Sew a beach cover up from a sarong

Easy sewing project - sew a beach cover up for a sarong. Instructions in link.

One of my favourite childhood memories is watching my mother sew.  The fact that she could conjure gorgeousness from fabric, a pattern and her sewing machine was like magic. When I was quite young, she taught me how to do the same thing and I am so grateful. I still make some of my own clothes, although nothing as ambitious as my mother makes. It’s such a wonderful, creative past time and I intend to pass it down to my sons.

To those that say they can only sew a straight line, this project is for you.  This is a super simple way to knock yourself up a new top or beach throw, using something you most probably already have. For some reason, I had a bit of a love affair with sarongs when I was in my early twenties. I now have a stash of them – and I never use them. So I decided to whip up a beach cover-up using one. 

Here’s how:

  1. Choose your sarong
  2. Fold it in half, and then half again
  3. Iron the crease
  4. Unfold it and cut the sarong in half. You will still have a slight crease mark which will indicate the middle.
  5. You will need to finish the edges just cut. You can do this with an overlocker if you have one or you could roll hem or bias bind.
  6. Place the two pieces of fabric together, right sides facing.
  7. Measure 17cm out from the middle crease on each side.  Pin.  Stitch across about 5cm – 6cm on each side.  This will give you an opening for your head and catch the tops of the sleeves.
  8. Turn right side out.  You may want to cast a few hand stitches to help the resultant neckline sit nicely.
  9. Throw over your head.
  10. Note where you would like your side seams. Pin.
  11. Take off and stitch the side seams, leaving about 30cm at the top, which will be the arm holes. I also left a gap at the bottom, giving side slits, which meant that I sewed about a 30cm seam.

How to turn a sarong into a beach cover

Voila – a ten minute sewing job and a cool new beach cover!

8 thoughts on “Sew a beach cover up from a sarong

  1. tarnyahall says:

    Great idea! And so easy!
    One of my earliest memories is watching my mum sew too. So grateful to her for teaching me. My son is going got inherit my first machine (a 1970’s husqvarna) when he’s a bit bigger 🙂

    • Robyna says:

      There comes a time in life when tying a sarong just becomes all too hard and you need things that you can throw over your head 🙂

  2. Pingback: 31 Days. 31 Frocks. 31 Ways. Frocktober.

  3. Pingback: Camping for Fashionistas - THE MUMMY AND THE MINX

Comments are closed.