So, I fell in love with Dana's newest pattern-the beach robe and couldn't wait to get started on one for bug. Target was having a sale on their towels (oh darn), so I bought two; one for now and one for later. The color I fell in love with was this bright fiery orangish-red that I thought would look fabulous with the pirate fabric I used to make his wipes case.
I brought it home, cut it up and got to work. Turns out that I suck at pattern placement because I didn't have enough for the tie. Luckily, I had some white terry cloth left from some burp cloths I had made and used that. I loved Dana's pic of the robe with the striped seersucker tie and thought that to add a little more color and flair (No, the bright flaming orange was NOT enough color or flair), I could use the pirate fabric on the tie, as well. I cut two strips 27 1/2 inches long each, then sewed them together at the ends, right sides facing with a 1/4 inch seam, making my total length 54 inches. I did the same thing with the white terry. I pinned my terry strip and my fabric strip together, wrong sides facing, down the middle just to keep the two together while I pinned and sewed on the bias tape. By the way, if anyone out there knows how to nicely sew bias tape around corners, I would greatly appreciate the advice! I was going to make it long-sleeved, until of course I realized how very little towel I had left to work with and opted to go with short sleeves. However, I liked the idea of the sleeves still being cuffed. So, I drew a line one inch below the large-sized robe's short-sleeved line (That makes sense, right?), even though bug's robe is a medium and cut there. Then I thought, why stop with a fabric lined hood and tie? Why not line the cuffs with it, too? And so, I did. That was a whole lot of trial and error? Why, you ask? I'm not sure, either. I originally cut the sleeve fabric by measuring 2 1/2 inches up from the bottom of the sleeve pattern, drawing a straight line there and cutting. But, and you'll love this, I cut the fabric so that it was right side up. That's right, right? Um, no! Once you roll the cuff up, the fabric would be upside down! Okay, take two! Put the sleeve pattern on the fabric so that the fabric is upside down. Great! Ah crap! If only I had remembered that it was supposed to be cut on the fold. Take three! Success! Now, I took one fabric sleeve piece and pinned it right side out to the wrong side of the terry sleeve, lining up the bottom raw edges. Before I pinned the top fabric edge, I folded it over about 3/8, so the raw top edge of the fabric would be sewn under. I sewed straight across the bottom and straight across the top of the fabric, using a 3/8 in seam allowance on the bottom, as Dana's pattern calls for, and 1/4 in seam allowance on the top, catching the raw edge, sort of like hemming. I knew the bottom seam would be encased in bias, so I didn't zigzag stitch it. Then, I sewed the first sleeve on and it looked awesome. I folded up the cuff to make sure I had figured correctly (maybe I should have done that before attaching to the robe? Nah!) and was relieved to discover I had. Yay me! Now, where did the other sleeve go? Two days and no found sleeve later, I rummaged through my tiny terry scraps and found a piece that would work, mostly. It's a tad bit short, but I think I can make it work! That was until I sewed it on, zigzag stitched, trimmed the excess seam allowance, only to discover that I had sewn it inside out. Awesome! I ripped out the seam as carefully as a tired angry woman can at two in the morning when dealing with fuzzy, hide the thread terry cloth and began to repin. It was a bit difficult fitting the too small sleeve in the armhole the first time. Now with 1/2 in less to work with? Oy! Let's just say the robe will fit bug fine to age three...If I make it a tank robe! But, for now on his tiny little arms in the perfect light on a foggy day with one eye closed and the other one squinted, it looks great! I ran out of enough bias tape on one pack to do the whole robe, so I decided, in all my sewing wisdom, to just do the edge of the hood. Wait, you might be saying! I thought Dana's tute said to line the whole robe, sans the sleeves and the tie, at the same time, giving you a continuous professional line? Yeah, it does, and if I had read the directions as carefully as I should have, apparently, I would have known that. I didn't and so I don't have one continuous professional line. Details! It all came together pretty darn adorable, even with all my gross mishaps, and bug loves it. He wants to wear it as soon as we put his suit one. He doesn't quite grasp the whole, "It's to put on AFTER you get wet, baby," concept. I love that it stays on and he stays warm, instead of hitting the floor 5 seconds after I wrap him up and watching him toddle all goosebumped and with a bluish hue around the yard. He loves that it allows him plenty of wiggle room for such manly things as mowing the lawn. He's very busy, my boy; too busy to be bothered being wrapped up like a burrito until he dries. Thank you, Dana and your swim robe for making one momma happy and one boy warm!
Bottom Line:
- Towel-$4.00 at Target
- Bias Tape-$2.50 x 3=$7.50-40%(coupons!)=$4.50 at JoAnn Fabrics
- Fabric for linings-$1.50 at Walmart Grand Total=$10
Where did you get the blue pirate fabric? Its really cute and I am in need of finding something CUTE! If you could email me at nbguritz@yahoo.com that would be GREAT!
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