Spa Towel Robes for Bride and Groom

by Power Tools With Thread · Published October 18, 2015 · Updated October 18, 2015

This post involves machine embroidery, but these spa robes can be made without it.

When a guy coworker announced he was marrying his long-time girlfriend, I thought that Bride/Groom spa robes would be pretty cool gifts. I got the color choice from his mom’s suggestion and I chose a very “renaissance” style of embroidery pattern because he and she costume-up every year for the Texas Renaissance Festival. He’s a big gamer too with one of those fantasy wizard games in that time period (don’t ask me, I have no idea which one).

I chose towels in a medium weight and followed this YouTube video for how-to. These are not difficult to make, however it’s in the details of whether it’s a successful project or not. Like making sure when it’s worn that the towel’s enclosed end-seams or manufacturer’s tag are to the inside, the Velcro is placed correctly (I had a Fail here on my first attempt of the groom’s) and the right/left closures for his vs. hers are proper.

I used 12” of ¾” non-roll elastic inside a 2” casing. I made sure that the manufacturer’s tag was either inside the casing or cut off in the case of the groom’s. From center, measure out 10 inches in each direction and pin. Then fold down a 2 inch casing to the inside of the towel, and sew a casing between the pins and insert the elastic. I used a stretch-stitch (lightning bolt looking stitch on today’s machines) to sew each end of the elastic. It may not have been truly needed for stretch purposes, but the stitch is super strong and that is needed.

Then stitch down the remainder of the casing from the ends of the elastic out to the ends of the towel and pivot stitch up to the top of the towel to enclose the ends. I cut his to 25” prior to creating the casing to wear around the waist.

Here’s where details come in to get this right. On hers, the front fold is right-over-left. His is left-over-right. If you’re not sure, take a look at RTW shirts and note the button placement on the front bands. I used 12” of sew-in Velcro and placed it ½” in from the end of the towel. I used white Velcro for hers and black for his.For the Velcro, the trick is: Hers: Velcro goes on the right inside upper and left outside lower of each end. His: Velcro goes on the left outside upper and right inside lower of each end.

When I cut the groom’s towel shorter, I did serge the long cut edge because of fraying. And the left-over towel became batting for a Halloween wall hanging and extra little hand towels for me!