Sew A Monster Inspired Hooded Towel

I can’t believe it is already October. Bring on the goblins and ghosts.. It’s the season for monsters!

Last March I posted a tutorial on how to sew a baby and toddler hooded towel. It has been quite a popular post, both here on my blog and also on Pinterest.  With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it was the perfect time to create a fun monster update.  Click here If you would like to check out the original post.

To sew your own little monster, here are the materials needed:

1. Terry Towel
2. Cotton fabric in 4 colors – you will use the cotton for the hood, binding, eyes and teeth
3. Fusible web – Pellon EZ Steam works great
4. Sewing machine and related supplies
5. Disappearing ink pen
6. Rotary cutter and cutting mat
7. Quilting ruler and measuring tape
8. Ink pen, paper, ruler
9. Iron and ironing board

Before we get started, you will need to complete the following:

1. Wash your terry towel
2. Cut the main towel piece – lay the terry flat on a surface. Cut a large square that measures 30″ x 30″
3. Cut out the hood pattern piece in both the terry towel and cotton fabric – click here to download the pattern Haberdashery-Fun-Hood-Pattern-Piece.pdf
4. Cut the binding strips – cut the binding 2 1/2″ wide. You will need approximately 140″ of binding
5. Sew the binding strips together – not sure how to do this? Check out my recent tutorial here
6. Prepare the binding – with wrong sides together, fold the binding in half  lengthwise. Press with an iron

Alright, let’s get sewing:

1. Lay your 30″ x 30″ towel flat.  Hand press out any wrinkles. Find a small round template to trace [a coffee cup, saucer, glass or CD work well]. Trace at each corner and cut. This will round your corners and make it easy to sew the binding down
2. Draw monster eyes and teeth onto the EZ Steam paper. Reference the the hood pattern piece for the size of the eyes and teeth. Iron these images onto the white and black fabric
3. Cut out your pieces. Lay the 2 hood pieces on top of each other. The cotton piece is right side up. Baste along the top edge to secure together. Place the the white eyes and teeth on to the hood. Once you are certain of their placement, press in place with an iron
4. Applique around the edges.  Once you finish with the first layer, place the black pupils down. Press and applique around the edges again
5. With the monster face now finished, cut a 14″  strip of your binding and pin it to the bottom edge of your hood piece. Line up raw edges together
6. Place into sewing machine and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance
7. Press seams with an iron. Press with seams closed and then open the binding and press again. Roll binding towards back of the hood piece and press again with the iron. If needed pin in place. Place into sewing machine and topstitch down. This completes the binding edge
8. Pin the hood piece onto the terry towel at a corner. It will be larger than the towel, so just match the edges together. It is ok that there is a excess fabric in the middle [a bump]. This is where the baby’s head goes.. Baste in place.  Now repeat steps above for sewing your binding in place. This will sew the binding around the outside edge of the towel.. That’s it. Your towel is complete!

Thanks for stopping by. It has been quiet on my blog the last week or so.. We’ve been on vacation. I couldn’t bring along my sewing machine, so I decided and I take a slight breather and lay low for a few days.

Please let me know if you have any questions on this project.  You can leave a comment or email me through my comment page. If you email me, please make sure to write the question in the “big box” so I can answer you back. I love hearing from everyone.

Want more monsters? Check out my monster facecloths here.

Happy Sewing!