I wanted a beach towel that folds away nicely in its own bag. Inspired by neat natural packaging, I turned to an egg shape for the bag. And as I had the shape, I decided to go with a breakfast theme for the entire project. An eggshell bag reveals a fried egg beach towel when cracked.

Step 1: Materials

I bought all my materials at Ikea, but any shop that sells a decent array of towel colours would do. Towelling fabric turned out to be more expensive than ready made towels for the small quantities needed for this project.

1 medium cream or light brown towel (50cm x 100cm) for the shell

1 large white towel (100cm x 150cm) for the eggwhite
2 yellow washcloths (30cm x 30cm each) for the yolks

Sewing thread, I used cream for everything
1 white or cream zipper, 35cm

Step 2: Eggshell

Fold the cream towel in thirds, and draw an almond shape on the top third (like an oval with pointy ends).
Following this template, cut out three equal almond pieces (A, B and C). Towel fabric frays very easily, so it is best to seam the pieces with a zig-zag stitch all around.

Step 3: Assembling the Shell

Next you need to pin the three eggshell pieces together. You'll sew two edges of the egg shut, and insert a zipper on the third edge. If you have never worked with a zipper before, please have a look at this video, which gives an excellent introduction on how to put a zipper in a pillow case. Just think of this egg as a slightly more complicated pillow case.

Please consult the diagram - note that the naming of the three pieces is completely arbitrary, as they all start out identical.

Pin one edge of B to C (these edges are blue), and pin the zip to the other edge of B (black in the diagram). Pin the other side of the zip to one side of A.

Usually, we would be bothered about right and wrong sides of the fabric, but towelling fabric luckily looks the same on both sides.Thus we don't worry about the orientation of the fabric and just need to take care that all the seams are on the inside of the egg. However, it is important that you sew in the zip face down (see picture or video).

Sew along these edges (blue seam, zipper on A, zipper on B)

The egg is now closed on two sides, one of them being the zipper. Open the zipper, as this will make turning the egg to the right side much easier. Don't turn it around though, and keep working with the inside out.

When closing the egg, you pin the other edge of A to the free edge of C (these are red in the diagram). Sew along the edge (red seam).

The egg is now fully assembled. Turn the the right way around, and close the zip. Marvel at your own talent.

Step 4: Fried Eggs

Cut out two circles of the yellow washcloths.

Place them on the white beachtowel, each on one half, and slightly towards the corners (refer to diagram). Pin in place once you're happy with their position.

Fold over the edge of the yolk to the bottom, and sew down this double layered edge. This will make it look neat, and keep the edge from fraying

Round off the corners of the white beachtowel, and seam these edges (zig zag first, then fold over and sew down).

Add a cleft between the two "eggs" by cutting out a small triangle in the middle of the long sides of the beachtowel. Seam the edge.

Fried eggs make an ideal model for beginner seamsters and seamstresses, as eggs come in many shapes and forms. Don't be afraid of the scissors, use them to your advantage. Any roughly curved shape will look like a fried egg once you've added the yolks.

Step 5: Final Results

You've made a large fried egg beachtowel, that neatly folds into an eggshell shaped bag with zip. This comes in handy for all sorts of dramatic breakfast reenactments on the beach.