We originally designed and made this fun summer wrap using a beach towel. Today, we’ve recreated it with a swingy, soft knit in an eye-catching chevon design. That’s the idea behind our R&R series: we Re-imagine and Renovate a classic design to come up with a whole new look. It shows you how each fabric has its own personality; and just like mixing flavors in cooking – different colors, patterns and textures in fabric always yeild a delicious, new style. Today’s cute and casual throw-it-on swimsuit wrap is sized for an average adult. It finishes at approximately 27½” in length, perfect for our teen model, but you could certainly cut it longer or shorter as needed. The starting width of both the front and back panels is 39″, which allows for a roomy drape, but again, cut it narrower or wider for your best fit. Most knits are quite wide (ours were 60″), so you have a lot of fabric with which to work.
Our thanks to Fabric.com for sponsoring today’s R&R project. They have a great selection of all knits: from jersey to interlock, stretch to novelty and dozens in between.
They are like a candy store for the sewing enthusiast, but all the choices at Fabric.com have zero calories, so you can load up without a spec of guilt! It’s an intuitive experience with everything you could imagine laid out in an easy-to use-shopping system, including free domestic shipping on orders of $35+. They also offer international shipping options. Plus, Fabric.com always adds an extra inch to every yard they cut to insure they are accurate and you are never short.
We used the following fabrics from Fabric.com for our new Beach Coverup:
For the main dress: 1⅓ yards of 60″ Laguna Stretch Cotton Jersey Knit in Tangerine Chevron (item #0302023). We used the full 60″ width to cut our panels side by side.
For the straps: ¼ yard of 60″ Laguna Stretch Cotton Jersey Knit in Orange (item #ET-259). Again, we used the full 60″ width of fabric (WOF).
To Re-imagine & Renovate your own Knit Beach Coverup, go to the original tutorial:
Summer Fun: Terry Towel Coverup
Our new cover-up was made very close to the original, but since we were using a knit and not utilizing the pre-bound edges of a towel, we did made a few adjustments.
If you are new to knits, check out our helpful tutorial: Sewing with Knits.
- For the strap, we used just one length of fabric rather than a braid of three. Cut ONE 4″ x 60″ (WOF) strip.
- Fold the strip in half and press. Fold over the raw edges again to the center of the strip.
- Bring the opposite folded edge over the top of raw edges, concealing them. This folded edge should stop about ¼” from the first fold – in other words, don’t align the folds. Pin in place. There’s no need to finish the ends. The knit won’t ravel.
- Topstitch in place down the length of the strap.
- For the coverup, the top casing is made with a ½” double fold. Press under ½”, then press an additional ½” and pin in place.
- Topstitch as close as possible to the inside fold to finish.
- The bottom hem is a 1½” double fold. Press up ½”, then press an additional 1″. Pin in place and topstitch close to the inside fold to finish.
- Thread through the casing as shown in the original directions, knot both ends, and tie with an adjustable bow.
Hints and Tips
Looking for more information on blending, mixing and matching your fabrics? Check out these tutorials:
How to Mix & Match Designer Fabric Collections
How to Create A Fabric Palette
Mixing & Matching Colors, Patterns & Textures
Making the Right Fabric Choice
Project Design: Alicia Thommas
Sample Creation: Debbie Guild
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This is really cute and I want to make this, but I need more clarity on arm holes. I think you just sew up the side and leave some not sewn closed, but I don’t know how much.
HI Barb, Thanks! This is a “re-imagined” version of another post, which means we just added a few notes about how this version is a bit different. As mentioned, the original post has more detailed construction notes about the the arm holes and the other steps. The link is above, but I’ve included it here as well. Let us know how it turns out for you.
https://sew4home.com/summer-fun-terry-towel-coverup-matching-beach-pillow/