How to Make a Beach Towel With Pillow & Handles

Whether you are going to the beach, camping, or even to a baseball game this is the perfect project for you! When I was growing up, we kept this huge, ratty, thousand pound blanket in the trunk of the car for any occasion we might need to sit on the ground. I am not kidding!

We finally let that blanket go after many years of being dragged around, but since then I have always been prepared with a beach towel or blanket of some sort! So when I saw this amazing towel/pillow/bag at the store, I knew I had to make my own!

Time: 1 Hours Cost: $25 Difficulty: Easy

• 

OK, here's what you need to make this fabulous beach towel in a bag. A beach towel in your favorite color. Mine just happens to be teal and 30 by 60 inches. You also need a pillow form. Make sure it's one you can wash. That needs to be anywhere from 6 to 10 inches narrower than the towel.

Then you need some fabric. I didn't end up using the orangey one, I used the other one in the picture. Which was actually an old pair of pants I couldn't wear any more. 

And to round it out you need about 2 yards of 2" ribbon, scissors, pins, and a needle and thread. Optional supplies (not shown) are fabric glue or iron on hem tape, and 4 small buttons.

Detailed instructions are on the blog, but here's the basics.

• 

First step is to fold the top of the beach towel over the pillow form and stitch it in place. Super easy to do by hand. You can, of course, use a sewing machine if you really want to.

Don't worry too much about being neat because it will be covered by the fabric.

• 

Then you need to decide how long you want your handles to be. Cut 2 pieces of ribbon that length, plus 2 inches. That gives you 1 inch on each end to turn under.

Attach the first handle on the bottom of the towel opposite of where you sewed the pillow in.

To do that, turn under the end of the first end of the first handle, and then fold the side in to make a triangle shape. Sew that to the end of the towel right at the top of the seam where it is hemmed.

Do the same with the other end of the first handle. The handles should be about a third of the way in from the edges of the towel.

And add a button if you want to to jazz it up a bit.

• 

This part is kinda tricky. We need to find the place where we're attaching the second handle.

Fold the towel in half with the pillow edge even with the end we just sewed the first handle to. Then take the fold and fold that up over the pillow.

Now using the placement of the first handle as a guide, mark the fold that is on top of the pillow for where to attach the second handle.

• 

It's really important that you UNFOLD the towel BEFORE you attach the second handle...

So unfold the towel, and sew the second handle on the same way we did the first one.

• 

Cut your fabric into 2 inch strips. Fold the raw edges to the inside and using the method of your choice, (needle and thread, fabric glue, or iron on hem tape), attach a strip over the stitching from where you sewed the pillow in.

• 

Then add strips of fabric down the side edges and across the bottom.

And you're done!

• 

To use, fold the side edges in and roll the towel up from the bottom. Grab the handles, and go!

• 

Materials used for this project:

• Beach towel   (Amazon)
• Pillow form   (Amazon)
• 2 yards 2" wide ribbon   (Amazon)
• Scrap fabric
• Needle and thread
• Scissors
• 4 small buttons
• Optional fabric glue or iron on hem tape