I know what you are thinking.
“don’t you already have a robe you made?”
Yes. Also, don’t tell me how to live my life.
Honestly, I like that plaid flannel robe in theory – but not so much in practice. One, the arm holes are low on me – which makes the whole thing a bit binding to move around in when it’s tied shut. And because of how the ties are attached the fronts, it’s not the sort of robe that you can leave hanging open (which is honestly how I prefer to wear my robes). As pretty as it is, it’s not terribly practical for my daily wear – as evidenced by how much I kept going back to the fleece robe (my Mamaw gave me a new one for Christmas that same year, so at least it was a fresh fleece amirite). Making a robe seems like a terribly boring thing – in terms of sourcing a pattern and supplies, then sewing it together… yawn. I suppose you could make it more interesting by using really nice materials or embellishing the pieces, but we’ve already established that pretty isn’t always practical for me.
So I made another one, and it’s boring, and it’s perfect. Yay!
The pattern is Jalie 2567, which is your classic oversized, cushy bathrobe. No lie – I compared the pattern pieces to my existing fleece robe and they are almost exactly the same, even down to the pocket size. If you are looking for a no-frills, classic style that wouldn’t be out of place on a rack in Macy’s during December, this is the pattern for you. If you want something fancier, tbh I have no idea why you are still reading this blog post get out now.
The robe features a giant shawl collar, set-in sleeves (that are super wide so you can wear layers underneath), gigantic pockets, and a tie that is totally separate (but is held in place with 2 belt loops). Exactly what I was looking for. The thing about Jalie patterns is that they are super cheap (this one is like $10) and they come in 27 fucking sizes. Forreal, you could make every single person on your Christmas list their own personal robe. I can’t, because I cut straight into that paper like the barbarian I am #noragrets
The downside to Jalie patterns is that the instructions are a bit sparse. However, we are talking about a simple bathrobe here. It’s pretty easy to figure out with the text instructions (and the smattering of illustrations that they include for certain steps), this certainly is not a difficult pattern.
After much much MUCH deliberation, I cut a size R, which is actually a little bigger than my measurements. The next size down dropped me into Kid’s sizes, which I was having a hard time getting my head around. In retrospect – I think the Q would have been a slightly better fit, but I’m happy with the oversize of the R. I live in an old house and we are expecting a crappier-than-usual winter this year, so I’ll likely be wearing a few layers underneath this thing anyway. As you can see in these pictures, the sleeves ended up a little long – so I cuffed them back for now; I am thinking I will probably want that extra length when it gets cold. If not, it’s easy to rip out the stitching and re-hem!
As I mentioned, I wanted a pretty basic bathrobe pattern – but I did opt to fancy it up a little with my fabric choice. I was originally considering another fleece (this grey cotton fleece to be exact. Like your favorite sweatshirt except even better!), but Kate at The Confident Stitch suggested I try one of their Soy French Terrys instead. I chose the wine French Terry, but there is also grey, black, and aubergine, FYI!
I don’t know what differentiates soy French terry from other fibers (other than, well, the literal fiber content haha), but this stuff is pretty awesome! It’s just as warm as your standard fleece, but a lot more luxurious. And heavy! Weight might be an issue if you are planning to lug this thing around on trips or whatever, but mine will be staying at home with me. It washed up super soft and the color has stayed nice and rich. The downside to having a wine red robe means I look like I’m trying to channel my inner Hugh Hefner, but, you know, maybe we can just agree that the man had good taste in robes.
This fabric was pretty thick, which made it a bear to cut – and the pattern pieces are large, which again added to the strain. Once that was all done, though, sewing it together was pretty fast and efficient. I serged all my seams (you don’t need to do this for this pattern, but I liked that it sewed and finished my seams in one go) and then topstitched as directed. The fabric took to pressing very well and show topstitching beautifully, which makes the finished piece look pretty good! I didn’t do any fancy seam finishing or stabilizing or whatever – just a basic cut and sew job. This is the type of project that is really simple, but a little elevated due to fabric choice.
I actually finished this a couple of months ago, and while it hasn’t gotten a ton of wear just yet – I did get to take it for a spin during our random post-Labor-Day-cold-snap. It’s so warm and snuggly, and much more comfortable than my last robe – I feel cozy, but not restrained. Even Amelia likes snuggling up to it 😉
Big thanks to The Confident Stitch for sponsoring this post, for which I might have never found my true love lies within that of a bathrobe. Guys, if you haven’t checked out the Confident Stitch, give them a holler – they have merino wool. Wouldn’t that make an AMAZING robe?! Damn, now I kind of wish I’d thought of that first haha.
LLADYBIRD 
