a beach robe

I think I just made something useful (as in, not another skirt)!

Okay, maybe not useful in the way it was advertised, because wearing a bathing suit on the Oregon coast is practically unheard of. But we did need an upgrade from the hooded towels we’ve been using since Lila’s first bath, and a little robe seemed like just the thing. And she was into the idea, too. As I was cutting out the paper pattern pieces she held them up to her body and said, “Can I wear my robe now?”

This robe from Sir Bubbadoo was my inspiration – I loved the gray and yellow with the dots, and I came really close to using my same old blue polka dots for yet another project. But I fought the urge.

The lined hood is clearly a case of form over function – terry cloth makes much more sense than quilting cotton for drying hair after a bath. I couldn’t help myself though, the robes are so cute that way.

The fabric is something I’ve had around for a few years (I can’t read any info on the selvage past Windham Fabrics), and I had just enough to line the hood and tie and cut two little strips of bias tape for the sleeves. The rest of the robe is bound in the plain old yellow packaged stuff.

I chose my towels before purchasing the pattern, so I hadn’t read the thinner-is-better tip. It all worked out just fine, but yeah, I can see how thinner would be better. The whole thing came out a little less polished than I would have liked, and I’d love to blame that on the plush towels rather than my mediocre sewing skills! The towels were from Target and measured about 30 x 50 inches – it took two to make a medium robe, and there wasn’t a whole lot of fabric leftover.

The medium fits well everywhere but the hood, which is a little short. Lila’s height is pretty average for her age, and she doesn’t have a huge head or anything, so I’m not sure what happened there. She certainly didn’t need the larger size anywhere else, so I think cutting the hood longer would have done the trick.

Here’s a sassy pose, along with a very small taste of the mess made during this project:

Anyway, it’s a great pattern with amazingly detailed directions and tons of photos, just like all the tutorials you find on MADE.  Sewing the robe together was a breeze, but I’m tuckered out from all that bias tapin’!