Hello everyone!
I am excited to share with you our new micro towel base! The name comes from the microfiber feel to this incredibly soft towel fabric that I am excited to share with you all today!
A few ideas that I have come up with for this beautiful base are beach towels, bath robes, face cloths, dish cloths, makeup removing pads and last but not least, the hooded towel poncho!
The hooded towel poncho is a versatile and adorable creation, and it is a quick and easy make! Keep reading if you'd be interested in learning the specifics that were used in the making.
First of all, to make a generous all age sized poncho, you will need 1 yard of micro towel. The dimensions I used for the body of this towel are 48 inches x 24 inches if using non-directional print, however please note that this includes the front and back to the poncho and if your print is directional you would want to actually cut two pieces of 24 inches x 24 inches rather than the first body option.
The next two pieces you would need to cut will be for the hood. I used two 12 inch x 12 inch pieces for the hood because again my print was directional. If you have a non directional print, you can cut one 24 inch x 12 inch piece instead.
The last piece you will want to cut is optional, and this would be for the front kangaroo pocket. For the pocket, I used one 24 inch x 11 inch piece. Next you will want to fold your pocket piece in half to make the curved pocket opening completely symmetrical. I used a 5 inch mark from the top and a 5 inch mark from the bottom to reach the curve shape (see photo for clarification) to cut my pocket opening.
Now we are ready to sew!
First step is the hood construction. For this part you will want to place right sides together if you have two pieces for directional fabric, or fold right sides together widthwise if you have one sole piece of non directional fabric. You will sew along the top of your hood if using the one piece of non directional fabric. If using two pieces of directional fabric you will be sewing along the top and one side of the fabric. It is now time to flip your hood right side out. 
You can now start to visualize your pixie style hood!
At this time you will want to fold the raw edges of the facial contour of the hood to hem. This towel fabric does fray, so my recommendation to you is to serge the raw edge first, then fold it in about 0.5 inches all around and top stitch or cover-stitch your hem.
Set aside your hood for now, and take your kangaroo pocket piece. If you are not using this optional pocket, skip to the construction of the body step.
Start by hemming each curved opening of the pocket by serging the raw edge, then folding it inwards about 0.5 inches, and top stitching the curves. (See photo below where the clips are holding the curve hems down prior to stitching).
Once finished with the curves, repeat to hem the top of the pocket between both curves. The bottom and two small lower sides to the pocket will stay in the raw edge for the time being.
Next we will sew the pocket onto the front of our poncho body at the lowest extremity. Pin the pocket down and stitch only the top of your pocket onto the body using a straight stitch, do not stitch the curved pieces down, this will obstruct pocket opening.
We are now ready for the construction of the BODY of the poncho.
Lay the right sides together and fold both layers in half widthwise, where your pocket should be folded in half as well and sandwiched between both layers.
Using a 5 inch mark widthwise and a 1 inch mark lengthwise AT THE TOP OF THE BODY (opposite end to the pocket), we are going to cut the neck opening. See photo below.
You can now unfold your body pieces but keeping them right sides together and sew the two seams leading up to the new curved neckline (marked in pink in the photo below).
If you were using a one piece cut of the non directional fabric, these pink seams would be unnecessary as they would already be intact!
Open up your poncho so that it is now one large rectangle, and hem using the serger first, stitch 0.5 inch fold over method (include the raw edges of the pocket in this process), on all 4 sides to this rectangular body.
Once you have hemmed your poncho entirely, the last step is inserting the hood for one last stitch!
To insert your hood, turn your poncho right sides together, and keep your hood right side out. Find the back of your hood and back of your poncho making sure its the body part without the kangaroo pocket, and clip together all the way around until the two front facial contour seams meet.
You will be able to overlap the two front facial contour hems one on the other for a professional finish.
Finally serge or stitch your hood to the body and flip right sides out!
TADA! Now give yourself a pat on the back for successfully completing this fun project! :)
I hope you all enjoyed this blog, and I would absolutely love if you can share yours with us on our Facebook group Northern Fabric Fam and I would also love to hear your feedback for the micro towel base and tutorial!
Thank you so much for your ongoing support! Stay tuned for the next free pattern and tutorial blog ;)
-Allyson (owner/operator of Northern Fabric)