Here is another addition to the Baby Shower Gift Basket series of tutorials. This little teddy bear hooded towel turned out so precious and so easy! I could not keep it from my little guy he loved it so much. I started out just making hooded towels for a baby shower, but once I saw my little one wrap up in the fluffy brown fabric I just had to add some little teddy ears! You could make it a dog or cat too, if that is your preference.

Supplies Needed:

• Hand Towel
• Bath Towel
• Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Pins

Let me start off by letting you know that this is the first thing I had sewn since 7th grade home ec (15 years ago) so that tells you two things: it is super easy and I will not be using technical sewing terms in my descriptions. 🙂

1. Cut the hand towel in half.
2. Trim about 2 inches from the unfinished edge of each half so the hood won’t be huge. Hold on to this extra fabric. You will need it later for the ears.
3. Fold over the finished edge of the hand towel to the edge of the ribbing. Pin it and stitch it in to place.
   

   

4. Sew a straight stitch down the edge of the unfinished edge to seal the hood.
5. Fold the bath towel in half. Measure out about 4 inches from the center (on the top of the towel) on each side and mark with a pin. Fold each pin back to the center mark and pin the layers together. Stitch across all layers to secure the pleat (no idea if that is the right terminology).
6. Line up the center of bath towel and center of the hood making sure you are putting the right sides together so you don’t end up with one inside out. Pin the hood to the towel. Stitch across the entire hood. Don’t forget to back stitch when starting and stopping to strengthen the seam.

   
   
   

7. I did not like the cone head look, so I turned the hood inside out and stitched a diagonal line along the corner. Then, I cut off the corner and turned the hood right side out. This gave it a more rounded look. (When I did it, this step was actually after the ears, but it does not matter.)
   

   

8. Cut out ear shapes from the leftover fabric. Stitch around the edge in about 1/4 inch to prevent fraying. This also makes them look more like ears.
   

   

9. Pin them on to the hood about an inch out from the center and stitch them on laying back.
10. Then, fold the ears forward and stitch them again. This reinforces them and helps them to stand up a bit more.
    

That’s it! You have made the cutest towel ever for a sweet little bundle of joy! how cute would it be to sew a little bow between the ears for a girl!

I folded it up with a ribbon and tucked the bottom in to the hood so you could see the little ears.

Ready for DIY baby shower gift idea number two? This is another more personalized idea to make one of a kind ribbon embellished burp cloths. You can tailor them to any taste and they are, as always here on Tipsy, super easy.
The cloth diapers are awesome for those who have babies like mine who could soak one of those tiny burp cloths in five seconds flat. Flannel burp cloths are cute and can match blankets, which is nice. But, drool seems to be immune to those and many times just runs right down them until it finds something more absorbent, like mom’s shirt or the couch. LOVELY.

What you’ll need:
Cloth diapers
Ribbon
Quilt binding or bias tape
Sewing Machine/thread
Pins

1. Layout your ribbon, binding etc. and decide which combinations you like. I did two ribbons on each burp cloth, but you can keep it to one if you want them more simple.
2. Pin the embellishments in place.
3. Sew both edges on thicker ribbon and down the middle for thin ribbon. You can remove the pins and adjust as you go if the burp cloth begins to pucker. I did a zigzag stitch for the quilt binding to give it a little more personality. I left the ends open on most with the quilt binding, but on a few I folded a little piece of ribbon over the end perpendicular to and beneath the binding to give it a fancier more finished look.

As you can see on the end cloth, I also did a few with just ribbons and no quilt binding. You can play around and see what combos you like. In any case, I think they turned out really cute! I wish I would have thought of this when my little guy was still using burp cloths!

I also used this same concept with some receiving blankets I purchased (from the same pack I used to do the car seat covers in yesterday’s post). I added a stripe of ribbon on one end to make it more boutiquey (is that a word?) and cute. I mean ribbon makes most anything better right? 🙂

Want a cover that is as cute as your little one, but can keep them tucked away from strangers, sun, and coughing kiddos? Or maybe you need a more personal “hand made” baby shower gift idea. (This will be the first of a few ideas to come, I have been sewing for two days!) The answer is here and is easy enough for even the most crafty challenged of all of us.

All you need is some ribbon, a sewing machine, and a 30″ x 40″ receiving blanket. (I got these cute blue and brown ones at Walmart, if you are really crafty you could make the blanket too) This makes a nice light cover for Spring/Summer.

3 easy peasy steps to your DIY car seat cover:
1. Cut ribbon
2. Measure & pin
3. Sew rectangle

1. Measure 29-30″ of ribbon and cut. I melted the edges a little with a lighter so they would not frey.
2. Measure 9 inches in from the side of the blanket, 17 inches from the top, and 22 inches from the bottom. Pin one inch of the center of the ribbon to the blanket.
3. Sew a rectangle between the pins. (I had not sewn since 7th grade Home Ec 15 years ago so don’t tell me you can’t do this!)


Ta da you are now the proud new owner/gifter of an adorable DIY car seat cover!