Monday, November 4, 2013

Cozy Robe for me!

I went through my mother's old patterns and found a robe pattern that was just what I wanted for me! My mother made this robe (or what she calls a "housecoat") without a collar out of an orange 70's floral which I remember well. Of course the pattern was for a 31 inch bust. So I needed to add 3 inches for my upper bust measurement. I performed the slice and add method following many tips from Sense and Sensibility. Since this pattern has a raglan sleeve, I had to make sure my sleeve slices were where I needed added bust and that I did not make the neckline too big. But after all was sewn and done, I am very pleased with the fit (a little oversized for cozy sofa sitting). Below is my daughter modeling the robe. She is one size smaller than me, and as you can see it is a little large for her. 


I used a really yummy flannel (marmalade by Bonnie and Camille - moda). It has a definite 50's vintage feel, so it looks quite different from my mother's. 


 Changes I made to construction were:


  1. I moved up the placement of the pockets by 2 inches so I could get into them without reaching down.
  2. A cuff was added to the sleeve out of a contrasting flannel. It can also roll down for more warmth. But I really like the mid arm length so that if you are washing dishes or cooking breakfast (yeah right) the sleeves don't get in the way.
  3. The pattern had a self facing front (which means there was 3 inches of added fabric to the pattern front to fold over for facing.) I actually put in a seam at the front facing instead of folding. It gives more weight to the facing so that it lays nice in the front and your buttons and buttonholes are not forced to keep it in place.

Would I make it again? Definitely yes. I want to make a cotton robe for the summer out of a 70's feel fabric. And of course my daughter wants one with a fox flannel from Rae Hoestra's Fanfare flannels. And she will no doubt get one.







Friday, October 25, 2013

Mail Sack Love







































After successfully carrying it for 3 weeks, my favorite new bag/purse is my Pink Chalk Studio Mail Sack. I used Melody Miller's Ruby Star prints from my favorite Indianapolis sewing lounge Crimson Tate. I wanted to do something cool with some of Melody's stuff since it won't be around much longer. The utility of this bag is heavenly. (I have a love/hate relationship with the purse. I can never find a good match for my short body.) The mail bag is deep enough, the shoulder strap can be adjusted after you see the base of the bag, it can be worn on the shoulder or across the body - all around great stuff for me.

I added a zipper pocket to the small size as you can see from an inside-out look at the bag. The instructions only show a zipper pocket for the large size, but it is easy to put into the small bag in the same way. I just used a 7 inch zipper (I love the pink) and cut 4 of the small size pocket pattern (2 of which is used for the zipper pocket). Then I adjusted the zipper slot guide to 7.25 inches and followed the directions the same as for the large bag and voila!


And on the inside-out view of the other side of course I have two pockets (guess which one I put my phone in)!