Swim Suit Cover Up

My little swimmer tends to get cold after about 45 minutes in the pool. We have been getting out of the pool and trying to warm up in our towels. At times this is difficult because Rachel is busy pointing and waving to the other people in the pool and her towel slides off. Here is what I came up with:

Swim Suit Cover Up (toddler size)

Hand towel (I used one that was 28L X 16.5W- bargain at Kohl's on sale for $2.99)

1 inch wide elastic tape

Matching thread

Ribbon

6 X 6 fabric square for small pocket (optional)

Fray Check

Tape measure

Above is the hand towel with matching fabric square. The fabric is by Amy Butler and was a remnant from the wonderful shopping cart cover that my Aunt Sue had sewn Rachel. I am a huge fan of Amy Butler's fabric and patterns.

With the towel laying flat I used the Big One tag on the towel as my guideline for making the casing. When measured I folded the top down by 2 inches length wise and pinned into place.

 Sew along the bottom edge of the casing using 1/4 seam allowance. I followed along the natural edging of the towel. I let approximately 2 inches of the casing unsewn to help align up the casing edges after I was down decorating the towel.

After the casing was sewn I folded the towel to decide where I wanted the seam to be. I then choose a spot to add the pocket and ribbons.

To make a basic pocket- with the wrong side of the fabric showing- fold the top edge down once. If you stop here it would leave a raw edge that would fray with usage. Fold the top edge down a second time- the raw edge should now be safely tucked inside. Sew into place.

Repeat with bottom edge. I would recommend pressing edges but in my case I didn't have enough time to drag out the iron.

When you prepare the side edges of your pocket- clip a small portion of the corners off. After cutting the corners, fold the fabric down twice- like you did with the top and bottom edges. Sew into place. Cutting the corners will allow you to align the edges better without extra bulk.

Pin your pocket onto the towel in your desired location. Sew along the side and bottom edges of pocket to secure it into place. I highly recommend back stitching the top portions of the side edges for extra re-enforcement of the pocket.

Next I sewed a 13 inch long piece of ribbon onto the top edge of the pocket.Add Fray Check onto any raw edges of your ribbon to prevent fraying prior to adding them onto the towel.Measure ribbon to pinpoint the center of the length. Pin the center of the ribbon onto the towel. You will only be stitching down the center of the ribbon width wise. After sewing into place, tie ribbon into a bow.

I then sewed one more ribbon toward the top edge of the towel.

You can add as many ribbons as your heart desires or as time allows. Being this was my first draft at Rachel's swim suit cover up I ended up with just two ribbons and a pocket. I think it would fun to sew on some appliques and other fabric flowers.

I cut a piece of 1 inch wide elastic tape to 1.5 inches less than Rachel's chest measurement. She measured at 19 inches- I cut the elastic to 17.5 inches long. Feed the elastic tape through the casing. Sew the edges of elastic tape together. Place open edge of casing (mentioned above as the 2 inch area that I left unsewn). Align edges as desired and pin into place.

I sewed approximately 1/3 of the width of the towel. Be careful when sewing on your machine not to sew your top and bottom pieces of the towel together.

This is the finished project. Depending on how creative you want become with the decorations on the towel- this project should only take about 1/2 hour to make. Perfect project for doing while your baby is napping. You could easy make an adult version using a large bath or beach towel. (On my to-do list)
My model was already in bed for the night. I will add a picture with her wearing it soon.