Making a Bath, Beach, or Swim Towel, Sheet, or Blanket

Many years ago, I had a sister-in-law that had a bunch of terry cloth towel material. She asked if anyone wanted it. There was a large square piece and a couple of shorter length in contrasting colors.

I figured I could make the kids robes out of it or something but I had already made them a few out of large towels and figured we really didn't need new ones yet. I did however, need beach towels. I basically just put a rolled edge on the pieces of fabric and we have used those towels for about 20 years.

When I left home and went across country to college, I took a pink flowered beach towel and now it is shredded and I use it to fill a gap in the window a/c unit.

I found this cute pink floral towel fabric the other day for cheap. I thought it would be fun to make Princess Five an extra long towel to take to college with her. My mother had pink bath mats so we got those and I bought a cute pink shower curtain and I thought this would be fun.

It is as tall as her and she has some new towels as well but she said she would like it for a beach towel so she was happy about it.

Basically, you just need to make sure the raw edges of the fabric are even and straight before you make a hem or rolled edge on it.

The salvage edge can be left alone as you see in the picture or you can roll the edge on them as well. I think the towel will be more durable and sturdy with the rolled hem all the way around but it isn't a necessity but I figure while you are doing the raw edges, you can just go all the way around.

If the fabric is expensive, it may not be worth it to make a towel or beach blanket. If you can find towels on sale, you can make a beach blanket by sewing a few of them together.

To make a salvage edge into a rolled hem edge, just fold in the salvage area and then flip it over one more time and stitch. When the edge is fairly straight, you don't have to pin it and can just use your fingers to hold it.

If you are new to sewing, you may want to pin it all the way down so that the hem is even. Also, use thread that won't show much. If I had used white, it would have shown more than the pink I used.

You can see the thread if you look closely but for the most part, it looks good. Like I said, if you can't find the fabric on sale, it may not be worth making it but if you can find a good deal, it can be a fun gift.

I figured these would be good gifts for a swim team, a gift for a beach trip etc. Have a Blessed Day!