Recently I saw some awesome beach towel rompers as part of the craft contest One Month to Win it. Rightfully so, the tutorial, which was created by Tori at Apostrophy Designs, won. Tori posted the tutorial on Monday and I was sewing one on Wednesday and one on Thursday! I was so excited to make these! I made two, one for my daughter and niece. The towels came from Target.

Here are what Tori’s looked like:

Here is another shot of mine.
My niece is such a fire cracker. That wind in her hair was all her.

I experimented a little here and there, so I thought I would tell you what worked for me. You might want to go and read the tutorial before you read my tips. It will make more sense that way.

• Waistband: For my daughter’s, I cut one long strip of towel that was 2″ wide and hemmed the top and bottom. I used just one piece of 1″ elastic. I used the MADE tutorial for the waistband on my niece’s romper. You do NOT double over the fabric though. Simply hem the top and bottom. I like the look of the MADE waistband much better. It wasn’t that much more effort, so I recommend going that route.
• Top band: When I marked where I wanted the top to lie, I measured up 3″ and cut the towel there. The tutorial didn’t give a specific number so I though I would put that out there.
• Elastic: My spicy 3 year old got really cranky trying the piece on so many times to fit the top and waistband. On my second romper, I marked the top and the waistband at the same time. I threaded all the elastic at once(top band and two waistband pieces) and then tried it on to make adjustments where necessary.
• Straps: The straps in the tutorial were serged, which I didn’t want to do. I’m still a bit afraid of my serger and getting it out and set-up is a production in and of itself. So I thought I would try to make some bias tape out of the towel and use that for straps. FAIL! The terry cloth is way too thick for that. I zig-zagged the edges of the second straps. We’ll have to wait and see how that holds up. Ribbon or knit would be good alternatives.
• Straps: I recommend making them longer than 18″ each. I didn’t and I feel like they are a little too short to tie a bow.

I highly recommend making this. I think they are so darn adorable. I’m so glad I made a second one. I was a bit discouraged after the first. My daugher really can be “spicy.” She may or may not have said, “This is not cute!” and spit on the ground. She’s come around now though. My niece loves hers too. Thanks for the tutorial, Tori!

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