Swim..

poncho.

The Mother/Daughter group - Adventure Maidens - that Daughter and I are members of are going on our Spring camp out in May.  The theme of the camp is "Groovy Girls" with a 1960s flair.  To that end we've been doing lots of tie dye.

One of our activities is swimming so you know what that calls for?  Tie dye swim ponchos!

We started out with a white bath sheet I purchased at Target for around $10.  I picked the biggest one so Daughter would get the most coverage.  We tie dyed it using a Tulip Tie Dye kit I bought at Joannes.  There are lots of good instruction videos online if you need more help.  I realized after this project that tie dying is not really my strong suit.

After you're done tie dying, and have washed your towel about 3 times, it is time to start construction!

First fold your towel into fourths as shown in the picture below.  You will be cutting a slit down the long side of the towel for the head opening, so make sure your towel is folded the right way.  You should be able to insert your scissors into the fold and cut two layers of the towel at the same time.

Towel folded into 4ths,  the edges of the towel are on the left and bottom sides

Once you are 100% sure that your towel is folded correctly , get out your handy dandy tape measure and measure 5 1/2 inches down the long folded side of the towel.  I used a pin to mark the place I wanted to stop cutting.  Insert your scissors and carefully cut.  If you need a bigger head opening, just cut a bit more.  Your finished head opening should be 11 inches.

Measure 5.5 inches and carefully cut a vertical slit for the head opening

Now its time to sew.  I used a 3 stitch elastic stitch to finish the opening.  I like the stitch because it really holds up well.  You could also use a basic zig zag stitch if you wanted to.  Sew all the way around the head opening.

Stitching around the head opening, the finished side is on the left

Once the head opening is stitched, fold the towel in half across the short side, or in a hamburger fold as Daughter calls it.  Measure 10 inches from the fold and pin on each side.  This is the starting point for sewing the side seams.  Sew from the pins all the way to the ends of the towel on each side.  This makes the arm holes and the side seams all at once.

Measure from the fold 10 inches.

Close up of where to start stitching

Make sure that you sew toward the edge of the towel, NOT the fold.

Sew all the way down the sides of the towel to the edges to make side seams

Voila!  Simple swim poncho!  Check out the finished poncho in the photos below.  See how the vertical slit cut into the center of the towel becomes the head opening?  Remember the length of the head opening can be adjusted for larger or smaller heads.

Back of swim poncho

Front of swim poncho

Swim poncho with arms extended.

Have fun sewing up this very simple project!