Beach Towel Strap Tutorial

Hello lovelies! It’s been awhile since I posted here (I know, I know) but I’m excited to jump back into things with an exciting sewing challenge by Amber of the amazing blog, Crazy Little Projects! This month some of us are joining up to share beach and pool related projects. As you know, my kids spend as much time swimming as they possibly can. They also love the beach, which we visit as often as we can but not nearly enough (we’d need to LIVE there for that). As a result, my life is full of TOWELS: carrying towels, washing towels, folding towels, moving towels away from the splashing so they stay dry, yadayadayada.

I decided to make my life a lot easier by sewing some towel straps to make hauling all those towels just a little bit easier.

And they are cute to boot! (Psst, you might recognize some of these fabrics from Abby’s romper and the shirt and shorts I made for my boys in STYLO!)

This is the kind of sewing project that makes me feel like one accomplished sewing mamajama. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it comes out looking awesome. Sewing projects that make your life easier are my favorite kind.

BEACH TOWEL STRAP TUTORIAL (Removable)

To make two straps like the ones pictured above you need 1/4 yard of cotton fabric.

Lay the fabric on the cutting table with the fold to the left and the selvages edges lined up neatly on the right. Cut a length of fabric 8″ deep from end to end.

Trim off the folded edge, then remove the selvage edge on the other side.

You will now have two pieces of fabric measuring 8″ by approximately 20″ (depending on the original width of your fabric.)

Fold the pieces in half lengthwise and press.

Open the piece back up to reveal the center fold. Fold the outer edges in to the center and press.

Open up the strap again and fold the short edges under by 1/2″. Press and fold the strap back into place.

Pin around the three open sides of the strap (there is no need to pin the folded edge).

Stitch around all four sides of the strap, with your needle 1/8″ from the edge.

Almost done!

Cut 3.5″ of velcro and sew the soft side to the front of the strap and the scratchy side to the back of the strap. Don’t sew them both to one side of the strap! They need to be on different sides so you can wrap the strap around and secure the velcro pieces together.

To sew the velcro on, simply pin it in place (in the center, about 1/2″ from the short end of the strap). Sew around it, close to the edge, using a straight stitch on your machine. Backstitch at the beginning and end. (Do not use sticky velcro if you plan to sew over it with your machine. The glue will get onto your needle and into the workings of your machine and it is not a pretty picture).

Once the velcro is attached, you’re done! Now fold your towels, wrap them up tightly with your new straps and head to the beach or pool. I found that the straps make it a lot easier to back more towels into a bag neatly. These can also be used to wrap up changes of clothes, or even wet swimsuits after a day at the pool and are machine washable.

Happy sewing! Head over to Crazy Little Projects to see what else is on the agenda for the month of June. I particularly love this shark hooded beach wrap Amber shared last week. My littlest guy would LOVE one of those.