 25″ long) along the raw edges of both sides of the right-side of the fabric strip.

Stitch in place.  I used different sized ric-rac for several different towels.  The one seen here is jumbo.  Base your seam allowance on the size trim you have.  You want the waves of the ric-rac poking through the other-side, so adjust accordingly.

Your best bet is to stitch straight down whatever size trim your are using.

With a hot iron, press the ric-rac to the other side.  Do this on both sides.

Press again with a hot iron to set in place.

Here is the fabric strip with the ric-rac sewn in place.  If you use smaller trim then your fabric strip will be wider because you will not have turned as much under.

Fold the hand towel in half (length-wise) and pin fabric strip approximately 1/2″-1″ from the fold.

UNFOLD the towel and top-stitch down both sides to secure in place.

Above is the fabric strip sewn in place on the hand towel.

Now fold the hand towel the other direction – width-wise with right-sides together.  Stitch down the right and left sides.  Do not stitch the open end where you see the raw edges of the fabric.

Use approximately a 1/2″ – 5/8″ seam allowance.

Turn hand towel right-side out.

Take the corner of the hand towel that I am pointing to in the picture above and tuck it into the opposite corner.

Tuck the right corner inside the left corner.

Once you have tucked the one corner into the other, this is what your hand towel will look like.

Then open up your hand towel and now you have formed the hood.

You will notice after tucking the corners that you have one side that is a little longer than the other.  Fold this over and stitch into place in order to conceal the raw edges of the fabric. I must have gotten too excited about nearing completion on this project because I didn’t take a picture of the final step (sorry).  Pin the center of the hood to the center of the bath towel (right-sides together)……stitch into place using a 1″ – 1.5″ seam allowance (yes, a large seam allowance).  If you need to use a larger seam allowance because you can still see some of the extra hand towel, feel free to do so…..no harm done.

Here are four hooded towels for my two special little ladies!  I might applique their initials onto each towel in coordinating fabric…….I think that would be a lovely finishing touch.  I just need more hours in the day…….

For the towel above, I used a standard-sized ric-rac.  You could also omit the ric-rac altogether and just press your fabric under.  You could also trim the hood with coordinating ribbon as well.

Here you can see how the fabric strips end up being sized a little differently depending on the trim size used.  Again, no biggie…….exact measurements aren’t really needed in this project

I wasn’t planning on having my girls model these towels, but when they were outside with me taking pictures, they were begging to wear them……..they looked so warm and cozy!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Please let me know if you have any questions or if any of the directions need clarification.  Happy holiday gift making!  Stay tuned for more fun gift giving tutorials.  Anyone else planning a handmade holiday?
Hooded Towel Tutorial from The Cottage Mama.

Cottage Mama’s Note:  The fabrics used in this tutorial were Art Gallery “Paradise” (Double Ivory Bloom), Amy Butler “Love” (Sunspots Tangerine), Robert Kaufman “Sweet Tooth” (Camellia), Jennifer Paganelli “Flower Power”