Summer Hooded Cover-up Tutorial

***This blog post was originally published and sponsored by the Raspberry Creek Blog here.***

We are well into summer and days at the pool, beach and playing in the sprinklers are almost a weekly (if not daily) occurrence. I have a fun and super easy tutorial for you today to showcase all those amazing Raspberry Creek designs. For these two, I used the Mint Geometric Waves print from the Spring ‘23 Club collection and a retired RCF print from my stash.

My kids love a hooded towel for the pools and beach. It’s a great way for them to warm up after swimming without trying to hold a towel over their shoulders. It leaves them hands-free so they can grab a snack or dig in the sand all while staying covered up. I decided to create a customized one with my favorite RCF fabric, cotton spandex French terry . I love how this shows off the fabric prints. It is large enough that you don’t cut through all those adorable designs.

All you need for this project is a 2-yard cut of Raspberry Creek French Terry and the neckline of your favorite hoodie pattern. I like to use one that has an oversized neckline and larger hood or you can simply size up a few sizes so it can be loosely worn. For this tutorial, I used the Hatteras Hoodie pattern by Hey June Handmade because it has a great v-neck element that helps with easy on-and-off.

You’ll start by cutting and hemming all the sides of a large rectangle, your towel. For my 11-year-old I cut a 31” x 64” rectangle and for my 6 year old I cut it at 28” x 56”. This measurement is up to you on how loose or long you would like it on your child. Keep in mind that since the French Terry has spandex in it, it will grow when wet making it heavy and large. So, don’t go too oversized. I hemmed both of the towels with single-fold 1/2” side hems and 2” bottom hems.

Once you have the hems finished, fold it in quarters to find the center and mark it with a pin or marking pencil. Next, lay the fabric out on your cutting mat folded in half lengthwise. Starting at your marking, draw a center line toward the sides about halfway. This will be your assumed “shoulder seam”.

Next, take your front and back neckline pattern pieces and on the shoulders draw a line marking where that shoulder seam allowance would be (most likely your pattern uses 1/4” or 3/8”). Cut one of the seam allowances off then align that cut edge with the line drawn on the other shoulder and tape them together. This basically removes that allotted seam allowance and appears as if you’d sewn the shoulder seams together.

Now, align the front pattern piece at the center front folded edge and the shoulder seam with the line you drew earlier. Trace the front neckline onto your fabric.

Next, keep your shoulder seam and the drawn line aligned and pivot the pattern piece to align your back piece with back center folded edge. Now trace the back, completing your full neckline.