April 7, 2014

Another robe

 And this is where those pockets went: My new robe.
A couple of weeks ago, I found this coral red cotton toweling for sale at the market for only 1 euro a meter. It's a bit flimsy but at that price, I'm not complaining. And I'm fine with it, the thinness of the fabric will mean that this robe will be comfortable, but not really warm. Just what I need for spring. 

 Again (like with my and E's thin cotton robes), I went with a retro-y ankle length design. I didn't use any vintage pattern making systems this time. There are some issues with my earlier cotton robe which I know wouldn't be there if I would have drafted it using my normal sloper. 

Which is what I did this time. It's a very simple design: An A-line body with deep-set wide raglan sleeves and a shawl collar. 

In a slightly unusual touch, I've made the sleeves very wide and gathered them into fairly long cuffs. The cuffs and facing are made from jersey which has been in my stash for quite a while but which happened to match the colour of the toweling perfectly.

The only thing I'm not so certain about is the belt. I thought it would look better to make that in the jersey and I didn't have a long piece of the toweling left anyway. I had fused the the facing pieces with a thin fusible for knits which doesn't stretch lengthwise. It worked well there but I didn't want to use it in the belt because I expected weird pulling effects in that case. So, the belt is just jersey. This means it's rather stretchy and has a tendency to roll in on itself. It's not ideal but I think I can live with it.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with this robe. It's very comfortable for lounging about and those sleeves don't get in the way when I'm eating or doing anything like that. 

And after all, that's what I want in a robe: A cocoon to withdraw in when I'm tired or have been soaked with rain on my way home. Perfect for lying on the couch but  serviceable if I still have to do anything as well. And for course, if it still looks kind of cute, that's a bonus.

5 comments:

  1. That's such a simple but brilliant treatment of the sleeves/cuffs - it's nice to have big sleeves to go on over pyjamas, but annoying when they dangle in the breakfast cereal... I recently bought some bright yellow terry to make myself a new bathrobe, I think I might copy you :)

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  2. I love the idea of the sleeves! My wrists always get cold with too baggy cuffs, I'm so going to make my own dressing gown like this!

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  3. Fantastic! Looks great with those sleeves.

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  4. Wow! it looks fabulous Lauriana! I love the shawl collar, and it does look like it will be beautifully cosy and warm and comfortable too. You are so talented with your pattern making, everything you make looks very stylish; have you considered releasing a pattern line?

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  5. That's a nice robe. The sleeves look great

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