Last week, we took Roman swimming for the first time. Once he figured out he could splash, he loved it! So we took him again. After several failed attempts to try and book a baby swim class, I’ve decided I’m going to teach him to swim myself.
After just 2 trips to the pool, I’ve realised that a towel doesn’t cut it. On our walk home from the pool, Roman’s towel fell off the pram twice. Luckily, it was a warm day. We headed down to the beach for the weekend, so I made up a little robe to keep him covered after a dip.
Making the most of the finished edges already on the towel, this quick project took only 20 minutes to sew up.
This robe is great for bath time, a trip to the beach or the pool and is probably nice to laze about in on a Sunday morning.
I made it nice and large, hoping that it will fit for a few seasons. I’m guessing I’ve made a size 3 – 4. There was a bit of towel left, so it could easily be cut a bit larger, or extra large towels could be used to make one for a bigger kid.
Kids Bath Robe
You’ll need:
2 bath towels – 130cm x 65cm (50″ x 25″) or larger
sewing supplies
If you bought the towels just for this project, wash them first.
Lay your towels out and cut out the pieces as shown. The pieces are positioned so that the bands on the towels are a feature of the finished robe, running around the bottom of the robe, hood and sleeves.
I’ve put the measurements I used on there, but you can adjust as needed. The main measurements you need are the sleeve length, body length and a measurement around the waist.
This step is optional, but it makes the robe fit a bit better. Cut out curves for the sleeves and the neck. These are marked red in the picture above. I just guessed these, but the length of the curves should be the same.
I used a top of Roman’s as a template and cut the hood a couple of inches bigger all the way around so that it has plenty of room.
Lay out the back piece and put the front pieces on top, right sides together. Sew the shoulder seams. I used my overlocker for this project because it finishes the towels off neatly. The towelling sheds a lot when it’s been cut, so the overlocker does a good job of stopping this. I don’t see why you couldn’t use a sewing machine though, just finish off the raw edges with a zig zag or overcast stitch.
Sew the sleeves to the body, right sides together.
Match up the side seams of the body and the sleeve seams and sew these up. Sew the hood pieces together and then attach the hood to the robe.
Lastly, if you are making a tie from the towelling, sew the two pieces together and finish off the edges.
Easy!
If you have an eagle eye, you’ll notice that all my seams are pale blue. It’s not an intentional fancy design feature, I’m just too scared to change the threads on my overlocker. Everything I sew on the overlocker has blue seams. : /
Sarah says
Hi Abby
I’ve only just discovered your blog recently. I’m about to use your fitted sheet tutorial to make some fitted top sheets for a non-sewing friend with bunk beds. I just wanted to pass on some great stuff I’ve heard about Laurie Lawrence’s advice on teaching kids to swim on his website. http://kidsalive.com.au/
Other friends with a pool used some printables to make up their own lessons with great success. All the best with it!
Thanks again for a great blog. Will keep reading! Cheers, Sarah
thingsforboys says
thanks Sarah, I will check out kidsalive
Monica says
Nice little project.
Rethreading an overlocker is easy. One at a time, cut each thread near the spool and tie your new thread to the loose end created. Then pull each thread through until the new ones appear near the presser foot and cut off the old thread portion. Ta da! Just make sure your knots are small and it will work a treat.
thingsforboys says
I’ll have to work up the courage and do it I think
Ann says
Great tip… I will try it!!! All my serger things are yellow LOL
Suzee says
What a great project! You are like me, I’m not really scared to change the threads as much as I hate changing the threads! lol One day..one day lol
thingsforboys says
Very true. I have changed them before just don’t want to do it in case I muck it all up. Especially since I just had it serviced after about 20 years :/
Anonymous says
hi,who r u???????and way 2 complected.
jk awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thingsforboys says
Anon – if you want to know more about me, check out my About page.
childrens clothing says
If you are a parent that wishes to purchase a toddler bathrobe for your child, it is important to first consider safety among everything that includes the design on the bathrobe, and how much your child likes a certain one.
mom23 says
LOVE this! Just found your blog…I almost bought Dana’s robe pattern but decided against it…this is perfect! Thank you!!
Lou says
Thank you so much for sharing. I just used this tutorial to make one for my daughters 3rd birthday next week so she can be just like Daddy when they have breakfast together. I can’t wait to see it on her!
thingsforboys says
oh, that is so cute!
Elizabeth Lamb says
Handy tip to take the fear out of changing overlocker thread, tie your new spools on then sew all the thread through–make a very tight square knot and it’ll go through all the loopers 🙂
Charlene Carmichael says
How do I make the sleeves wider so it’s easier to get impatient arms in?