My (almost) Perfect Bathrobe

I am a lizard. Not literally, obviously, but I grew up in a very warm climate. So when it gets cold out I get very very cold. Last winter I decided I wanted the warmest, fuzziest bathrobe ever, so I started shopping around. They were all so expensive! So, frugal woman that I am, I decided to make one. How hard could it be? Knitting would take too long, so I decided to sew it. Out I went to my nearest fabric store and bought the fuzziest pretty fabric I could find. I didn’t have a pattern. But I am a smart, independent woman who doesn’t need no pattern! I measured myself. And then did some math. Measured again. Measured fabric. Did more math. Confused myself. Then repeated the whole process until I was satisfied that I was probably right.

Now came the big step: cutting! This went really well…until my cats decided that my scissors needed to be attacked! (Please, don’t worry about the kitties. They were not harmed. They were just annoying.) With my pieces cut out, I threaded my sewing machine and did most of the sewing. At which point I stopped and shoved it all in a bag to be completed later. Maybe it got warm then?

The other morning I was cold – which makes sense, since it’s fall. I remembered my partially finished bathrobe and decided the time had come to finish it. I pulled it out of the sewing box, cut out some additional pieces, and set out to finish the beast by hand (my sewing machine makes a great paper weight, but isn’t good at much else right now). So let me tell you, Chenille fabric is a lot nicer to work with than chenille yarn. The edges don’t curl or fray, so you have the option to not finish them. It makes for a pretty straightforward sewing project. Which was great, until I got to the cream fur fabric I bought for the trim. Remind me to never sew with furry fabric again. Especially by hand.

In the end I came up with a pretty great bathrobe. It’s very fitted, almost like a dressing gown, which I absolutely love (In fact, I’m going to call it a dressing gown. It sounds so much more classy). But the armholes are a little tight. And it doesn’t close with quite as much overlap as I had envisioned. I still have a little more finishing work to do, but all in all I am happy with my project, and I look forward to many years of warmth and comfort.