DIY Crafts Beach Cover-up

Craft this DIY Crafts Beach Cover-up from a bath towel to make a splash at the beach or poolside.

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Materials

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Get in the swim with this wearable beach towel—it couldn't be easier to make! Photo: RDA/MKE

Patterns for DIY Crafts Beach Cover-up
Tracing paper and pencil
Blue bath towel
Tear-away or wash-away stabilizer
Polyester fleece fabric—1/8 yard or scraps of green for small fishes, and 1/4 yard or scraps of orange for large fish and neckband
All-purpose thread—black, blue, purple and red
Quilter's marking pen or pencil
Standard sewing supplies

Instructions

Download neck opening pattern and fish patterns for DIY Crafts Beach Cover-up.
Fold bath towel in half crosswise and then fold it in half lengthwise. Mark where the folds intersect (the towel’s center).
Center neck opening pattern on towel’s center, and cut out opening. Have child try it on to be sure towel fits over head. If necessary, enlarge opening.
Cut a 2-inch-wide crosswise strip of fleece equal to the neck opening measurement plus 1/2 inch.
With matching thread and a 1/4-inch seam, sew the narrow ends together with right sides facing and edges matching. Finger-press the seam open.
Fold neckband in half with wrong sides facing and long edges matching. Place one pin at the seam and one directly opposite the seam. Refold neckband, aligning the pins. Place a pin at each new fold.
Fold neck opening in half and mark folds. Refold and align pins as before.
With right sides facing, seam at center back and pins matching, pin neckband to neckband to neck opening and stitch with 1/4-inch seam. Overcast raw edges of seam together.
With matching thread, topstitch along neck opening of towel to hold the seam allowance in place.

DIY CRAFTS BEACH COVER-UP APPLIQUE:

Trace enlarged fish patterns onto tracing paper with pencil.
Cut fish from fleece fabric as directed on patterns.
Use quilter’s marking pen or pencil to mark inside design lines on fish.

Large Fish:

Pin stabilizer behind orange fish. With black thread and a very narrow satin stitch, stitch the eye.
With red thread and a medium width satin stitch, stitch gill slit on fish. Remove stabilizer.
Referring to photo for position, pin fish on front of towel. Pin stabilizer behind fish and hand-baste around it, stitching very close to the edge from the mouth to the tail on both sides. Leave the straight edge of the tail loose.
With red thread and a slightly wider satin stitch, stitch over the basting stitches, leaving the straight edge of the tail loose.
With red thread and a medium width satin stitch, add the long stripes. With a red three-step straight stitch (two stitches forward, one back), sew along the short stripes. Remove stabilizer.

Small Fish:

Pin stabilizer behind each green fish. With purple thread and a very narrow satin stitch, stitch an eye on each.
With purple thread and a three-step straight stitch, add a mouth to each. Remove stabilizer.
Referring to photo for position, pin all green fish to front of towel. Pin stabilizer behind each and hand-baste around each one, stitching very close to the edge from the mouth to the tail on both sides. Leave the straight edge of the tail loose.
With purple thread and a slightly wider satin stitch, stitch over the basting stitches, leaving the straight edge of the tail loose.
With purple thread and a three-step straight stitch, stitch the gill slits and stripes. Remove stabilizer.

DIY CRAFTS BEACH COVER-UP FINISHED SIZE: Size will vary depending on size of towel used. Towel shown measures about 29 inches wide x 50 inches long.

EDITOR’S NOTE: To simplify the project, you could also bind or hem the neck opening.

DIY Crafts Beach Cover-up originally sent in by Linda Weaver of El Dorado Springs, Missouri.

Tagged as: Quick & Easy, Sewing Crafts, Summer Crafts