• Home
  • FAQs
  • Contact
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Crazy Little Projects

  • Sewing & Crafts
    • Sewing Patterns & Ideas
    • Beginner Sewing Patterns
    • Sewing Tips & Tricks
    • Sewing Classes
    • Quick & Easy Crafts
    • Kids Crafts
  • Food & Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Cookies
    • Cupcakes
    • Desserts
  • Fun & Games
    • Parties & Party Ideas
    • Party Games
    • Fun for Kids
    • Great Books to Read
  • Gift Ideas
    • Cheer Up Gifts
    • Birthday Gift Ideas
    • Thank You Gifts
    • Holiday Neighbor Gifts
    • Handmade Gift Ideas
    • Color-Themed Gifts
  • Holidays & Occasions
    • Halloween
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Easter
    • Thanksgiving
    • 4th of July
    • New Year’s Eve
    • Teacher Appreciation
    • Birthdays
    • Summer Fun Ideas
    • Back to School
You are here: Home / Hooded Towels / Penguin Hooded Towel Tutorial

January 17, 2013 · 30 Comments

Penguin Hooded Towel Tutorial

Hooded Towels· Sewing & Crafts· Sewing Patterns & Ideas

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

It’s January and it’s time for my monthly hooded towel! Nothing says winter cold like a Penguin Hooded Towel! (In fact it was FREEZING outside when I took this picture so I used my 4 year old instead of my baby and had him wrap up tight.)
How to make a penguin hooded towel for baby or toddlers

Do you like him? He’s a little different than my other hooded towels, so it took a little tweaking to get him right. But he turned out pretty cute.

Penguin Hooded Towel Tutorial:

Supplies Needed:

1 regular size black bath towel

1 coordinating black hand towel

1 orange hand towel

Small amounts of white and black fabric

Fusing (like Heat N Bond)

Pattern Pieces

 

Start out by cutting your hand towel in half. Then, using the pattern pieces, cut out the face in white fabric and the eyeballs in black. Cut the fusing with the face pattern piece and eyeballs as well.

Grab your iron and adhere the white face part to the white fusing and the eyeballs to the eyeball fusing.

Then, place your white part on your towel so that it is centered side to side but a few inches up from the finished edge. Place your eyeballs where you want them and use your iron to iron them all in place: (trim your threads on your white piece better than I did-that was dumb of me)

Now you are going to applique around the white face and then black eyeballs.

Then, you need to fold the lower part of your towel down so that the bottom of the white is folded under an inch or two. Pin it in place and sew it in three places on the back to keep it in place. You will sew on either edge and in the middle, just make sure not to go over the part where you face is or you will have a line for your face:

On one side:

In the middle:

And on the other side:

Now, cut out a beak from your orange piece. You need two pieces:

Sew around the two long sides leaving the third side open. Turn it right side out and pin it in place on your towel:

Now do a nice wide zig zag stitch along the top of it to keep it firmly in place:

Your face is done! Now fold your towel in half so that the face is on the inside and zig zag up the raw edge to form the hood.

Now you just need to attach it to your towel. I like to form a little pleat like this:

Sew the pleat in place and then pin your head so that the seam of the back of the hood matches up with the center of the pleat you just made. Pin the head along the towel and then zig zag it in place. And you are done!

My 4 year old also wanted to demonstrate how penguins slide on the ice:

So that’s it! Want to sew more hooded towels? Check out the collection here.

Also, join me for my Learn to Sew series:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related Posts:

  • Owl Hooded Towels
    Owl Hooded Towels
  • Frog Hooded Towel for Baby and Toddlers
    Frog Hooded Towel for Baby and Toddlers
  • Understanding Beginning Sewing Terms: A Sewing Dictionary
    Understanding Beginning Sewing Terms: A Sewing Dictionary
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Previous Post: « DIY Ear Warmer Headband
Next Post: Learn to Sew #5: How to Sew Ruffles »

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




  1. Diane says

    February 27, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    When you cut the hand towel in half, is it across the width or along the length? Love this penguin.

    Reply
    • Amber says

      February 28, 2015 at 1:52 pm

      Width

      Reply
    • Carla says

      March 2, 2015 at 10:18 am

      Are you making any new hooded towels in 2015?

      Reply
      • Amber says

        March 2, 2015 at 1:49 pm

        I should!!! Kick me if I don’t!

        Reply
        • Diane says

          March 2, 2015 at 2:51 pm

          I’d like to see Elsa, Anna and Hello Kitty. Want to give them a try?

          Reply
  2. Carla says

    February 25, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    Did you sew across the top of the hood or just leave it pointy? (For the penguin)

    Reply
    • Amber says

      February 26, 2015 at 1:12 pm

      I usually sew across them so they aren’t pointy.

      Reply
  3. Lisa says

    February 1, 2015 at 2:56 pm

    I just made this towel as my son’s first birthday gift. His older brothers love it. Thanks for the tutorial, this is the second thing that I have sewed!

    Reply
  4. Carrie @ Kenarry: Ideas for the Home says

    January 28, 2014 at 10:45 am

    I LOVE this towel. Penguins are my favorite. I’m new to sewing but your tutorial makes it actually look manageable for a newbie like me. Thank you! Oh — and I was wondering about washing the towels ahead of time. I see in your other response that you don’t bother but I wondered if the black of the bath towel bleeds into the white when you do finally wash it? I know that problem exits with some red fabrics but wasn’t sure about black?

    Reply
    • Amber says

      January 28, 2014 at 1:15 pm

      I’m not sure either so it wouldn’t hurt to do it. It’s always best practice 8 just get lazy. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Sara - My Merry Messy Life says

    January 30, 2013 at 12:30 pm

    Hey Amber! This post is one of the favs from Hookin On Hump Day this week! Just didn’t see a link back to the party – can you add one, please? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Amber says

      January 31, 2013 at 9:47 pm

      It’s on my links page which is linked on my home page. Does that work?

      Reply
  6. Georgie Flynn says

    January 28, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    Is it necessary to was the towels first or does it matter.

    Reply
    • Amber says

      January 28, 2013 at 8:38 pm

      I don’t bother.

      Reply
  7. Heleen says

    January 26, 2013 at 2:26 pm

    Just wanted to thank you for generously sharing the directions for the hooded bathtowels. I’ve made the dragon and the reindeer for my two boys so far, and they are absolutely cute. The directions are such, that I, as a novice sewster could do it and had lots of fun in the proces. Thank you!! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next 🙂

    Reply
    • Amber says

      January 28, 2013 at 12:39 pm

      I love hearing that!

      Reply
  8. Angie says

    January 25, 2013 at 1:29 pm

    Amber, thanks so much for sharing!! The hooded towels are way too cute. I have 9 small grand kids (4 boys 5 girls ) and when I make something for one…..well I don’t have to tell you…. so this is great! Fast, not to expensive and really really cute. For practice I made the owl with some old towels that I had. I have a question and if you would be so nice to find the time to answer that would be great. Are you folding the towel at top so that the width of the hand towel will meet end to end with the width of the bath towel. I could not get it to come one looking like one piece the ends (points of the large towel ) stuck out further than the hand towel The towel I used to practice was way larger than my hand towel and I could not get it to fit just right I think the problem was that my bath towel was so large – I may need to buy the set (towel and hand towel) so they are like in size. Again thanks for sharing these adorable hooded towels and I can’t wait to try some of your other patterns. Maw maw G

    Reply
    • Amber says

      January 25, 2013 at 1:46 pm

      If I am understanding your question correctly, no-the hand towel part is just centered in the middle of the large bath towel and leaves lots of bath towel still there to wrap around the child. Is that what you were asking?

      Reply
  9. Hani Shabbir says

    January 25, 2013 at 10:16 am

    Love this cuddly penguin towel. Thanks for linking up at Friday Fun party. 🙂
    Have a nice weekend!

    Reply
  10. Sara - My Merry Messy Life says

    January 23, 2013 at 7:33 pm

    Amber, you make the cutest hooded towels! Makes me want to dust off my sewing machine. And your pictures are great! Thanks for sharing at Hookin On Hump Day!

    Reply
    • Amber says

      January 23, 2013 at 9:05 pm

      Thanks! 🙂 I’m sort of addicted to hooded towels.

      Reply
  11. Sabrina says

    January 23, 2013 at 1:48 am

    This is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing. Going to check out all the others in your collection now… There’s something so adorable about a hooded towel.

    Reply
  12. Jessica @ A Humble Creation says

    January 22, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    So cute! Thanks for the tutorial. Even though I sew, I never thought to make these myself. Such a great idea and much less expensive than the pre-made ones!

    Reply
  13. carrie says

    January 18, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    Cute. My son is really into penguins but might be too old for this…I better not let him see the photo!

    Reply
    • Amber says

      January 21, 2013 at 4:36 pm

      How old is he?

      Reply
  14. Krista says

    January 18, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    Love it!

    Reply
  15. Diana Rambles says

    January 17, 2013 at 8:44 pm

    That is the cutest hooded towel ever!

    Reply
  16. Megan says

    January 17, 2013 at 11:08 am

    Could you use felt for the eyes instead of fabric? I have a bunch of white and black that I bought by the bolt so it would be great to use some of it.

    Reply
    • Amber says

      January 17, 2013 at 2:53 pm

      Yes you can but be warned that when you wash it it will get a little pilly.

      Reply
      • Megan says

        January 17, 2013 at 4:58 pm

        Oh yeah, ok thanks!

        Reply

Primary Sidebar

Well hello!

Hi! I am Amber. I'm first and foremost a mom to 4 boys. When I am not being a mom or a wife I love to bake, I love to sew, I love to read and I don't like to sit still. Welcome to Crazy Little Projects where I show off my latest crazy projects and show you how you can do them too. Thanks for visiting! [Read More …]

Favorite Posts:

Mini Zipper Pouch Pattern
Donut Hole Recipe
Ghoul's Night Out Halloween Party

More Posts from this Category

Copyright © 2023 crazylittleprojects.com. All rights reserved.

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Crazy Little ProjectsLogo Header Menu
  • Home
    • About Me
    • Contact Crazy Little Projects
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Sewing & Crafts
    • Sewing Patterns & Ideas
    • Beginner Sewing Patterns
    • Sewing Tips & Tricks
    • Sewing Classes
    • Quick & Easy Crafts
    • Kids Crafts
  • Food & Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Cookies
    • Cupcakes
    • Desserts
  • Fun & Games
    • Parties & Party Ideas
    • Party Games
    • Fun for Kids
    • Great Books to Read
  • Gift Ideas
    • Cheer Up Gifts
    • Birthday Gift Ideas
    • Thank You Gifts
    • Holiday Neighbor Gifts
    • Handmade Gift Ideas
    • Color-Themed Gifts
  • Holidays & Occasions
    • Halloween
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Easter
    • Thanksgiving
    • 4th of July
    • New Year’s Eve
    • Teacher Appreciation
    • Birthdays
    • Summer Fun Ideas
    • Back to School