From: J. BARRETT


      Title: Beach tote/blanket
 Categories: None
   Servings:  1

from jackie?

      2 sm 7" metal zippers
      1 sm 12" metal zipper
      1 sm 4 1/4 yds cord(handles)
      2 sm Yards terry cloth,esplained

  please read all these instructions before buying the material. i think
  i've forgotten a few.

  this ingenious beach tower carryall has two roomy pokcets to hold your
  money, makeup, suntan lotion, sunglasses, a paperback and almost
anything
  else you need. a third pocket holds a flat foam pillow for your
lolling
  comfort. you simplay lay your wet swimsuit on the towel when done for
the
  day fold the sides of the tower inward, rollit up like a jelly rol and
  carry it by the 2 handles.

  the terry cloth you'll need 2 yards of printed terry cloth and 2 yards
of
  a harmonizing solid color. this will make a towel of 6 feet in length,
  with one side in a print and the other in a solid. if you want your
tower
  shorter or longer, buy more, or less material. most terry cloth comes
in
  44-45" width, although you can also buy it 36" wide. we have used 36"
  fabric for our towel and thi is certainly wide enough for comfortable
  sunbathing. If you buy wider fabric you may want to trim it on the
side
  and use the excess for washcloths. NOTE: if you make your towel wider
than
  36" you will need to adjust the pocket measurements on hte diagram. if
you
  prefer to use a solid color only-in which the color is the same on
both
  sides of the cloth-you need buy only 2 1/3 yards.
  zippers-two 7" metal zippers and one 12 " zipper

  thick cord-4 1/4 yards, for the handles
  also you will need a slab of foam for the pillow.

  |---------------------------------------------------|
  |                                                   |
  |   7"zipper    12" zipper        7" zipper         |
  |   |      |    |          |      |       |         |
  |   | pocket    | pocket   |      |pocket |         |
  |   |______|    |__________|      |_______|         |
  |                                                   |
  |                                                   |
  |       36" wide fabric---------->                  |

  1. begin by laying each piece of cloth on a flat surface and
straightening
  the ends. clip the selvedge at intervals of about 5".
  2. put the 2 pices tog. at one end, right sides tog. this will be the
edge
  in which you insert the zippers. using your tape measure, find the
cneter
  point of this edge, 18" from each end. lay the 12" zipper acorss this
  point so that it is centered.mark the cloth about 1/4" from each end
of
  the zipper. remove the nceter zipper and place the 7" zippers on
either
  side. you should allow about 1" at the end of the fabric, plus a 1"
seam
  allowance-so that there will be nearly 3" between the center and side
  zippers. mark the outer ends of the 2 side zippers as you did for the
  center zipper.
  3. make a line of machine basting, 1" from the edge, stitching on the
  solid color side.
  4. using your matching thread and a regular stitch, make another row
of
  stitching on top of the basting, where you won't put zippers.
  5. open the seam and press lightly. pin and baste the zippers over the
  machine basting,. with the zipper foot attached stitch all around each
  zipper and remove the basting.
  6. with right sides tog. pin the remaining 3 edge tog. making sure
that
  both layers are lying smoothly tog. stitch these 3 seams, leaving a
gap of
  about 12" about halfway around the edge. trim the corners slightly to
  reduce the bulk of the seam allowance. turn the towel inside out
  throughthe 12" gap. turn in the seam allowance and hadn sew with small
  stitches.
  7. measure the areas for the 3 pockets. for a 1- by 12" pillow, 1"
thick,
  we allowed an area 11 1/2 by 13 inches. use a ruler to determine your
  stitching line and insert pins along the stitching line at 3" and 4"
  intervals. lay the pillow on the fabric to make sure that the
stitching
  lines on all3 remaining sides are paralel to the edges of the pillow
and
  that you have allowed for the thickness of the pillow. now measure and
  mark the areas for the other 2 pockets and stitch along those lines.
  8. make another line of stitching along the other 3 edges of the towel
  about 3/4" from edge.
  9. insert the pillow, lay the towel flat, with the print side up, fold
the
  towel.
  10. open the 2 sides again, and turn the bag over so that the outside
is
  on top. pin the cord on the bag in 1 long loop to make handles. first
make
  a knot in one end, and pin this in place near one of the conrers. run
the
  cord along hte length of the towel, pinning at short intervals. make
  another knot at the next corner, and pin this in place. lay the cord
in a
  curve make another knot at the next corner and continue pinning til
you
  reach the first knot. cut the cord so that it iwll just fit under the
  beginning knot. wind some thread around this end to keep it from
  unraveling and pin it in place.
  11. run a line of basting thead along the line of the cord, then
remove
  the cord from the towel. now using the basting thread as a guide, pin
the
  cord in place, a short length at a time and sew it onto the towel,
  concelaing the thread in the coils of the cord. be careful to sew only
  through the outside layer of tweling.

  variation" a single thickness towel-using solid color terry cloth. cut
3
  pathc polcets from the extra 1/3 yard of fabric. these should measure
the
  size of the finihsed pockets plus 1" on all 4 sides. pin the pockets
in
  place and machien base-the zipper plackets. lay the seams flat andsew
in
  the zippers. turn the pockets over so that the right sides of the
zippers
  are upward. turn the pocket edges under 1" and pin and baste the
pockets
  in place. stitch aroundthese 3 edges. insert the pillow. turn the
  remaining 3 edges under, first 1/4" and then 3/4" and stitch to make
ahem.
  fold the towel and attach the cord and it's ready for the beach.

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