Upcycled Blanket/Towel for a Kinder Mat

 

Here's how I up-cycled a stained white terry cloth beach robe into a towel/blanket for my Pre-K grand-daughter. The other materials were leftovers from other projects, making the cost $0!! This was a great "rainy-day" project!



My grand-daughter needed a beach towel to go with her Kinder Mat for Pre-K, and she wanted it to match her Kinder Mat cover that I had previously made. "I want polka dots on it, just like my mat," she said. 

Polka Dot Mat Cover

I thought I could "up-cycle" my white terry cloth robe and trim it with polka dot bias tape, but I soon discovered it was too short and had a large stain on one side near the middle and a small stain near the bottom.  

The solution??

Paint over the stains, and add ruffles!!

First, I cut the terry cloth into a rectangle 36" long and 29 1/2" wide. 

Before - Terry Cloth With a Big Stain!

My granddaughter, daughter-in-law Heejin, and I painted our design onto the fabric using Crayola Fabric Markers.  The large stain became Mr. Sun.

The small stain turned into the center of a flower! Other flowers followed along with a butterfly and a ladybug! 

When the towel drawings were completed, I placed the towel in the dryer for 30 minutes on high to heat-set the designs.

Completed Design

I hemmed the 2 long sides of the towel with a narrow 5/8" hem.

For the ruffles, I cut two strips of "scrap" blue cotton-blend fabric 43" long and 7" wide. I folded each strip together with right sides touching and sewed the ends with a 3/8" seam. 

I trimmed the corners and turned the fabric with right sides out. I then folded and ironed the strips with raw edges together, forming 2 doubled strips 3 1/2" wide.

I sewed a long "gathering" stitch the length of each strip 3/8" from the raw edge and left the threads long.  I carefully pulled the top thread forming a gathered strip that equaled the width of the towel.

I "sandwiched" the top raw edges of the wrong side of the towel, the ruffle, and the wide bias tape and sewed using a 3/8" seam allowance. 

On the ends, I turned the trim under and pinned. I then folded the trim to the outside of the towel and top-stitched the ends and across the towel. 

Nancy's Notes:

• I used fabric and trim left from another project.  It took approximately 1/2 yard of cotton blend for the ruffle and 1 package of wide bias tape for the trim. The terry cloth rectangle was 36" x 29 1/2".
• We "free-handed" the design, but you could use clip art or pictures from coloring books.

"This blanket is so snugly!"

This "Upcycled Blanket/Towel" works great with my "Kinder Mat Cover"!