Enrobed

It has been an embarrassingly long time since I last posted. And I was so excited to share pictures from my little fabric shopping trip in upstate New York -- oh, but I haven't even taken the pictures yet. Oh well. I have so far made 2 skirts -- but it is much too cold to wear them before Spring -- and I just finished up a gift I was making for my hubs for our 1st anniversary, which is next week.

He has a beloved bathrobe that I've been trying to replace without much success... So I figured I'd make a replacement! I got yards and yards (FIVE!) of blue terrycloth at Joanne's during the trip I mentioned (and was able to use a 50% off coupon) -- I'd have preferred a different colour, but light pink and light blue were the only choices. I figured most bathrobe patterns would be the same, so I selected a Simplicity 2-hour pattern. However, it took much longer than 2 hours, as I double- or triple-sewed every seam. I want this to last gosh dang it, and since I was working with terry cloth (and have no pinking shears), I made sure to zig-zag as well straight-stitch every seam.

SOMETHING TO NOTE about the pattern: the measurements on the pattern envelope did seem quite large -- the large size had a chest measurement of 48-50 inches. THAT'S HUGE compared to a man's size "L" t-shirt. I went with that anyway, thinking bigger is better and cozier... Then when I was looking up the pattern to include a pic with this post, I learnt that THIS IS A PLUS-SIZE PATTERN. It does not say that anywhere on the envelope or in the pattern -- the only indication is the measurements themselves, and if you didn't know any better, how could you tell? Anyway, it's just a robe so it's not a big deal, but it should have been marked somewhere. Thumbs down.

I omitted the fusible interfacing from the front band (a lot of hassle for a small result), and also left off the belt loops. I did patch pockets rather than the set-in ones the pattern included, to better match the old beloved bathrobe. It had been ages since I last used a pattern and jeez, I forgot how tiring it is to first cut out all of the pattern pieces, and then pin them down and cut the fabric.

The bathrobe was sewn surreptitiously over a few weekends: I washed and cut the fabric at my mother's house right after it was purchased. (Okay I admit my mum cut it -- I'm left-handed couldn't get her sewing scisssors through 2 thick layers.) I've been working on it while my husband has been out to watch his weekly football game. It had to be done over a few weeks, mostly because of the time it took me to remove the fabric from its hiding place and set up my sewing station, as well as re-hide the fabric and clean up all evidence. TERRY CLOTH SHEDS - A LOT. I've had to sweep each time, as well as use the lint-roller on myself, my chair, the ironing board, the door mat...