Hooded Bunny Towel Tutorial and Free Pattern

When my son started growing out of his store bought hooded towels I decided to try my hand at making him some versions with regular sized towels and I was really happy with how they turned out. Now that my daughter is getting older, it’s time to start making some for her. Today I’m going to show you how to make a bunny hooded towel–perfect for Easter and also for gift giving!

They are pretty easy to make and are so warm and cozy when finished! First you will have to download the hood pattern as well as the bunny face applique pattern. Make sure you print at 100% and check the 1″ square on the pattern.

What You Need:

1 full size towel

1 hand towel in a matching color

2 buttons for eyes

A cotton fabric for the interior of the ears and the cheeks/nose

Fusible web

1/2″ double fold bias tape (See this tutorial on how to make your own)

You will also need the pattern pieces…

Download this tutorial and the pattern pieces free here

Getting Started:

First, cut out your front and back hood pieces from your hand towel. Make sure you place them right so that you can cut both pieces from the one hand towel.

Next, we will work on our appliques for the front of the hood.

Trace your muzzle and nose pieces onto the smooth side of your fusible web. (This is the picture of fox ears, but it’s the same concept). Cut around the pieces and place them with the fusible side down onto the fabric that you want to use. Iron on as recommended in the directions on the box.

Cut out your fabric pieces and peel the backing off the heart nose piece. Place on the muzzle and iron on as directed.

Next peel the backing off the muzzle piece and iron on to the center bottom of the front hood piece, leaving it up about 3/8″.

Next we are going to stitch around both the nose piece and the muzzle piece. I chose to use a pink thread around the nose and white around the muzzle, but you can use the same color if you want. Set your machine to zigzag with a width of about 3 and a length of around 1. This will vary by your machine and preference, so you may want to test your stitch on a scap piece before stitching on your towel. Stitch around your pieces, sewing about 3/4 of the way on the applique and 1/4 of the way onto the towel.

Next, using a washable fabric marker mark where you would like the mouth and whiskers. Using the same method as above, zigzag stitch over your markings.

Now we will construct the ears. Place a towel ear piece and a lining ear piece with right sides together. Stitch 1/4″ around the ear, leaving the bottom section open so you can turn it right side out. Depending on how thick your towel is, you may need to leave a bit of the side open as well so you pull the ear right side out. You can then just topstitch the side closed.

We are going to create French seams on the towel hood, so place wrong sides of the front and back hood pieces together. Place the ears hanging down along the front as shown above. Pin the sides and ears in place and stitch around the outside edges of the hood with a 3/8″ seam allowance. Trim your seam allowance down by 1/2.

Now turn your hood inside out. Press if needed to keep the seam flat as we are now going to sew around the edges of the hood from this side. Sew with a 3/8″ seam allowance feeling as you go to make sure you are sewing on the outside of the inside seam so that it doesn’t show when you turn it right side out.

Your seam should now be hidden from both sides. Turn right side out and press if needed.

We can now attach the hood to the towel. Mark the center of your towel with a pin along one of the long sides.

Place your hood face down and match the center of the hood with the center of the towel.

Pin together, placing the hood 1/8″ to 1/4″ below the towel.

Once your hood is sewn on, flip everything over so you are looking at the back of the hood.

Fold up the edge of the towel so it lies flat all the way across and hides the seam you just sewed.

Pin in place and sew 1/8″ from the top edge of the towel.

The next step is to add bias tape to your hood. You can choose to just add it to the hood, or you can add it all the way around as I did in this version. First place your bias tape face down on your towel with raw edges lining up.

Sew around the bias tape with a 1/2″ seam allowance, or along the closest fold mark. When you get to the corner, fold the bias tape back at a 45 degree angle and create a crease with your finger. Lay the bias tape straight again and sew up to your crease. Backstitch.

Next, fold the bias tape back along the crease you created.

And fold it straight along the edge, so that raw edges line up around the corner.

Starting at the edge of the fabric, continue sewing until you get to the next corner or are finished.

When you get to the end, fold one end back about 1/2″.

Place the other end over it and cut off excess. Continue sewing until you reach where you started.

Once you have it sewn all the way around, open up your bias tape and press out away from the towel.

Next take your bias tape and fold along the outside seam.

Place it over the edge of the towel and pin in place.

When you get to the corners, fold one side to the edge.

The tuck the other edge in and over the other so that it forms a 45 degree angle. on the corner. Sew close to the inside edge, attaching the bias tape all the way around.

And that’s it. You’re bunny towel is done! Make sure you share photos of our cute little bunnies on theRebecca Page Facebook page!