Penguin Bath Poncho

Preparation:

The templates on the pattern sheet contain no seam allowances! A seam allowance of 1 cm is recommended for the pieces in question.
 
Please note that no additional seam allowance needs be added to the towel section, belly or jersey strips. No seam allowance is required for any of the other appliqués either.
 
Cut out as follows. You’ll find all of the templates on the pattern sheet, except for the towel section and the jersey strips.
 
Royal-blue terrycloth:

• 1 x towel section 126 x 63 cm incl. seam allowance
• 2 x hood to fabric fold piece 4 on pattern sheet plus seam allowance

Jersey 1 | orange, orange stripes:

• 1 x foot piece 1 on pattern sheet   plus seam allowance
• 6 strips 30 x 3 cm each incl. seam allowance

IMPORTANT: It is essential that these strips be cut parallel to the selvedge, so that a jersey cord can then be made from them. The remainder is used for the appliqués.
 
Jersey 2 | orange with polka dots:

• 1x foot piece 1 on pattern sheet; plus seam allowance cut out mirrored piece from jersey 1.

Jersey 3 | turquoise with stars:

• 2 x hood to fabric fold piece 4 on pattern sheet plus seam allowance
• 2 x pocket to fabric fold piece 3 on pattern sheet plus seam allowance

Fleece 1| orange:

• 2 x foot, mirror-inverted piece 1 on pattern sheet plus seam allowance

Fleece 2 | natural white:

• 1 x belly to fabric fold piece 2 on pattern sheet incl. seam allowance

Instructions:

Good to know:

Synthetic fleeces cannot tolerate much heat, so iron the fleece sections carefully and use an ironing cloth if necessary.

Sewing:

• Place one cut-out mirrored foot section (1) from fleece and one from jersey right-sides-together. Sew each together all around, leaving a turning opening of around 4 to 5 cm on the straight top edge. Snip seam allowances on the curves and carefully trim corners. Now turn both feet inside-out and press.

• Pin the cut-out belly section (2) onto the cut-out terry towel section. The fabric edge of the fleece ends flush with one of the short terrycloth edges. Place the belly horizontally in the centre of the terrycloth. Now edgestitch the section, e.g. with decorative stitch no. 22 on the B 350. Tip: To ensure an especially attractive decorative stitch, use machine-embroidery thread and place embroidery stabiliser underneath. With walking foot no. 50, all layers glide evenly and perfectly through the machine without slipping. We do not recommend fusing this piece with Bondaweb, since it would make the belly of the penguin very stiff.

• Fold the cut-out pocket section (3) in half with right sides facing and sew together all around, leaving a turning opening of around 3 to 5 cm in one of the straight edges. Trim seam allowances as necessary and turn pocket right-side-out. Iron well.

• Sew the cut-out jersey hood-lining sections (4) together with right sides facing, leaving the long edge open.

• Transfer all appliqué pieces for the little penguin, the anchor and the face individually from the pattern sheet to the smooth side of the Bondaweb. Cut out roughly and iron to the back of the desired appliqué fabrics with the rough side face-down. Now cut out all pieces very precisely. Remove protective paper. Arrange the pieces with the sticky side face-down in the desired position, then fuse by ironing. The pieces are positioned as follows:
• Anchor on the jersey pocket
• Penguin face on a terrycloth hood section (4)
• Small penguin on the white belly (press fleece carefully!)

• Now appliqué all pieces with colour-coordinating thread. The best results will be achieved with machine embroidery thread. Place tear-away embroidery stabiliser underneath your project to stop the fabric from puckering when you sew. To appliqué, use either a narrow zigzag stitch or a decorative stitch on your sewing machine, e.g. stitch no. 79 of the B 380. Reduce upper-thread tension if necessary.Bobbinfil thread, as also used for machine embroidery, is ideally suited as a lower thread.

• Remove all remnants of embroidery stabiliser after completing the appliqué.

• Hand embroider the inside of the star eye, the nostrils and the fish bone of the little penguin by hand. Use single-ply embroidery twist for this, and embroider e.g. using the stem stitch.

• Hold each of the jersey-1 strips on its short sides, then pull apart hard. The jersey will curl up by itself from both long sides. Now roll up on a flat surface into a cord. Knot the ends of four of the cords individually. The two remaining cord sections will be used later for the penguin’s ‘hair’ and the button closure.

• Secure the ties on the front and back of the towel section with a few basting stitches approx. 27 cm from the fabric fold (see sketch).

• Bind towel all round with pre-folded bias tape and e.g. the binder attachment for pre-folded tape. For this, round off all four corners of the towel beforehand if wished. A saucer or similar can be used here. The ties, which are caught in the bias binding, are positioned 27 cm from the fabric fold (see sketch).

• Fold a piece of pre-folded bias tape approx. 14cm long in half on its long side, with wrong sides inwards. Now edgestitch the opening together. Edgestitch foot no.10 is ideal for this job.

• Cut an 11-cm-long piece from the remaining two cord ends. This will later be used for the head closure. Penguin ‘hair’ in whatever length and amount  you desire can be prepared from the remaining cords. 

• Now place both terrycloth pieces (4) for the hood right-sides-together and sew the hood together along the diagonal edges, leaving the long, straight bottom edge open, and including the looped and topstitched bias binding, as well as three or so cords for the ‘hair’, at the top tip in the centre.

• Turn hood right-side-out, knot jersey cords individually, and trim if wished.

• Now pin the jersey hood (4) into the terrycloth hood (4) with wrong sides facing. The individual layers should be secured at the edges with a zigzag stitch to make subsequent construction easier.

• Now fold your towel in half and cut a 24-cm-wide slit horizontally in the centre of the fold line. Next, cut a 12-cm-long vertical slit into the front (see sketch).

• Now pin the hood right-sides-facing to the opening for the head which you have just cut in the towel, optionally securing it with a few basting stitches. This makes it easier to sew precisely around the corners. Next, sew the hood with a straight stitch and bind the seam allowances with bias binding.

• Now bind the hood opening and the neckline slit as well in a single operation with bias binding, catching the prepared, looped 11-cm-long jersey cord at the same time (see sketch). This will later serve as a button closure. Sew button to the spot corresponding to the opposite side, e.g. with the button-sew-on foot no. 18.

• Pin on jersey pocket as per pattern and edgestitch on. Edgestitch foot 10 does a superb job here. The top edge remains open.

• Pin feet to centre-back, placing their top edge flush with the top edge of the bias binding. The feet are about 5 cm apart. Now edgestitch from the right side.